Following Friday night’s loss against Western Sydney, we take a look at some of the quotes and notes from the match up, as the side turns to Brisbane on Friday night.
Quotes
Melbourne City FC Head Coach John van’t Schip
Thoughts on the performance…
“It was a poor performance and we all have to be responsible for that and I am the first one. I am not happy at all and we will analyse what we did wrong in preparing and getting the team ready for this game.
“We were clearly not ready, not on our front feet, we were late in our forward defending and couldn’t keep the ball and we were outplayed in the midfield. I can continue but it’s my responsibility, it was a poor performance from our side and a poor performance from me.”
On the slow start to the match…
“I think today you could see clearly that it didn’t get better. We had to change Aaron Hughes at half-time, he got problems again and we heard just before the start of the second half that he had to step off. Steve Kuzmanovski was also struggling so we had to put in two changes with Corey [Gameiro] and Jack [Clisby], and then we got the second goal against us.”
“After that you could clearly see that we were all different units on the pitch and trying to do things, but not really together. It made it quite easy for Western Sydney to have their win here today. Not taking anything away from their performance, but we had a poor performance today and they deserved to win.”
On the absence of Patrick Kisnorbo and Aaron Mooy…
“We don’t talk about that, we know that is the issue. We put in Aaron Hughes and we got Harry [Novillo] back and Stefan Mauk went into the position of Aaron Mooy.”
“We continued with what we think should be our way of playing but today it clearly wasn’t that way. We can analyse that Patrick and Aaron weren’t there, but it is no excuse.”
On the preparation for the match…
“It is the first time we have had a longer turnover. Last week we had a quick turnover for our program, so we had a bit more time to prepare.”
“We miss out on two players just before the start of this game so we put other players in. It is a little too much of players coming in and out of the team. That’s our situation and it is not easy for the players coming in. Today it was struggling and it was not easy for Harry, it was not easy for Aaron Hughes.
“You are always convinced you have done everything to prepare them in the best way but clearly we were not there.”
Looking ahead…
“I’m confident and it is important we are all confident – the players and the supporting staff. It is something where we have to go back to the drawing board and the pitch and work hard. There is an important and difficult game coming up against Brisbane away, so we have all reasons to work hard and try to turn it around.”
Western Sydney Wanderers Head Coach Tony Popovic
Thoughts on the win….
“Well so far six games in I think it is the best we have had. In terms of performances at a whole, we have shown glimpses throughout the first five games but today was a more complete performance.”
“Our intent was very good from the outset. We were very positive, we controlled the game and then we got our rewards for it in the second half. We didn’t get it in the first-half – we didn’t get create too many clear cut opportunities but we controlled the play – and in the second half we got our reward. It was pleasing to see that we could put away those chances.”
On Federico Piovaccari’s first Hyundai A-League goal.
“Pio is like our club, our team. We knew he would come, we had faith in him as we had after three games when we didn’t win.”
“We know what direction we are heading, we didn’t get too despondent after the first three games and we won’t get carried away now either. We will keep progressing and keep improving and hopefully we can put on more performances like we did tonight.”
On his side structure…
“I think the balance is getting better. It is coming with the player’s fitness and understanding and settling into a new league and country; it takes time. We tried to start something new in pre-season, you bring in a bunch of new players, new staff, and it’s still evolving.
“Today we were disciplined very well in terms of how we moved the ball and defensively. I’m pleased for the whole group and we’ve got a young player in there, Jonathan Aspropotamis, who’s growing with each game.
“He was up against a very good opponent tonight in [Bruno] Fornaroli who has been scoring and playing well. It was a great test for the boy and he passed with flying colours.”
Notes
- The match saw Melbourne City FC defender Aaron Hughes make his Hyundai A-League debut for the Club. The Northern Ireland international was solid in his 45 minute cameo, before being substituted at the interval for precautionary reasons.
- Former City goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne made a return to AAMI Park for the first time as a Wanderers player. The goalkeeper made 48 appearances for the City before joining Western Sydney in pre-season.
- Despite finishing the game without a goal, City striker Bruno Fornaroli still leads the Hyundai A-League goal-scoring charts with 5 goals to his name, equal with Melbourne Victory striker Besart Berisha.
- Western Sydney’s Italian marquee striker Federico Piovaccari finally ended his barren run in-front of goal, netting his first ever Hyundai A-League goal with a controversial 62nd minute strike.
- City turn to Friday night where they take on the in-form Brisbane Roar. Suncorp Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for City with a 28.57% win percentage. It’s their second favourite away ground in the Hyundai A-League (over 5 matches) behind Allianz Stadium.
