Melbourne City Head Coach John van’t Schip said he’s pleased with how his side are tracking at this stage of the pre-season after Tuesday night’s 4-0 win over Melbourne Knights.
With two goals either side of the break, City made it nine goals in two matches against NPL Victoria opponents but the Dutchman wasn’t fazed with the score lines, saying the side’s style of play and dominance in possession is pleasing him the most.
“Of course we were happy with the win but it’s not always the thing we are looking at for now,” van’t Schip said.
“We’re looking at the way that we want to play and the things we are implementing at the sessions during the week and the boys are making good improvements, moving the ball around quickly and on a difficult pitch, we did well.
“It’s also about getting players into 90 minutes so there were a lot of positive signs.
With more minutes under the belt for a range of key players, Tuesday night’s win over Melbourne Knights saw the City debut of Bruce Kamau and Fernando Brandan and the Head Coach was pleased to see how both players will fit into his side.
“Bruce played 70 minutes. We wanted to have him last week against Port Melbourne. He had to step out a few minutes before the game but he did well tonight,” he said.
“You can see that he has good qualities going forward with his speed, he works hard, gives a good energy to the team and we’re happy that he had his first game.
“Fernando played 45 and he also showed some very good signs.
“He’s strong on the ball and doesn’t give it away many times, he can move with the ball quickly, link up so I’m happy for both and hope they can make the next improvement in the FFA Cup.
With City’s first competitive match of the 2016/17 season next week against Floreat Athena in the Round of 32 in the Westfield FFA Cup, van’t Schip believes his players are ready to tackle the knockout cup competition spearheaded with the impressive pre-season form of Bruno Fornaroli.
“Bruno is part of the group and he did well again,” he said.
“He scored three goals and I am happy for him but it’s also important to make sure everyone is physically prepared to play 90 minutes next week and he was one of them, so I am happy that he came through.
“Next week is different because it’s the FFA Cup and we have to travel. There is going to be more pressure on this game but we have our goal in our head and that’s about the way we want to play and getting a result because that’s what we need.
“On top of a game like that, the result is going to be more important but it doesn’t change the approach that we had in the last two games we played. We want to play our own style of football to win and that’s what we want to do up in Perth knowing of course there is more at stake in that game.”
City head to Perth this weekend to prepare for the FFA Cup clash against Floreat Athena on Tuesday 2 August. Fox Sports will be live streaming the match on their website for subscribers, more details here. For ticketing details, click here
