Brisbane Roar, Head Coach fronted the media ahead of Thursday’s Isuzu UTE A-League Round 13 clash against Macarthur at Suncorp Stadium.
Cahn, who picked up his first win at the helm last weekend discussed Sunday’s victory against the Jets, the January transfer window, injury news and the approach ahead of Thursday’s match against the Bulls.
On the weekend’s win against Newcastle:
“It’s definitely been a relief for everyone to get that first one and it’s broken a bit of a run. Celebrations weren’t as you would imagine, everybody’s focused on the job at hand and we know we need to improve from the first couple of performances and that’s where everybody’s hungry to go on that journey.
It’s lifted everyone and it’s given us the believe that we can win games. This group of players have won a lot of games this season already, so they know they’ve got it in them.
We’ve got through a really tough period and that playing group have got through a really tough period and they showed immense character to get that win.
Everybody’s just focused on moving forward and trying to improve performances and get some more results.”
On Jay O’Shea and his performance against Newcastle:
“We’re very lucky to have him, in his time at the club he’s done it time and time again. When you’re in a tough run and you’re trailing in a game and you need something it’s players like that are irreplaceable and we’re very lucky that we’ve got him to be able to do that.”
On looking for a faster start in games:
“It’s a challenge, a couple of things contributed I think to the first half. One, we weren’t quite there tactically. Two, we weren’t quite there on an individual and sort of energetic level.
It’s important for us in the minimal time we’ve got to try and tighten up tactically, try and make some tweaks but also really, really use the win to try and drive the intensity and the urgency to start the game and play a better tempo early on.”
On Keegan Jelacic:
“He’s got some of those rare traits, he’s a really good ball carrier he can run at players, he can run behind opposition defences.
I felt in the last couple of games we’ve lacked that a little bit and I think having that skill set available to us is going to change the dynamic of how we can attack and break teams down.
He’s very fit and well-conditioned, he’s obviously had some time off, so it’s going to take time for him to come back to his sharpest and best but he’s training well and he’s ready to make an introduction.
Keegan was at Olympic with me. When he left the Roar last time he came to us, he did really well, it wasn’t a full season, he obviously went to Perth Glory midway through that NPL season but we’re very close, I know him well, he’s exactly the type of person and player that I want in this environment.”
On the club’s approach to player recruitment:
“It’s a collaborative effort, there’s a Director of Football at the club and he’s very, very thorough with his research and data and due diligence and any player. We have a short list of players that we discuss and obviously, some positions that we see as important to try and recruit into and Keegan, when we knew he was potentially available was a no-brainer to fit one of those spots.”
On progress of injured players:
“Touch and go for this game, but we’re hoping that by Newcastle next week we’ll have another three or four on board. Corey Brown will be close, Scott Neville close, Burke-Gilroy close and Henry Hore close as well, so if we can get sort of three out of those four available we’ll be in a really strong position going into that tough week with Newcastle and Mariners.
(Florin Berenguer) is touch and go, we’ll go through some assessment, we’re unsure at this stage.”
On tightness of the league table:
“We’re right in the mix, the key is that we have to put a run together and we have to go on and win a run of games. The A-League traditionally if you end up winning three in a row wherever you are, you generally find yourself in and around that mix anyway
“So I don’t think there’s such pressure on each game where you have to win each game, I think you have to show progress and keep improving and at some stage you have to put a run together, but when you do that, we want to make sure that we’re close enough to be in the mix at that point.”
On putting on a big performance for the home support on Sunday:
“They’re huge and they were outstanding for the Sydney game, it was a big crowd and the noise was brilliant and the passion and engagement was brilliant.
I think we were probably one of the best away supported teams in the Unite Round it was it was so good to see them all behind the goal and we gave them something to celebrate. It would be a big step for us as a whole football club to give them something to celebrate at home this Thursday.”
On countering the threat of Ulises Davila and Valere Germain:
“No doubt that they’re two of the strongest attacking players in the league, when you play any team there’s usually some really strong individuals. Macarthur have those in abundance.
We have some ideas of how we would like to stop them but more importantly than that, it’s about us building what we want to do and imposing ourselves on the game and continuing our evolution for who we want to be as a team and hopefully we can make those steps and get a bit closer to what we want to look like within that we’ll have more control of the game and that in itself will hopefully limit their threat.”
MATCH DETAILS
Isuzu UTE A-League Men 2023/24 – Round 13: Brisbane Roar v Macarthur FC
Suncorp Stadium, Milton
Thursday, 18 January (6:45pm KO)
TICKETS
