Melbourne City star Holly McNamara has highlighted the impact of her teammates and the Club following her electrifying start to the Liberty A-League season.
One of the most exciting attacking talents in the league, McNamara has started the 2023/24 season strongly, leading the league in attacking sequence involvements (26).
“I think in terms of the A-Leagues, and where I want to be right now, Melbourne City is the most professional club in Australia so having that consistency helps – being at a club where you’re treated as a professional,” McNamara said.
Catch Holly McNamara and her City teammates in action at this Sunday’s doubleheader at AAMI Park.
“The way we want to play is very professional, very structured, very organised… instead of chasing the long ball we want to play football,” she added. “We want to play the best type of football and make it as far as we can this year.”
“It’s also about playing with some of the best players in the league,” McNamara emphasised. “You’ve got Rhianna Pollicina, who’s been the best player probably in the league over the past few years that wants to keep coming back here as well – it’s a real testament to the club and to what Dario [Vidosic] is doing.”
Leading into the 2023/24 season was the first full pre-season under Head Coach Dario Vidosic, something that the team has really benefited from according to the 20-year-old.
“Having that pre-season with Dario and having him from day dot and expanding on from what he did last season has been really good,” McNamara said. “He’s brought in some new ideas and new structures and it’s just about us learning now and putting it all into practice.”
“I think we’re starting to gel as a team,” she added. “The way we play and the style we want to play, it’s really important to try and understand each other better than maybe another team would because we want to play that possession style.”
Boasting the likes of Hannah Wilkinson, Rhianna Pollicina, Daniela Galic, Bryleeh Henry, and now Emina Ekic to go alongside McNamara, City is highly regarded as one of the league’s most threatening attacking teams. Although the team’s attack stems far beyond the front third.
“Playing with the likes of Pollicina, Galic, even with Emina coming in and same as Wilkie [Hannah Wilkinson] – we all want to play an attacking style of football and it’s not just about us attackers, it’s about the whole team,” McNamara said.
“From the front to the back, you’ve got players like Rebekah Stott, who I’m so excited to play with week in and week out. With how smart she is, how calm she is, it’s just perfect for our system, she’s such a great player to play with.”
“Having Emina back is such a boost for us, you could see in the games she played last season how dangerous she is and she fits into our system pretty much perfectly.”
MATCH DETAILS
A-League Women’s Round 4
Melbourne City FC v Western Sydney Wanderers
Sunday 12 November, 5:45pm
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Click here to get your tickets
