MICHAEL CORMACK
Brisbane Roar striker Besart Berisha has warned rivals the Brisbane team is as hungry as ever for success in the current 2012-13 A-League season and is not scared to fight for it.
The Albanian said his side was ready to encounter any physical play used to stop the Roar’s free-flowing football.
“For us it is no problem if other teams want us hurt,” Berisha said.
“We are really working hard and we are preparing ourselves for this.”
Berisha, who was the A-League’s top scorer last season, said grand final success two years’ running had only made the team hungry for more.
“I see the way they [the rest of the team] think, the way they work,” the 27-year-old said.
“For us it is like a motivation to work more in training and to reach the next level.
“I am so hungry [for it] and I can see for the boys, back-to-back is not enough.”
The Roar’s bid for a third grand final win in a row has been strengthened by the arrivals of promising young Korean winger Do Dong-Hyun and former Gold Coast United prodigy Ben Halloran.
Berisha was quick to praise the signings of the two young players and said he was more than happy to be on the same side as Halloran, who has caused Brisbane plenty of problems in the past.
“All the boys are very happy with the new signings,” he said.
“I was very angry at him [Halloran] last year,” the striker joked.
“He really gave us so many problems.
“I am so happy and glad he is in Brisbane and on our team because… we were all really struggling playing against him.”
There was also no lack of praise for 19-year-old Do, and Berisha said he was ready to make an impression on the game despite his tender age.
“I really like him, he is a big talent,” Berisha said.
“He is still young but he is really strong and good.
“I believe in him very much…the club has signed a very good player,” he said.
While the off-season offered some blows for the Brisbane team, with the loss of title-winning coach Ange Postecoglou and the departure of starting central defender Mohamed Adnan, Berisha said he was confident the club would overcome those setbacks in the current season.
The Roar has hired Postecoglou’s former assistant, Rado Vidosic, as the new head coach and Berisha said the transition would be seamless.
“We feel good because Rado was always here in Brisbane and the boys know him really well,” he said.
“To work with him is not something new and we are feeling good to work with him.”
After playing a largely attacking style under Postecoglou, Berisha said the team would be more defensively solid under the new coach.
“We received goals which we should not have received and we have to work hard on that,” he said.
“We are working on the bad things with Rado really effectively and trying to make them better.”