Warren Joyce addressed the media for the first time on Monday as Melbourne City FC Head Coach. Here’s what he had to say…
ON THE EXPECTATIONS PLACED UPON HIM
“I don’t really think about that. I’ve come in with a purpose, my own aims and self-satisfaction of what I want to achieve and do, and try to leave a mark on Australian football and the players that I work with.
“You come and try to improve everyone daily and look for a performance day in, day out. If you get it on the training ground, it’s not a fluke that you get it in the games.
“You look for basic principles a day at a time. I can’t affect people’s perceptions and what their expectations were. I’ve come in with my own things and that’s the way I’ll go about it.
ON WHAT HE CAN BRING TO MELBOURNE CITY
“You have to aim [for the title], but if you look at the basic things, trying to improve people, get people doing things where they know their jobs with and without the ball and are doing it relentlessly day in, day out.
“There’s teams in England that have won the Premier League through hard work, desire, drive. People knew their jobs but it may have been unfashionable.
“Doing those basic principles well in any country in the world normally leads to success. I think you just start one day at a time really, try to engrain that, see it yourself on the training ground and continue it in the games.
ON HOW HE DESCRIBES HIMSELF AS A COACH
“Hopefully people would regard me as honest, competitive, meticulous on small details and enthusiastic.”
ON THE CLUB’S VISION
“I think that was the major factor [in coming to City]. In football, if you work with like-minded people, you tend to enjoy the job more. I’d expect that in any walk of life if you’re working with like-minded people and you’ve got the same aims, beliefs, drive, and goals. You come in daily with a purpose to enjoy it.”
“You meet [Assistant Coach] Michael Valkanis and everybody else around the football club. It’s a place where people want to be the best they can be and it’s a great environment to work in.”
“The people I’ve met here have all talked the same kind of language. It seemed like a really exciting opportunity to be involved in. I’m just looking forward to the challenge.”
TIME TO IMPRESS
“You’ve got to come and see what you have to work with. It’s no point looking outside the building, you want to see what [the players] are like.
“You watch from afar; you can watch as many video clips as you want. There’s nothing like taking the players yourself, getting a feel for them, talking to them and putting your own demands on them.
“That’s the first bit that you look at. You know their talents at the football club and you’re just looking forward to working with them.
“Players have always got an opportunity to show what they’re really like over the coming weeks, so that’s the main thing I want to see.”
HARD WORK BRINGS CONSISTENCY
“It’s about making sure everybody knows their job with and without the ball, and they’re clear on that through their work on the training ground.
“It’s the meticulous attention to detail that they are flat out every second, of every minute, of every day. That engrains a consistency in the players about their jobs and their roles that hopefully you will see on a Saturday.”
“You want to win with style. The things I’ve just mentioned, you want to win with perfection. You have a clear vision of what you want to see with or without the ball.”
NOT AFRAID TO PLAY THE KIDS
“I think regardless of their age you want to see certain things. If you’re clear in the things you want to see in training and games, it’s who does things best regardless of the age.
“Whether their 37 or 16, it’s immaterial if they’re doing it day in, day out, there’s a pretty good chance they’re going to do it on a Saturday.
“If they can retain information, push themselves, handle the ball and do things right, they’ll have a pretty good chance of playing.
“That’s always been the way with young players. If they get one chance they have to turn it into five games. If they get to five games they must turn it into 10 and so on. But they have to be ready for that challenge, they must push themselves.”
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