EXCLUSIVE: Hours before Brisbane Roar’s must-win ACL clash in Tokyo, skipper Matt Smith says there’ll be no change to the A-League champions’ attacking philosophy despite a formation tweak.
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New Brisbane coach Rado Vidosic has swiftly put his stamp on the side by adjusting the Roar’s system ahead of thei clash with FC Tokyo tonight at the National Stadium.
“We go from two number 10s to two number sixes,” Vidosic told au.fourfourtwo.com after training on Monday night.
But Smith said fans shouldn’t read too much into this new set-up.
“I read the report that we’ve gone with two number sixes but in terms of the way we play and the philosophies, nothing changes,” he said.
“We still press, we still play the same type of balls as before and the same rotations and we’re still always on the attack, so although we have changed the formation slightly, the whole philosophy of what Roar is about hasn’t changed.”
Central midfield star Erik Paartalu will have a midfield partner rather than playing the role of a number six alone.
“It gives us the ability to have a left and right side, as opposed to Erik having to do both. And just because they start in those positions, doesn’t mean they end up in those positions,” said Smith.
“And Rado has given us the flexibility in those positions to do something diverse. They don’t necessarily have to be stick figures in the centre of the park.
“If Erik goes then Luke Brattan or Massimo stays and vice versa. For us it’s about reading each other’s movements on the pitch and we always now have that number six in that position.”
Midfielder Luke Brattan is vying for a starting XI spot for tonight’s game.
A crowd of around 10,000-15,000 is expected tonight. Roar, six points adrift of the top two in the group, are desperate to win by three goals to keep their ACL dreams alive.
Smith added: “People think we’ve changed and we have slightly when you look at it on paper and I’m sure we’ll set up slightly different, but in terms of the way we play, it’s very similar to the way we played before.
“We’re tweaking small things and that’s great. As a playing group we’ve certainly bought into that for our first match under Rado tonight.”
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