Melbourne Victory has introduced a regular medical update for the 2021/22 season to keep members and fans informed on the health and wellbeing of the Men’s and Women’s squads.
The management of teams and players is a complex and dynamic space, with coaches, medical staff, and players themselves all playing an important role, so a number of individuals are involved in managing and sharing this process.
Director of Football John Didulica provided an update on the Men’s squad following our Round 1 win over Western United in Geelong and FFA Cup victory against Perth Glory in Adelaide, ahead of Sunday’s Round 2 match with Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park.
Didulica on…
Josh Brillante:
“Josh missed Round 1 after hurting himself in the friendly game against Avondale.
“We hope he’ll be right for this week, but it’s not about taking chances at this stage of the season, it’s about taking a long-term view. That’s always our focus.”
Matt Spiranovic:
“Matt hasn’t played for a couple of seasons, so we’re really making sure his body is 100 per cent before we re-integrate him into the first team.
“Whether it’s next week, the week after or longer, we’re not putting a time limit on Matt. It’s all about ensuring when they come back, they can be right for long periods of time and hopefully for the whole season.”
Chris Ikonomidis:
“Chris left the field (with thigh soreness) during the Round 1 game and he’s touch-and-go for this weekend.”
Overall:
“This week’s been quite unique in that we haven’t played competitive games for many months and this group of players, many who are new to the Club, haven’t played a competitive game for the Club at all.
“We had two games in the space of four days. The first game on Saturday night was incredibly challenging for the side – the amount of distance covered and high-speed running was at a really high level, particularly compared to previous seasons, so it did impose a really large physical burden on the team.
“We’ve got other guys we’re hoping to integrate but it’s so early in the season so to take risks now is not something we’re wanting to do because as we saw on Wednesday night (in the FFA Cup win), we’ve got a deep squad.
“We’re really happy with how we’re progressing. There’s going to be little bumps and bruises along the way because we push players to the limits, but we’re really confident with the broader squad that we can cover gaps week to week.”
