Head Coach Tony Popovic spoke to the media after Victory’s draw against Sydney FC.
On the performance…
“Of course, against ten men, you want to take advantage of a numerical superiority.”
“We did everything but score.”
“We probably just lacked a bit of that cutting edge around the box, the composure you need in those moments.”
“Defensively I thought our structure was excellent second half. I don’t believe they had an attempt on goal.”
“We’re judging it by the performances and our performances have been extremely consistent.”
“Today was maybe an opportunity missed.”
“But on the other side of it, we never looked like conceding a chance, let alone a goal. So that’s really encouraging.”
On the absence of Bruno Fornaroli…
“He’s a Socceroo.”
“If we won this game I’d still say we missed Fornaroli. He’s a top class player.”
“We got in those areas well, we just lacked that little bit.”
On Salim Khelifi’s debut…
“He’s had a couple of training sessions with us.”
“I thought he made a good contribution, he was positive.”
“Obviously he needs to adapt to a different team, different way of playing.”
“But I thought it was very positive from him.”
On Nishan Velupillay’s performance in a more central role…
“He’s an attacking player that can play various roles.”
“I thought he did well. It was a different role.”
“He was dangerous throughout, just needs to find that little bit of composure around the box.”
On the challenge of breaking down opposition defences…
“All players have different attributes. We have a very mobile, young, not so much used to starting games, frontline.”
“Daniel’s (Arzani) new to starting games, Nishan is (too), Zizou’s new to our country. They’re adapting very well. I’m happy with their progress.”
“We’ve got young players with quality, just lack a bit of experience and know-how around the box.”
