City boss Erick Mombaerts says it’s been a ‘dream’ start to his tenure in Melbourne as his side qualified for its second FFA Cup Final.
The Frenchman’s pre-season has gone according to plan, guiding his side though the knock-out competition for the chance to pick up his first piece of silverware in Australia but the Head Coach says the job is not done yet.
“It’s a good start, it’s the best start I could have dreamed of but a final is only good when you win,” Mombaerts said.
“We now have to analyse this game and improve our defensive organisation. I’m not so happy with our performance today. Yes, we won 5-1 and created a lot of opportunities but I expect better things defensively. It’s a good start but it’s important to stay calm and try to improve our team.”
On the scoreboard, it looked to be a rout for City on the way to the Final but it wasn’t smooth sailing for the visitors, going down in the second minute. Despite the early scare, Mombaerts was confident his side would find a way back into the match and did so with aplomb.
“We conceded the goal early but I was confident, I knew that we could play well,” he said.
“We needed to be calm and concentrate on our game systems. This situation is not an easy situation but we created enough chances in the first half but we also we need to be better in some aspects. Our intensity was high in the second half as well and it was difficult for them as we kept things going tactically and physically.
“I want to congratulate Brisbane Strikers because the tried to play, they tried to play well, its a young team so congratulations to the coach.
“But we are ready to start the season. We’ve had a long pre-season and a competitive cup run so that has helped us. I think we are ready; we need to continue our work on the defensive style now. We have done a lot of work on the offensive organisation but now we need to focus on defence, we need to be better and improve.”
City face either Adelaide United or Central Coast Mariners in the FFA Cup Final but before that, face Melbourne Victory in the season opener at Marvel Stadium on Saturday 12 Ocotber, kick-off 7.30pm.
