With two thirds of their Hyundai A-League season completed, Brisbane Roar defender Luke DeVere has credited coach Ange Postecoglou’s unwavering commitment to his football philosophy as the key to his team’s success to-date.
While the Brisbane club finished second last on the ladder in last year-s campaign, this season has been a different story for the Roar, recording just one loss in 19 outings under Postecoglou-s guidance.
DeVere said the Brisbane mentor was persistent with the way he wanted his players to play their football, despite harsh criticism at the latter end of last year.
“If you look back to the end of last year when he came in, things were a bit tough for us,” he said.
“We didn-t finish the season too well under his coaching but to his credit, he-s brought in the players he wanted and they-ve done well this season.
“He-s a big part of that.”
The 21-year-old said while Postecoglou-s football philosophy may not have paid dividends immediately, the wait was worthwhile with the Brisbane squad finding the back of the net 35 times since the season start.
The Roar also lead the league statistics in total shots on target and passing efficiency and also boast the Hyundai A-League-s best discipline record this season with the least amount of red and yellow cards so far.
“The things he-s been trying to instil in the club are the same and he was the same in that sense last year in that he knew what he wanted,” DeVere said.
“He-s done that this season – he knows what he wants and he knows how he wants his team to play.”
On a personal note, DeVere also believes he has benefited from Postecoglou-s coaching after he was nominated in the squad-s leadership group by his teammates and coaching staff in the pre-season.
“The last two years I-ve learnt a lot with the older players here but this year, I-ve tried to step it up a bit more and be more of a leader where I can,” he said.
With Brisbane taking on Melbourne Victory this Friday night, Postecoglou said the memory of their 3-0 loss at AAMI Park in September was not the biggest motivator heading into the clash.
“I don-t think it-s about owing anyone anything, it-s about getting better and keeping consistency in our performances,” he said.
“Even that day, I thought we played quite well for the majority of the game but they took their chances and they beat us.
“The focus for us is that we want to continue on the road we-ve started on.”
Brisbane Roar-s next home game is the December 26 derby clash with Gold Coast United. Kick-off for that match is 6pm and tickets are available through Ticketek (click here).
