It was a battle from start to finish. See the five things we learned from our clash with Brisbane on Saturday night.
Three games, two wins and a trophy
The return from this week’s three matches wasn’t too bad at all. Two wins, a draw and a trophy to boot capped off a week at AAMI Park that saw the Club pick up its first piece of men’s silverware.
Our squad depth was well and truly tested this week with 18 of our fit 21 squad members playing a part in the final squad for the three matches. Compare that to European sides who have double the roster and we think our boys pulled off a mighty effort to stay undefeated during this period
After Sydney’s win against Newcastle on Sunday, we are still six points off the pace, a third of the way through the season and we will look to make that ground up this week against our FFA Cup Final opponents.
Jakobsen’s performance
His start to the season has gone under the radar and over the past week, Michael Jakobsen has made put his name in the ring as one of the best, if not the best defender in the league at the moment.
His man of the match performance on Saturday capped off a week for him where he was close to picking up the Mark Viduka Medal for his exploits during the Westfield FFA Cup final.
The Dane continues to make last-ditch tackles and shows plenty of skill on the ball, escaping out trouble and playing to our demanding style. Defenders often don’t get the credit they deserve and we think he’s shaping up to be one of the best signings of the season.
Colazo’s first
Saturday saw Nicolas Colazo score his first goal for the Club, capping off an impressive return to the side after his early season injury.
The Argentine started on the wing against Brisbane as we looked to use his attacking exploits a bit more than we did in the cup final where he started at full-back.
Forget the scenes that happened behind play, the combination between Luke Brattan, Anthony Caceres and Colazo to penetrate the Roar defence was brilliant as our number nine finished clinically to restore parity. We think there’s more where that came from as he begins to make a mark on the league.
Play the whistle
If there was a lesson learned from Saturday’s match, it would be to play the whistle.
We were rewarded against the Roar when Jade North theatrically fell to the floor after an altercation with Bruno Fornaroli. It seemed that the Brisbane defence had stopped due to the incident and we took full advantage of the situation, finding the equaliser after 54 minutes.
It’s not up to the sides to determine when play is stopped but up to the referee who is the only one who should determine when play should halt. Players are taught from a young age to play the whistle and this was the case in point on Saturday, as we were rewarded for sticking it out.
A big two weeks
Our attention now turns to a massive fortnight where we take on league leaders and FFA Cup Final foes Sydney FC and of course, the Melbourne Derby.
The gap is now at six points and this Friday night is the time to bridge it. We inflicted Sydney’s first loss in all competitions so far this season and that should be motivation enough to get the job done at ANZ Stadium.
Coming up against the 1st and 3rd placed sides will be no easy feat but with a routine week on the track and the motivation to climb to the summit of the table, there is no doubt our boys will be hungry for more.
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