Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou says he is satisfied with his side’s effort in the Asian Champions League and that the squad are all fir for the A-League Grand Final.
Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou says his side doesn’t quite have the quality to impose their game on the AFC Champions League, but will not change his attacking approach.
After falling 2-1 to Ulsan Hyundai at Suncorp Stadium, the Roar remain winless from four ACL fixtures and at the bottom of their group, with virtually no chance of progressing through to the knockout stages of the tournament.
After a poor display against FC Tokyo in their ACL opener, Postecoglou said his men had shown improvement with each performance and he was far from disappointed with the manner in which they’d conducted their campaign.
“We’re not quite there in terms of real quality, and there’s no shame in saying that. That’s where we want to be and that’s how we want to improve,” he said.
“The last three games there’s been moments when we’ve had the opportunity to capitalise and we haven’t and we’ve been punished for mistakes that maybe we’d get away with in the A-League.
“I know the players are disappointed, but I’m not. I’d be much more disappointed if we sat back and didn’t create any opportunities and relied on trying to get a (goal from a) set piece or on the break.
“The fact that we did have opportunities, still tried to play our football, got punished at times for trying to play our football, that’s fine with me.”
While Postecoglou was philosophical about the Roar’s poor return of results, the battle with K-League powerhouse Ulsan – second in the group and level with leaders FC Tokyo on eight points – proved the Roar are capable of mixing it with the best in Asia.
The Korean favourites eventually took the victory on the back of a severe penalty ruling in the 72nd minute, following minimal contact in the area from Mohamed Adnan on Kang Min-Soo.
Postecoglou, however, refused to use the decision as an excuse for the outcome, saying his men had enough time to win the game if they’d been good enough.
“It was a penalty, so it was a penalty. I’ve already said I’m sick of people talking about refereeing decisions,” he said.
“At the end of the day, he gave it and it’s a penalty, so we move on. It’s just part of football.
“We still had opportunities after to score, and before that, so I guess that had more of a bearing on the game.”
In positive news for Roar fans, Postecoglou said the entire team had come through the match unscathed and he would have a fully fit squad to choose from for Sunday’s Hyundai A-League grand final with Perth.
