Five goals and a clean sheet would be good enough for just about any coach in the world – but not Brisbane Roar’s Rado Vidosic.
Five goals and a clean sheet would be good enough for just about any coach in the world – but not Brisbane Roar’s Rado Vidosic.
The new man at the helm of the two-time Hyundai A-League champions says somehow, in some way, his men can still improve on last weekend’s 5-0 demolition of Melbourne Victory.
That can only be worrying news for Wellington Phoenix, who host a Roar machine firing on all cylinders at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.
Vidosic said he was ‘not happy’ with the way his team defended against Victory, despite holding them at bay for 90 minutes.
“We can definitely improve on our defending. Goals win you games, but clean sheets win you titles,” he said.
“Although generally, our defence has played much better this season than what we did last year, we are aiming to improve even more.
“We’re looking to improve every game. That has been the way we’ve operated for the last several years and we’re not going to change that.”
Brisbane’s new-look rearguard has barely put a foot wrong this season.
The only goal that has slipped past them was a late, sucker-punch header from Perth’s Billy Mehmet in the opening round.
But this is the high-intensity, high-pressure nature of the Roar’s culture of excellence, which has fuelled them to two seasons of dominance.
The likes of young central defender Matt Jurman and stand-in right back Jack Hingert will need to be at their best against a Phoenix side with a few new tricks up their sleeve.
Gone are the days that shutting down Paul Ifill was the key to victory over Wellington.
After the off-season recruitment of hulking Belgian striker Stein Huysegems, ex-Newcastle marksman Jeremy Brockie and Solomon Islands international Benjamin Totori, the Phoenix now have several options in the final third.
“From what I-ve seen, they-ve got a very different frontline,” Brisbane captain Matt Smith said.
“Anyone of those can hurt you. They can get goals from anywhere. They like a few crosses into the box and have a few big boys that can come up for set-pieces.”
Vidosic has his eye on the tall-small pairing of Huysegems, a strong target man who can hold the ball up, and Brockie, the kind of player who can work off him.
“Brockie is bringing them a lot of speed and aggression and he’s a good finisher,” he said.
“I watched the Belgian striker against Melbourne Heart. He’s very mobile, still very good in the air and he brings other players into the play.
“The combination of him and Brockie is definitely something they missed in the past.
“They’ve got speed, skill, and they’ve still got that height at the top with their No.9. They’ve got all the qualities they had in the past, but now they’ve got even more.
“Their front four will really cause us problems and that’s the area we’ve really got to try and stop them.
“(But) our flowing game and attacking penetrations can probably hurt them at the back.”
