The Brisbane Roar squad were put through their paces in a tough training session on the Ballymore field this morning with Head Coach Ange Postecoglou declaring spots are still up for grabs for next week’s Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
Brisbane have the smallest squad of any of the teams participating in the Hyundai A-League, with just 20 players on the books, but few could argue that Postecoglou-s quality over quantity approach hadn-t worked wonders for the Roar this season.
“There is always competition and we haven-t made a decision on the team yet,” he said.
“We-ve proven quite consistently this year and even in the last game, it-s not just a matter of who starts but of who comes off the bench that makes a big difference.
“We-ve been better at that than all other clubs and the players know that so from our point of view, we just want to make sure everyone is absolutely cherry ripe for the Grand Final, physically and mentally.
“So whether they play 90 minutes, half an hour or two minutes, they contribute.”
Postecoglou had no doubts that the final 16 players chosen would be more than capable of doing the job on Grand Final day, citing the chemistry between the squad as more significant than any player-s individual talent – a belief the Brisbane boss has carried throughout the season.
“With us, the chemistry has been good all year – I think that-s the key to our success,” he said.
“Just having the quality of players we do have, and we do we-ve got great quality throughout the squad, is not enough you have to have the chemistry right.
“They play our style of football and they all react well to one another so I think that-s the key for us.”
This weekend without a match is the Roar-s first since prior to Australia Day and Postecoglou welcomed the break but said he had big plans to make the players work hard for a spot in the Grand Final squad next week.
“It was our tough session for the week,” Postecoglou said.
“We made sure the boys worked hard, they were good today and now they-ve got a couple of days off over the weekend.
“At this stage of the year, you don-t really need a game, we just need to make sure they are in good nick.”
Brisbane Roar will host the Hyundai A-League 2010/11 Grand Final on Sunday, 13 March at Suncorp Stadium, kicking off at 4pm.
Visit the Ticketek website or call Ticketek on 13 28 49 for tickets.
