WestSydneyFootball.Com Season 2012/13 A-League Team Preview
Brisbane Roar are the second in the Season 2012/13 A-League team preview series.
Pre-season ownership speculation was resolved with the takeover of the Indonesian Bakrie group. The Champions of 2011-12 were unbeaten for the first 8 games of the season which gave them a record breaking 36 game unbeaten run. Berisha was the A-League Golden Boot Winner with 19 goals. For the majority of last season the Roar were the team to beat. Their attractive possession based mixed with high pressing, ruthlessness in front of goal and a culture of winning instilled by manager Ange Postecoglou to propel the team to their second A-League championship in a row.
Postecoglou has not remained to attempt a third title win, leaving for Melbourne Victory mere days after the Grand Final triumph. In his place Assistant Manager Rado Vidošić was promoted to the top job. Their first foray into the Asian Champions League ended without the Roar picking up a single victory. They drew 3 and lost 3 to crash out in the Group Stage.
Backup keeper Redmayne, out of favour foreigner Nakajima-Farran and Matt Mundy were released. Sayed Mohamed Adnan declined to renew his contract and moved to Bahrain to re-unite with his family. Kofi Danning was transferred to C.S. Vise who are one of the Bakrie stable of clubs.
Ben Halloran joined the club from the ruins of Gold Coast United, Matt Acton was promoted to the first team to replace Redmayne as the backup keeper, Do Dong-Hyan of South Korea and Yuji Takahashi of Japan filled the foreign slots left open by the loss of Adnan and Farran.
More important than these signings was key playmaker Thomas Broich, exciting winger Henrique, Michael 'Theo', Matt Smith, Shane Stefanutto and Ivan Franjic all re-signing new contracts. Broich is the conductor of the Brisbane attack, a creative outlet that can turn a game on it's head with one pass. Berisha is called a goal poacher but that does not pay him enough tribute for his tireless work rate, his passion for football and his darting intelligent runs off the ball that let him score seemingly simple tap-ins. If Rado as a manager can keep up with the level of talent his players have then the Roar could go back to back to back and win a record third A-League championship.
The Roar face a tough start to their A-League campaign as they take on Perth Glory in what is sure to be an intense atmosphere in Perth. They follow that match by hosting the Postecoglou managed Melbourne Victory. The difficult Wellington away fixture will provide a measuring stick. The form and results taken from those three matches will impact on the home matches against Wanderers and Adelaide.
The big question is can Rado Vidošić keep the so called 'Roarcelona' playing style going? Will he be able to stamp his own personality onto the squad? What will that personality be? Postecoglou drove a never say die mentality in the soul of his football team, does Rado Vidošić have the same strength of will?
This season for the Roar will hinge on the success of their new manager. The Bakrie group will not tolerate failure for very long, Rado is my tip for being the first managerial casualty this season.
I predict that Brisbane will finish the season in 3rd position.
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Perth Glory
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Central Coast Mariners
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Brisbane Roar
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Melbourne Victory
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Wellington Phoenix
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Sydney FC
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Western Sydney Wanderers
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Newcastle Jets
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Adelaide United
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Melbourne Heart
