A-League: Thomas Broich says Brisbane Roar must stay in touch with competition leaders

BRISBANE’S long-held mantra of performances being more important than results is even starting to test the patience of long-time Roar conductor Thomas Broich.

Thomas Broich of the Roar is tackled by David Carney of the Jets during the round 8 A-League match between the Newcastle Jets and the Brisbane Roar at Hunter Stadium in Newcastle, on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

BRISBANE’S long-held mantra of performances being more important than results is even starting to test the patience of long-time Roar conductor Thomas Broich.

Despite arguably playing better football in the past few weeks than at the start of the season when they were winning games regularly, the Roar have picked up just two points in their past three matches to slide to fourth on the ladder.

The three-time A-League champions were left particularly frustrated on Saturday night when they outplayed the in-form Western Sydney Wanderers at Pirtek Stadium only to lose 2-1.

They now sit four points being the first-placed Wanderers ahead of this Saturday’s “home” clash against Wellington Phoenix in Cairns.

It’s the first of a handful of successive matches the Roar play against teams presently below them on the ladder, with Brisbane keen to cash in.

“We can’t turn away from the fact that if we keep dropping points it’s going to be hard to win the league and ultimately that’s what we’re playing for,” Broich told The Courier-Mail on Sunday.

“We’ve got to make sure that the gap (between the Roar and the top of the table) doesn’t open up even further.

“If you’re playing well but not collecting results and you’re in no-man’s land on the ladder, no-one feeds off that.

“We need to make sure that our performances are right, the results are coming and that we’re setting ourselves up for a really strong finish for the season.

“You can’t guarantee anything in football. It’s a game of chance to a certain extent but you can give yourself every chance of winning a game by performing well.

“And that’s exactly what we’re doing at the moment but at the same time we’ve got to be careful that this run doesn’t go on for too long.”

Having spent the majority of his stellar Roar career on the left wing, Broich played on the right flank for an hour against the Wanderers to cater for Henrique’s return to the starting team.

The former German under-21 international admits the positional switch will take some getting used to if Roar coach John Aloisi persists with the ploy.

“It’s a whole different story on the right because I can’t come inside on to my strong right foot, but at the same time I drift inside more and link up with the other guys,” Broich said.

“It was good for Ricky (Henrique) to play on the left. Last season he had the opportunity of playing there (when Broich was injured or used in the midfield), and he did so well and we thought it might be worth a shot.

“I think I need a bit of time to get used to the idea of playing on the right because for most of the last five years I’ve been playing on the left with Matty (McKay) and Shane (Stefanutto).

“But it did work and it shows we can mix it up a little bit, which makes it not easy for the opposition as well.”