Head Coach John Aloisi believes his team has replicated the same confident feel that simmered ahead of its Brisbane Roar conquest a fortnight ago.
John Aloisi believes his team has replicated the same confident feel that simmered ahead of its Brisbane Roar conquest a fortnight ago in training this week, as the Heart looks to shoot down Newcastle Jets with similar potency at AAMI Park tomorrow.
Despite returning home from Adelaide last week empty handed, Melbourne Heart FC-s Head Coach is optimistic his side can turn on the style against a Jets side desperate to bounce back from humiliation at Hunter Stadium.
Smarting from a 1-0 loss at Hindmarsh, Heart have hit the training track with purpose this week to erase the memory of Jeronimo Neumann’s cruely deflected strike that settled matters.
However, the Jets could arguably have a stronger fire burning in their belly after they were humbled 3-0 by Wellington Phoenix last Sunday and the visitors will be looking to cause a Melbourne meltdown with the mercury set for the 30-degree mark tomorrow.
“The boys had a good week of training. This week has felt like the week leading up to the Brisbane game so that-s a positive sign,” Aloisi said.
“We-ve had good training sessions, the boys are confident; they understand where I was coming from after the Adelaide game.”
With captain Fred to re-enter the fray after a three game absence, but Mate Dugandzic set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Aloisi spoke of the difficulty in maintaining consistent performances when forced to change his starting line-up.
“We haven-t had a consistent side for most of the season; we-ve always had a lot of players missing,” Aloisi said.
“It-s not going to change with the Aussie selection [of Michael Marrone, Richard Garcia and Aziz Behich] yesterday, but we just have to deal with it, and we-ve been giving opportunities with younger boys or players that haven-t played on a regular basis in the last few weeks so that probably boils down to it.”
“Plus we-ve got a few players in and different players from last year. We said from the beginning we won-t be that consistent but we will grow as a team and get stronger and stronger and I still believe that.”
Youngsters David Vrankovic and Ben Garuccio are back in the mix after returning from international duty, while GolGol Mebrahtu is on the radar after recovering from injury and featuring in the Heart-s National Youth League side recently.
While attention is likely shift to the experience of Simon Colosimo and his central defensive partner of Patrick Gerhardt who will be tasked with the potential handful of Jets marquee man Emile Heskey, Aloisi remained focussed on his own players.
“It-s always good to see such a good player playing in this league,” Aloisi said of Heskey.
“I-m sure [the players] are happy to play against a good striker and test themselves against the best going around in this league.
“As a coach we don-t really worry about who-s playing in the opposition, we try to work out how best to break down the other team and defend against them.”
The presence of Jets- top scorer, who has netted on five occasions in seven matches, will undoubtedly be a key factor in the match, however; Aloisi acknowledged the Jets- other dangermen, including the trio of Craig Goodwin, Ryan Griffiths and James Virgili.
