Melbourne Victory head coach Tony Popovic shared his thoughts following Friday night’s defeat to Adelaide United.
On the performance…
“They were a bit quicker to the ball. I thought they were sharper to the ball, a bit more aggressive.”
“They had one shot in the first half and they scored. It was the only shot they had.”
“We had a good period second half where we had some good opportunities to score.”
“But I thought in general they were a bit quicker to the first ball, a bit quicker to the second ball, [and] they were more aggressive than us.”
On the timing of the World Cup break…
“I wouldn’t want a break at this time in any season, regardless of what the results are.”
“We’ve known about this, that the World Cup is in this period, and we all just have to manage it.”
On the need to score more goals…
“You are always looking at different ways that you can get better.”
“It’s always tough when you come away from home.”
“When we were on top we didn’t score. That was our period. We had a good period in the second half where we needed to score one of those opportunities. We didn’t take it.”
On the squad…
“We’ve got a few players that we’re missing in defence.”
“Nick (D’Agostino) and Jake (Brimmer) were sick leading into this game. So they didn’t train the last few days, which was a bit difficult for them.”
“Bruno (Fornaroli) really isn’t ready to start games yet. But we had to play him with the way [Brimmer] and [D’Agostino] were the last couple of days.”
On how the team will use the break…
“We have to use this period to get better.”
“This period of three or four weeks we need to use to improve, get some players back, and get better.”
