There is no doubt that the style of play employed by Ange Postecoglou and Brisbane Roar this campaign has caught the imagination of football pundits nationwide and earned praise from even the most hardened Euro-centric football connoisseurs.
The ingredients of this football "stew" have been derived from an excellent recruiting crusade in the off season netting the likes of Erik Paartalu, Shane Stefanutto, Matt Smith and Kosta Barbarouses. The other was a preseason training regime involving the ball, and small sided games focusing on passing and moving, the results being a flowing, quick moving style of game which has led to the new Brisbane moniker of Roarcelona.
An integral part of that recruiting campaign was Ange's pursuit of Thomas Broich, and his eventual signing. It has been well documented that Broich made several appearances for the German under 21 team from 2002 to 2004, but that in itself is no reason to hail a player, considering we have had many imports grace this land with many youth caps under their belts. Broich bounced around a number of Bundesliga teams including Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Köln and FC Nuremberg.
During his stint at Borussia Mönchengladbach he rose to prominence and became an important player, but unfortunately the coach lost confidence in him and he slipped down the pecking order until he moved to rival FC Köln. It was during his time at FC Köln when his contract was coming to an end that his services were offered to Adelaide United via a DVD from his agent. The story was Broich had holidayed in Australia and was so enamored with the country, he decided to try to play there. Instead of heading to the city of churches Thomas signed a contract with FC Nuremberg before Ange came a calling and enticed the German to Brisbane.
His transition into the A-League has been seamless, leading many to pontificate if he has the potential to be one of the best imports to grace the league. I know that statement will lead to much scoffing and guffawing from many supporters of other A-League teams.
Victory will profess the case of Fred and his one season of brilliance and of course Carlos Hernandez. Wellington Phoenix have Paul Ifill who has been great since joining last season. Sydney can offer a case for Dwight Yorke, whilst Adelaide have a burgeoning contender of Marcos Flores who is applying for the title. All these players have a fantastic touch and great technique in common. The also have a very intelligent football brain that gives them an edge as well.
There is one area where I believe Thomas Broich has an edge on all the people I have just talked about. Putting aside one moment his abundance of skill, touch, vision and unselfishness, there has been one thing that has impressed me over everything else Broich has provided for the Brisbane Roar this season.
We have all seen "playmakers" enter this league and just sit in the midfield waiting for the ball and then try to execute a killer through ball or amazing pass. The thing that has impressed me most about Thomas is his work rate. My theory is that he is the hardest working import we have seen on these shores.
When Ange has spoken about building his squad for this year's A-League season, he spoke about how he was offered several international players, but none of them fitted the team style that he was trying to instill in the squad, and this is why he pursued Thomas so hard during the off season.
Broich doesn't spend his game time waiting in space for the ball to be provided on a silver platter so he can distribute it accordingly. He is a 90 minute machine that is not out of place beside the Roarsome engine room of Matt McKay and Massimo Murdocca. This was very evident during Roar's three in a week workload recently, where he played all but seven of the 270 minutes on offer running himself into the ground during the third game against Melbourne Victory.
He also backed up this week with Roar's second run of three games in seven days culminating in the sublime performance against Adelaide at Suncorp. He has become virtually untouchable when he has the ball at his feet in the opposing box as defenders are unwilling to make a move because his skill at keeping the ball is at a high level. His durability is also a plus, especially in a league where play makers are often targeted by the so called "hard men" playing defensive midfield in negative teams in the league.
Do yourself a favour, when Brisbane come to town, come and see the amazing Thomas Broich, you won't be disappointed.
