In their first home game of the season, Brisbane Roar welcomed back Ange Postecoglou in a big way on Saturday, thrashing the Victory 5-0 in front of over 17,000.

Melbourne Victory

1. Possession

This was probably the only thing that provided some glimpse of what is trying to be done at Victory. There was some good pieces of play of passing around the ball in the early stages. The problem was there was nothing forward to get to (as I’ll explain) and there was no consistency to it. Jeggo looks definitely more suited next to Bru than Broxham is, while Finkler had some nice touches but couldn’t force himself into the game.

2. Leaking at the back

Dilevski replaced Milligan in the defence, but Foschini moved next to Leijer as the centre-half. I think that proved a mistake, Foschini didn’t really have the body or know-how to stop a rampaging Berisha. Traore and Dilevski were ripped apart by Halloran/Franjic on the right and Steffanuto/Broich on the left. Victory, admirably, played high for most part but it needs to get organised and quick.

3. Nothing forward

Flores began in that same false nine role as last week, Danny Allsopp replaced Socceroo Archie Thompson, and in a bit of surprise local VPL product Andrew Nabbout replaced Marco Rojas wide on the right. Flores was isolated and had no effect on the game, Allsopp didn’t provide anything, butchered the rare shots that came his way and Nabbout looked solid before being replaced by Theo Markelis. The attack had no say on the game what so ever.

4. Potential 3-5-2?

There are problems at the back and forward in particular. Flores needs help up front and someone to next to him or in front of him, so why not Archie Thompson? The false nine role seems to leave the attack with no real purpose. Add Finkler advancing in front to Bru and Jeggo, with Traore and Rojas wide. Possibly worth a go and leave some comments, but In Ange We Trust.

5. Be patient

A word of advice to Victory fans, take it as you will: keep your nerve and keep supporting. It is easy to get swept up in the expectations and this humiliating result, but don’t underestimate the task ahead. The club has never had this philosophy in its history and after its past two seasons in which there has been no leadership from the top, it reaps what it sows. Ange came in to a mess and cleaning up will be over a season, not weeks. I doubt this will be the first and last this is heard in regards to Victory this season.

Brisbane Roar

1. Hungry

It takes a special type of team to keep coming back even better than before, and that’s what the Roar showed in a scary display. I read an interesting piece from my fellow FourFourTwo blogger Mike Flynn in the lead-up to the game about the 110% and the motivations of teams. So a question to be raised out of this is whether this was a one-off performance or whether the Roar have moved to an even higher plane than what the league is on.

2. Strong

No matter how Victory tried to pass and maintain possession, they were chased and bumped off the ball. The Roar bullied the visitors with ease, and in part you can look at their bigger bodies for that. Eric Paartalu, Besart Berisha, Ivan Franjic and Shane Steffanuto in particular bossed their positions and opponents. Much of this can be attributed to Ken Stead and co. for their work done.

3. Quick

This is their biggest difference with the Victory, their size, strength is complimented by speed and nimble passing. All night they were one step ahead of Victory, in speed of mind and body. Add Ben Halloran in to that as well, he fits like a glove. There is an understanding there and a system that the players know and its one they’ve embraced under Ange and will only evolve under Rado.

4. Some changes

This looks a same but different Roar side, if that makes sense. There is that pace and options wide in Franjic/Steffanuto and Broich/Halloran, but some more interplay in midfield with Paartalu, Murdocca and Nichols. They also don’t look afraid to hit the long pass when its on, and that’s a sign of confidence. Broich can drift wide or go deep to receive as well. Berisha I thought looked to play high on the shoulder of the defence, whether or not that was only a tactic to exploit Leijer/Foschini in this game, we’ll find out.

5. Youth

Halloran, Fitzgerald, Jurman, Hingert et al. will lead this club for a few years to help keep Brisbane at the top for years ahead. This isn’t an old team, but an experienced one now. There is enough youth in there to sustain that for years to come.