Whether it’s a coincidence thrown up by a random draw or a deliberate fixturing ploy created in the FFA’s infinite wisdom, two rounds into the A-League season and Gold Coast Utd have already had the chance to see off both Queensland rivals.
In the end, Brisbane were able to occasionally test the United defence but were outdone by the excellent attacking abilities of the away team. Fury would be wondering why they even bothered flying down for the "contest" between the two sides. For Gold Coast, Queensland has truly been conquered and now it's time to move on to the rest of the country.
One thing I've noticed in my short time living in "God's own country" - having only moved from Perth two years ago - is that things are very different up this way. Australian-isms are claimed as Queensland-isms, drivers can't drive, people care about rugby league, pink shirts are a lot more prevalent than I would've expected and "soccer" (the name by which the sport is almost unquestionably still referred to as up here) is played in a way that is subtly different to what I'm used to. Admittedly my knowledge of Queensland football is limited to my knowledge of the three A-League sides, my six months playing pub-league football and a Michael Flynn FourFourTwo blog on the history of football in Brisbane, but I've already sensed a uniqueness to the way Queenslanders view and play the game - and to be honest I don't like it!
My general impression of Queensland football is that there is a strong focus on the individual ability to win out in one-on-one contests over a team mentality to adhere to a tactical game-plan to overcome the opposition. If a player gets the ball, dribbles or turns into space before moving the ball forward and then off-loads to whoever he first glances calling for the ball, he's done his job. If you try and dribble past someone and they tackle you then they've done their job. Working off the ball, backing up the closing defender and drawing defenders away from a teammate's space are almost non-existent skills because really if the man on the ball wins the one-on-one contest they're not necessary anyway. Creating a goal-scoring opportunity is usually the result of three or four successive pieces of individual skill than a team move that has been executed well. Maybe it's a different immigrant culture in the state. Maybe it's a result of the rugby culture. Maybe it's just the way Queenslanders think. But I'm convinced things are different up here.
Obviously this description doesn't wholly apply to the professional or even highest level amateur sides in the state. At the level I play, the same could be said of teams anywhere in the country. But on the whole I would say the teams I've played with and against in Queensland show this playing mentality a lot more than the equivalent teams in Perth. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing - indeed the focus on individual skill means the one or two really skilful players on the park get to have a lot more influence on a game and can earn a win off their own boot. I dare say though, when I watch Queensland players playing at the top level these same playing principles are becoming more evident to me and I think at A-League level a player of this style can be found out.
The then Queensland Roar were an extremely attractive and exciting team to watch in the first two seasons of the A-League. But since Frank Farina - raised in Cairns - took over, this reputation has been fading. In general, they're a team that'll win when they're playing a team that doesn't have the same class of talent on the park but will lose more often than not against similarly skilled opponents. Their poor finals record is evidence of this trend, as they don't get a chance to put away the weaker teams at the pointy end of the season. Matt McKay for me is about as typical a Queensland player as there is. He gets himself about the park and embraces the physical aspects of the game. He can pass a bit and he can shoot. But he just never really has an impact against the better teams. My theory for this would be that when he's not winning his individual battle on the park, he's not able to influence the game. Maybe I'm just making it up and reading something from nothing, but maybe it's a result of a youth spent in the Queensland footballing system.
So what do my observations on Queensland football have to do with Gold Coast beating Brisbane and North Queensland? Well, watching Bleiberg's side dismantle hapless Fury, it occurred to me how different United's style was to how I perceive stereotypical Queensland football. The attacking trio of Culina, Porter and Smeltz all work hard for each other and have an instinctive knowledge of how they can combine to create a goalscoring opportunity. It's no coincidence that virtually all of United's 10 goals have come from plays between these three. Culina's goal against Brisbane definitely highlights the way they work together.
If, as I'm starting to believe, the Queensland footballing mentality has been a major Achilles' heel for Roar then I'm glad to see no such problem exists for United. Bleiberg's men have conquered both Queensland opponents, but they've also conquered a tactical deficiency that has seen the state claim only one title in the history of national league football in Australia. If the club can convince the Gold Coast public to actually come to games and stop calling the sport soccer, they'll have really conquered the final frontier. But in the meantime I'll be happy to see the team double Queensland's success by maintaining their current league position and succeed where Roar have failed by winning games in the finals series.
