Queensland Roar 0 Perth Glory 0

The Roar can't score. A reasonably sized crowd watched in disbelief as Queensland, mainly in the form of front men Brosque and Baird, squandered chance after chance and walked away with one of the more lively nil-nils you'll ever see. Particularly in the second half, the Roar dominated the game, playing nice, inventive football -- albeit far too often through the middle but did everything but score.

It looked promising from the off. Bleiberg had clearly noted the problems with lack of width and dealt with them by having the team line up in a 3-1-3-1-2 formation. (That sounds very complicated, but what it boils down to is three at the back with Seo covering in front of them, and Carro pushing up to play in the hole.) McKay and Dilevski tried to find space out wide, sadly unsuccessfully. Dilevski in particular had a very poor first half, but improved out of sight when switched to the left when Murdocca had to go off injured and Richter took the right. Richter is just what Queensland needed. Quick, willing to take players on, perhaps not quite willing enough to head for the byline, he worked hard and found the acres of space out on the right that Dilevski, unwilling to push too far forward, hadn't.

The first half was a little disappointing. Queensland made most of the running, but too often their promise foundered on Baird's lack of ability and overambition. Baird could do with learning more about where he can lay the ball off to and thinking less about fancy flicks and tricks. He's a limited player, but he could certainly be effective at this level. He worked hard, running tirelessly, and that's valuable in a league where far too many players play it at a walk.

The Roar looked happy enough with three at the back. Perth were not very ambitious, despite their talent up front. Neither Mori nor Despotovski had a good game; although both found plenty of space, neither pulled the defence out of shape too often. Personally, I feel Gibson is played out of position. He would be far better used as the holding midfielder. His distribution is good and he's a willing tackler, but he makes mistakes, particularly when he loses the ball upfield and will not work back hard enough. McLoughan and Dodd were very solid and reliable -- the former in particular making one last-gasp tackle that saved a certain goal.

Murdocca and Carro had the better of it in midfield, although each contrived to lose the ball far too often for comfort. They were lucky that Perth had a distinctly average game. Against more purposeful opposition, such as Sydney or Melbourne, the Roar could have been on the end of a thumping. They didn't either look wide often enough, but I think they can be excused by noting that neither winger played well or found and space, and neither striker looked to go wide for the ball. It's a continuing problem for Queensland that Baird and Brosque, the latter in particular, look to play all their football through the middle. It's nice when they play a cute one-two, but it works only rarely when a percentage ball out wide would at least maintain possession and give support time to arrive.

The Roar improved in the second half. McKay looked a lot happier in the middle and Carro, who was having a 'mare, made way for Moon, who is solid if untalented. Dilevski started to get forward and the chances followed one after another. Brosque didn't pack his shooting boots though, squandering several very good chances. In all, I'd say the Roar had more than 30 shots at goal, all but a handful going wide.

I wouldn't lose heart if I were Miron Bleiberg. The side is clearly competitive in this league, probably even one of the better teams if he can sort the tactical problems out. Seo was criminally wasted too far back on the pitch. If he were playing in Carro's role, his immaculate passing and vision would have been put to much better use. He was, as usual, very keen to get the foot in too, which he could do further up the pitch to break it up at the source. I'd like to see Queensland play 442, with Seo and McKay or Murdocca in the middle, Brosque wide left with a licence to roam (he's clearly an attacking midfielder, not a striker) and Richter on the right. Dilevski would be worth a shot up front. He was certainly strong and neat enough to be useful up there. I could see them playing 352, with Seo the apex and Gibson the base of midfield, but frankly, in this league any side that plays a solid 442 is going to get results.

Best player for the Roar was McLoughan. He has a touch of class at this level and defended very well when he had to. Seo was excellent in what he did but he needed to be more involved. Brosque played well but you can't rate a striker who wastes as many chances as he did, no matter that his general play was very good.

The referee had a poor game. He made several very bad decisions, in particular when he denied the Roar a clear penalty. Everyone in the stadium, including everyone on the pitch, saw a Perth defender handle the ball in the box, except for him. If he did see it, I can only wonder what his excuse for not giving it was, because the guy practically punched it.

posted by Dr Zen @ 10:51 am