A win over Melbourne Victory on Saturday night could mean the Queensland Roar will be sitting pretty at the top of the Hyundai A-League table during next weekend’s international break round.
Considering the Roar’s wayward home record for the 2008/09 Hyundai season, where they have taken one point from a possible 12, it would be fair to presume that Queensland coach Frank Farina would be gleeful to reach the halfway point of the competition at the top of the ladder.
But Farina is a hard man to please and has put his side on notice, claiming that they deserve to be leading the competition by some margin.
“We’re two points off top spot, we most probably should be sitting on top of the league with the manner in which we’ve been playing and the opportunities we’ve created, particularly at home,” Farina said.
“Even though we’re only two points off top, we could be top by a good margin, so I’m not happy, but it’s got to change and I think everyone’s right here, we got to win at home, or at least pick up points.”
Farina tipped that the match on Saturday, where two of the A-League’s most aggressive and free-flowing sides will come face to face, would be ‘an absolute belter of a game’.
“We try and make the running all the time, I think if you’d watched our away games, we’ve started better than the home teams.”
“They’re (Melbourne Victory) a good side, they-ve got some quality strikers in Archie Thompson and Allsopp, who have scored a lot of goals for them, and they like to play, they-ve got some creative players in there as well.”
Despite admitting the match against the Victory was all-important, particularly in regards to claiming a maiden home win for the season, Farina denied it was a do-or-die scenario.
“We’re 11 games in, it’s still a long race, and as we’ve seen with the results that are happening each week, it’s going to be very tight.”
“This game is not a defining moment in terms of the season, but it is a good indicator of what you’re up against, in terms of the top teams.”
Farina was looking forward to the challenge of taking on the league leaders.
“If you’re going to make the finals, if you’re going to be successful, you’ve got to beat these teams, fortunately we beat them in Melbourne, but Archie Thompson comes back this week as well, they’ll be difficult, they always are.”
