Any hope of catching runaway Hyundai A-League leaders Brisbane Roar may be futile, according to Perth coach Ian Ferguson.
Any hope of catching runaway Hyundai A-League leaders Brisbane Roar may be futile, according to Perth coach Ian Ferguson.
The Roar were ‘on another planet’ as they dismantled and destroyed the Glory 4-0 on Saturday night, breaking the record for the longest undefeated streak in Australian sporting history on the way.
Each of their four goals came in an immaculate 20-minute stretch in the first half, with Brisbane’s pass-and-move magic making Perth’s normally-reliable back four look plodding and helpless.
Now six points clear on top of the ladder, it is the manner of their play and the ease with which they brush aside any challenges that is making the Roar look odds-on favourites to claim a second consecutive championship this season.
Perth, on the other hand, remain in fifth place after an inconsistent start to the season, despite adding a few big names, like prolific striker Shane Smeltz and Irish playmaker Liam Millar, in the break.
The gulf in class between the Roar and the rest of the competition is so big, according to Ferguson, that the other nine teams in the league – including his Perth side – are just fighting between themselves for second place.
“They’re the benchmark, for me – probably the best team I’ve seen in my 10 years in Australia,” Ferguson said.
“They’re on a different planet to us. We’re probably up against eight other teams in the A-League, without Brisbane Roar at this moment of time. That’s just being honest.”
Unlike what some teams have done in previous weeks, Ferguson’s Glory side didn’t look to have any concrete plan of stopping the Roar’s flowing football, instead opting for his men to play their own game.
While perhaps that’s a more positive approach than ‘parking the bus’ like Wellington did at Suncorp Stadium a fortnight ago, it left Perth extremely vulnerable at the back.
It might be a while yet before someone cooks up the ultimate plan to combat Brisbane, says Ferguson.
“I’ve seen teams come and try to play a high press, I’ve seen teams sitting in, I’ve seen them let them come in down the flanks,” he said.
“It’s very hard to try and stop them. It’s a lesson that we’ve got to take on board. That’s the benchmark, that’s what we’ve got to strive to.”
“Their rotation and movement and mobility and energy was fantastic, we found it very hard to cope with.”
“Ange has his system in place and he’s done his homework on players coming in. They fit into the way he wants to play and it’s a credit to him.”
But Ferguson was reluctant to read too much into his side’s heavy defeat.
With a number of key players out, such as Chris Coyne, Mile Sterjovski and Miller, the Glory coach said they were missing vital experience on such a big stage.
But having seen the Roar do the same things to other teams, he wasn’t too discouraged.
“It’s one game in eight. It was a bad day at the office and it’s not the first time Brisbane’s done that to teams in the A-League,” Ferguson said.
“We’ll move on. We’ll sit down, regroup on Monday morning, go through a few things and look forward to getting Gold Coast in Perth.”
