Head Coach John van ‘t Schip remains upbeat despite Melbourne Heart FC’s frustrating 0-0 draw against Melbourne Victory in the Derby at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Head Coach John van ‘t Schip remains upbeat despite Melbourne Heart FC-s frustrating 0-0 draw against Melbourne Victory in the Derby at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Despite dominating the contest, Heart was unable to secure a breakthrough, squandering a number of golden opportunities to find the back of the net and record the Club-s opening win of the Hyundai A-League season.
While van ‘t Schip acknowledged the match could be perceived as a moral victory, he said an inability to capitalise in front of goal proved costly.
However, the Dutchman was ultimately pleased with performance, stating it was a marked improvement on the side-s previous outing against Perth Glory the previous week.
“There were a lot of positives to be taken out from the performance. I think the spirit was really good. In the first half we were playing some really good football, dominating, creating chances,” he said.
“Actually, from the beginning, we were there, and in the second half, we started a bit slow, but after 20 minutes, we got into the game again and created the most possibilities to score, but we didn-t finish them.”
Following the Perth result, van ‘t Schip urged his team to play without fear, with the statement emerging as a constant theme in the build-up to the match.
“After the poor performance against Perth, we knew we could do a lot better this week. We had to go out there and play to our abilities as a team, that-s the most important thing,” he said.
“Then as an individual you can grow, and that happened on Saturday. Some individuals, maybe, played above or better than they did over the last fortnight, while others found their level. There is a lot of future in the team.”
