The plaudits for the Brisbane Roar have been well deserved. They now sit at 33 games unbeaten and are two games shy of matching Eastern Suburbs' undefeated streak, making them one of the most successful Australian sporting teams ever. Granted, they have only won the one premiership so far, but the things they are doing for the A-League are not to be underestimated. They have introduced a style and structure of play that no team has been able to mimic or conquer.
Clearly the credit must go to Brisbane's coach, Ange Postecoglou. He pulled apart the team he inherited and brought together a squad of players who could adapt to his system. Many sides have attempted to disrupt the Roar's methodical structure, but as Ange said, they have thought ahead and planned for these disruptive tactics. He's always been one step ahead of his counter-part.
What frustrates most A-League sides is the Roar's persistence. They are unflappable and will keep coming at you for 90 minutes. They constantly have players in motion, using the width of the field. They always play out from the back, rather than hoping that the long ball will find someone. Their passing is immaculate and their fitness is unrivalled. What's most impressive is their patience. They may not make the break-through straight away but eventually they will get you.
The question remains, can other sides use the Roar as a model and lift their own standards, in turn, lifting the overall standard of the A-League?
You would like to think that the Roar's form alone would be enough to bring in the crowds. Unfortunately this isn't the case. A touch over 11 000 people witnessed the Roar rip apart Adelaide United. This is a very disappointing figure, considering that Brisbane had won all of their games before that match and are the defending champions. Why then, did they get such a poor showing?
We've seen how Kewell and Emerton have boosted memberships and crowd attendances for their clubs. They are huge international stars and the fans want to see their Socceroo heroes in action. But at what point do Australian audiences start rewarding their clubs for good form? The Brisbane Broncos get over 30 000 people to every game. The Roar will do well to get half that figure and they are playing the best football the A-League has ever seen.
Maybe it isn't enough for the Roar to be playing out of their skin. Maybe the crowd wants every team to be playing at Brisbane's level. That's easier said than done. We can only hope that the nine other A-League sides playing catch-up to the Roar can learn some lessons and make progress of their own. The Roar are showing the way forward and the other teams need to follow.
The television rights for the A-League will be expiring soon. Nothing would bring the dollars and the crowds in quicker than seeing 10 teams playing at the current level of the men in orange.
2 comments:
Every team in the a-league has the potential to play like the Roar do. I've been saying this for years... there was never anything wrong with Australian players, just the tactics and lack of belief.
Also, the quality of the a-league play is fantastic, it's just underrated by idiot 'fans' who bad mouth it to give the impression that they know about the game (most of these were new fans to the game after Aus qualified for Germany 2006).
As for attendance, the attendance will go up when clubs market the games well enough and ticket prices are decent.
e.g. the one a-league game I went to, it took ages to get to the game (rubbish public transport plus shitty location). Paid $30 for the game.
Was a decent game, but not something I'd do every week (unless I had fanatical fans for friends).
I think another huge reason the crowd numbers are low is because the competition can only be seen on foxsports, preventing many potential fans from watching the game on TV and being inspired to get out to see the game. Hopefully a free to air network will purchase the rights to a game or two each week when the contract is up.
Lowering the price tickets has surely been considered. It could be that they have tried this and have not seen a huge rise in attendance.
Post a Comment