by Ben Gilby (27/4/24)
Above: Dario Vidosic speaking to the media ahead of tomorrow’s semi-final second leg with Newcastle Jets. Image: Melbourne City.
Melbourne City head coach Dario Vidosic emphasised repeatedly to the media ahead of tomorrow’s A-League Women semi-final second leg that the tie isn’t over despite his team holding a 3-0 lead over Newcastle Jets.
“We give Newcastle respect. They gave (scored against) Adelaide eight goals…they are desperate, they are chasing goals, and they have goals in the team.”
Vidosic is right to be wary. The Jets side that City face in tomorrow’s second leg are a team playing their first Finals campaign since the league’s very first season in 2008 and they don’t want their sensational journey to end yet. Indeed, only Melbourne Victory scored more goals than Newcastle across the regular season. The Sky Blues boss knows that the Jets don’t just have a strong offensive ability, despite the scoreline last weekend, they managed to cause City a number of issues in their defensive set-up as well.
“We didn’t play our best with the ball, and that’s credit to Newcastle. They were very, very aggressive, very aggressive with regards to the press, so we anticipate the same…we try to get better every week, try to play a better game than the last time we were out (there).
“We want to retain calm in that chaos, and finals football is always chaotic…mistakes are magnified because they could be costly, but we’ve played our way all season, and it’s been successful…they (Newcastle) were aggressive in the first game, they were high in the press, and we anticipate much of the same in that aspect.”
In terms of what the differences came down to last weekend, Vidosic recognises that, as it is so often in Finals football, it came down to taking chances when they come. His team did that in the first leg, and there is no reason that the Jets can’t do it this time round.
“We were clinical, we got our chances and we put them away…it was very very pleasing. It was a great game, the atmosphere was awesome, credit to the Newcastle fans, they came out to support their team…we kept a very attacking team quiet in front of almost 7,000 fans.
“We’ve analysed them…they are going to be desperate, they are trying to chase down three goals…but we’ll play our normal football, that’s what we’ve done all season…we don’t talk about a 3-0 lead, we start again nil-all. We’re looking forward to coming home and hopefully making a grand final.”
In terms of availability, the City boss is without Karly Røstbakken, and it appears to be very questionable as to whether or not she would be available for the Grand Final should they make it as, Vidosic admitted: “It’s hard to say. We have to just wait and see until next week. We first need to finish off the job this weekend and we’ll see about next weekend after that. Everyone (else) is good.”
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