Brisbane Roar remain confident of ‘better results’ despite having lost first three games of the season

Three successive losses to start the season has Brisbane Roar determined to make amends against Adelaide United.

Goalkeeper Macklin Freke is part of a Brisbane Roar team that sits at the bottom of the A-League ladder. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

Roar coach Ruben Zadkovich insists Brisbane is “improving” despite being the only A-League team yet to register a point this season.

The competition cellar dwellers have lost each of their three matches and face another tough battle in Saturday’s Unite Round clash against the unbeaten Adelaide United at Allianz Stadium.

“The position on the ladder’s disappointing and we haven’t taken any points yet, but there are some strong indicators in our performances … and we have to stay very process driven at this point in time and keep improving, but we’re at that point where we want to win as well,” Zadkovich said.

“We’re hungry. The team’s been training really hard in this (international) break. It’s another opportunity for us to get better, and we need to.

“Attitude and mentality-wise, the players have been in all three games really competitive but probably just lacking some quality in some moments under pressure to go and deliver.

“We’re confident, though, that if we keep improving, which we’ve certainly done in the three games, that the process is going to serve us well and it’s going to turn into better performances, better results and better outcomes.”

The future is NOW at @brisbaneroar 🟠✨

Ruben Zadkovich is set to hand a new crop of Roar academy talents their professional debuts 🙌

Watch this space. pic.twitter.com/JkUBuRp6wT

— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 21, 2024

With the Roar hoping to develop a host of young players, Zadkovich paid credit to Adelaide for showing a “really good blueprint” on how to successfully bring youth through a club system, with the obvious example being teenage sensation Nestory Irankunda, who left the Reds earlier this year to join German giants Bayern Munich.

“Where they have the advantages is that they’re a lot further down that process than we are as a club at the moment,” the Brisbane mentor said.

“They’ve got a really strong association with South Australian football. They’re working in tandem with that, which we’re trying to do here now with Football Queensland in trying to build better pathways and better processes for players to come through.

“It is a work in progress. It’s going to take a long time before it’s to the level we need it to be, but we focus on the small steps and small gains.

“We want to … bring through more and more of our own homegrown talent into this squad, which will make us more sustainable long term as a club business-wise.

“It’s also about the right game, right moment, right opportunity for those players and making sure that when they do come in that they’re ready.”

The Roar will again be without Neicer Acosta on Saturday, with the Ecuadorian winger to miss a third successive match with a leg injury.

“He’s probably still two or three weeks away, which is disappointing because we had him earmarked to play a certain role in our line-up, but one man’s misfortune is another man’s gain, and there are players putting their hands up, so that’s given me some selection headaches for sure,” Zadkovich said.