Melbourne Victory head coach Tony Popovic spoke to the media following Friday night’s 1-0 loss to Brisbane Roar.
On the performance…
“The deflection aside, that can happen and unfortunately that’s happening a little bit for us at the moment on the defensive end.”
“They came with a game plan. We didn’t really create enough to be honest.”
“We had a couple of moments, good moments. We just needed that goal to change the rhythm and momentum of the game.”
“We were in control without creating enough was probably the issue tonight.”
On finding the solutions…
“That’s my responsibility (to find the solutions)”.
“It was good to see Jason Geria coming back to more of the Jason we remember – that’s four consecutive games. We need [Matthew Spiranovic] and [Roderick Miranda] to find that as well. I think once we find that, it will give us a lot more stability at the back.”
“In the front third we need to find that mojo back again. We’re not scoring goals, but in two games we’ve scored a four and a three.”
“So it’s there, we’ve just got to find it and unlock it. It’s my responsibility to do that.”
On the changes to the lineup and formation…
“We wanted to play with a three (at the back). Brisbane play with a three as well, so we matched up in that.”
“Josh (Brillante) has got the running power for it. We wanted to control the middle with Rai (Marchan) and Jakey (Brimmer) which we did. But unfortunately when we penetrated the lines, we didn’t go quick enough to exploit the spaces.”
On Nani…
“I don’t know (about the injury). When I looked at it on the replay it didn’t look great. Hopefully it’s not too bad.”
“He’s like any player – especially attacking players – when they find their rhythm and find the goals, it just seems to flow.”
“I’m sure he’s had ups and downs throughout his whole career. He’s had a wonderful career for a reason: because he always finds a way.”
On Chris Ikonomidis’ absence…
“He’ll be right next week.”
“We’re probably a day or two short from him being able to play.”
On the fans’ frustration…
“You’ve got to expect that.”
“We can’t expect them to be cheering us off the park when we’ve lost a game at home. I understand their frustration, I share their frustration.”
On the desire for fans to return…
“I think when you’ve got the best members and fans in the league, you always miss them. They’re the best by far for a reason.”
“But we can’t use that as an excuse.”
“We’ve got to make sure that we take care of the football side first.”
On whether the transfer window will be busy…
“I don’t believe so.”
“We have a good squad. We have good footballers.”
“It can happen that you can be a bit down on confidence and maybe belief when thing don’t go quite your way, but they’re good players and I’m sure it will turn.”
“But without working hard, it’s not going to change. If we feel sorry for ourselves, it’s not going to change.”
“As a football club we expect more…I’ll be proud to help the club and work hard to turn this around.”
