Brisbane Roar fullback Ivan Franjic was one of the four defenders in the 2010/11 Professional Footballers' Team of the Year, but the 24-year-old readily admits he loves the freedom he's given with the Roar.
Brisbane Roar fullback Ivan Franjic was one of the four defenders in the 2010/11 Professional Footballers' Team of the Year, but the 24-year-old readily admits he loves the freedom he's given with the Roar.
During Brisbane's mid-season slump, losing five on the trot after their record 36-match undefeated streak, Franjic was one of the men to help them discover their form in the attacking third, with the confidence to keep pushing forward.
The Melbourne-born right-back makes no bones about his love for Brisbane's attack-first team ethos.
"[Coach Ange Postecoglou] loves to see us attack; it's the team philosophy and it suits me fine. I prefer to attack than defend and I've always felt attacking can be the best form of defence," said Franjic.
"If I can push forward and give us extra options wide it's going to help us to stay forward and play the game where we can attack, which will minimise the amount of defending we have to do anyway."
"There's a lot of great backs - Daniel Alves, Maicon - who've shown that that approach can work at any level."
"I was always a midfielder but after tearing some ankle ligaments I came back at right-back, scored a goal in my first game there and have been in that position since."
While his credentials at both ends of the pitch fit perfectly with the reigning A-League champions, there can be no dispute about his capabilities as a top-level defender, as shown by his surge into Socceroos contention late last year.
Franjic is passionate about pushing for Australian selection down the track and admits to being inspired by former Roar skipper Matt McKay's ascent to the national side and into the Scottish Premier League, but knows the way to future reward lies with his ability to contribute to Brisbane's continued success.
"I'd love to play for the Socceroos; it's a dream, of course and it's great when you do get some of that recognition," he said.
"But it's all about doing the hard work at club level. That's where it all starts and if you have that team success, a lot of the time that's where you generate that attention and start to get the good headlines."
"Definitely seeing what Matty has done last year was a huge inspiration. It shows you can do it. You can do well in the A-League at any age and get rewarded with national stuff and into international circles."
Postecoglou admires Franjic's passion for the game and says the young defender is developing towards a greater consistency and maturity.
"Ivan is still young in terms of being a professional footballer and he's constantly learning and developing and we're pleased with his progress," said Postecoglou.
"We still think there's more in him and part of that is taking a little bit more responsibility, and he did during that time we were struggling there were times where he really stood up."
"There's more consistency to come out of I'm and that's the next development - becoming an effective footballer week in, week out - and he's on the way."
"It's about using the energy and passion he's got in the right avenues. there probably are times when he lets his emotion get the better of him, but that's a maturity thing and it's certainly a good asset that he has."
"Good footballers are usually passionate about their sport, and it's just a matter of channeling it into the right areas, which he's on the way to."