Respec ... Victory coach Ange Postecoglou is impressed with Wanderers' start in the A-League. Source: AAP
Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou admits he's been surprised with the quality of Western Sydney Wanderers' start to life in the A-League.
The Wanderers sit mid-table, with their hallmark under coach Tony Popovic a superbly organised defence.
Postecoglou knows how hard it is to start a coach's work from scratch, having laid down new styles and brought in fresh personnel at both his dual-champion Brisbane Roar and now the Victory.
"I think they've been outstanding to be honest,'' Postecoglou said ahead of his side's trip to Parramatta Stadium for their match on Saturday night.
"They've been not just competitive, but played some great football and they've been great for the comp.
"I know how tough it is, what they've done. If anything, I thought they may have started tailing off.
"But they seem to be covering the absences they've had, and the foreigners have fitted in pretty well.''
The coaching admiration is mutual.
Popovic believes Postecoglou is starting to work his magic at the Victory, overcoming early-season struggles to be unbeaten in their past three matches.
"They're starting to show the type of football he wants to play,'' Popovic said on Friday.
"It's been a catalyst for the league improving with the way he played in Brisbane.
"Now we're seeing he's gone to Melbourne and the influence he has there, they're playing very good football. We're expecting a very tough game.''
However despite Popovic's compliments, Postecoglou has warned squad changes in the January transfer window are likely if his club's leaky defence cannot be plugged in coming matches.
Despite an unbeaten run of three games, the Victory are allowing untimely goals with frightening regularity.
Only Sydney FC have conceded more goals this season - in large part due to their 7-2 smashing by Central Coast a few weeks ago.
Postecoglou says he will give his existing personnel the chance to sort out their problems.
But if they don't, he says the January transfer window could be an opportunity to bring in players who can.
"Maybe,'' Postecoglou said when asked if he would look outside the club to strengthen his defence.
"If we start looking to the transfer window from now, we'll miss about 10 games which could define our season.
"It's more about the players we've got at the moment and improving our performances in those areas.
"We need to stop conceding goals, and the goals we're conceding aren't the greatest.
"Defensively it's an area we need to strengthen, no doubt about that.''
But Postecoglou is thrilled with his side's creativity going forward, with the Victory's 12 goals in seven games making them the league's second top-scorers.
Postecoglou is set to bring back Socceroos striker Archie Thompson and midfielder Gui Finkler after they missed the 2-2 draw with Central Coast last weekend through illness and injury.
Midfielder Marcos Flores is suspended after his send-off last week, creating one starting vacancy.
But Postecoglou says exciting youngster Andrew Nabbout - who replaced Thompson and now has three goals in his past two matches - has earned the right to start.
That could mean Isaka Cernak drops to the bench after replacing Finkler last weekend.
The Wanderers will be without suspended Youssouf Hersi, which could open the door for ex-Newcastle Jets flyer Tarek Elrich to replace him.
Watch Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne Victory live and exclusively on Fox Sports 1HD at 7:45pm on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment