Brisbane coach Ange Postecoglou warned there was still better to come from his side after their clinical 4-1 demolition of Wellington Phoenix.
The victory, which ended the Phoenix’s 24-game unbeaten run at Westpac Stadium, propelled the Roar outfit one point clear of Adelaide at the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder.
Brisbane have been one of the most attractive teams to watch this season and they showed all their pace, skill and composure on the ball as they notched their seventh win of the campaign.
“We’ve definitely started very well and I thought it might take a little bit of time for us to gel,” said Postecoglou.
“We’ve got 12 new players in the squad and we’re obviously playing a different style of football. But to the players’ credit they have accepted that.”
“All along we’ve said we just want to keep playing good football and if that brings us results, which I was confident it would, then so be it.”
“You don’t get any prizes for being first after Round 13. But I really think this team has a lot of improvement in it. Every week we’re just chipping away at those areas we need to improve in.”
“We’ve got another massive game against Adelaide on Saturday night. We’ve got a tough few weeks coming up but the attitude of the players suggests to me that we’ll keep getting stronger.”
Striker Kosta Barbarouses kick-started Brisbane’s win with a fourth-minute goal at his former home.
Although Tim Brown equalised in the 37th minute for Wellington, the visitors led 2-1 at the break thanks to a Thomas Broich strike before Massimo Murdocca and Mitchell Nichols put the game beyond doubt in the second half.
Postecoglou was pleased to see the improvement in front of goal after not always being rewarded for their efforts in previous matches.
“Tonight we actually showed a little bit more composure and we got the goals our play deserved, which hasn’t always been the case this year,” he said.
“I still think defensively our concentration levels at times lapse. Even tonight there were a couple of moments I thought we just switched off.”
But the Roar coach felt the biggest area to improve in the coming weeks would be the players’ understanding on the pitch.
“They are still getting to know one another but when that happens and that all clicks we’ll really be a hard team to beat,” he added.
Barbarouses is certainly enjoying life in Brisbane and seems to find an extra spark when he takes on his former team-mates. He scored the winner in the 1-0 victory between the two teams at Suncorp Stadium earlier in the season as well.
“I feel like I’m improving every week. It seems a bit of a cliche but I’m getting more confidence,” the young striker said.
“I’m loving being with the Roar and I feel like I’ve got a lot more gears to go. I think I’m only just starting to show what I can do.”
“It was good to score tonight, good to score in front of the family and to come away with the three points and go to the top of the table.”
