As Melbourne City prepare for a top-four clash with Adelaide United, Michael Matricciani has reflected on the importance of teamwork and hard work as the team approaches the pointy end of the season.
City will host Adelaide at the ctrl:cyber Pitch this Sunday 16 March, kick-off 4:00pm. Ahead of the fixture, Matricciani spoke to the media.
Read the Manager’s pre-match thoughts below…
TOP-FOUR CLASH
“I think they’ve [Adelaide United] been playing really well and getting more consistent over the last probably two to three months, which, they’ve sort of been hanging in that title race and now they’re only four points behind and we play them.
“Who knows what happens, this weekend. But yeah, it’s definitely an opportunity for us to try and kick away from them and put a seven point gap. But our focus is on what their strengths are, how we can nullify them, and obviously what we do well and how we can win this match.
“I’ve been getting told this [about the ALW unbeaten record] probably the last four or five weeks, to be honest. But for me personally, no, I’m big on what’s next and just focusing on what’s ahead of us and what we can control and what we can control is how we train, how we prepare, how we recover, how we keep giving detail to the players to make sure they’re improving individually and collectively.”
ONE BIG TEAM EFFORT
“We have a very talented squad, but talent doesn’t win you championships.
“Teamwork, camaraderie and hard work is what is the key. You can have all the talent in the world, but if they’re not happy to work together, then you’re never going to get success and what I love about this club and this team in particular, is that we’re all about each other.
“Everything that happens in team sport is about a team, there’s no one person that wins anything, especially the coach. As much as you know, some people like to pin it on the coach, I’m one person in a squad of 23 and a team of seven staff and then support staff that we have here, and leadership that we have that’s always supporting us.
“It’s a big team effort. But yes, I’m very proud of where we’re at so far.”
A TOUGH RUN AHEAD
“It is a tougher situation then obviously if we had played the game in Brisbane, but we can’t control the uncontrollable. For me, I never worry about that, I’m just focused on what’s coming up, what’s next, how we’re going to prepare both, mentally and physically for the games that are coming.
“We are very much in a really good space. We’re only getting better and we’re getting more consistent in especially the little details that we’ve been working on.
“Our squad of 23 players is fully fit, so it gives me a lot of headaches on, you know, even choosing a bench, but, we’re in a really good space. Yes, there’s a tough few weeks coming up for us, but, any time you want to win silverware, you’re going to have to do it. You have to earn it. So every point is earned, and it starts this weekend.”
