By Ryan Miller-Woods 17/10/24
Above: Canberra United’s Antoni Jagarinec
Off the back of a 6-0 win against the NPLW All-Stars, Canberra United Head Coach Antoni Jagarinec will have some idea of what his best team will look like.
With Round One only weeks away Jagarinec was asked what he took away from the warm up match.
“It was a really good game against a really good opposition. We (as a team) learnt a lot about ourselves both with the ball and without the ball last week.
“So it was a really good building block for where we are in pre-season.”
Despite the result, a few All Stars caught his eye.
“Absolutely! There were a few (from the match) that are coming into training because of it.
“It was a good opportunity to see the local talent that we know is there against contracted A-League (Women’s) players and give them (an) opportunity to test themselves.”
Ahead of his first season in charge of United, there has been a fair bit of player turnover from last season’s squad and he has recruited a lot of new players for the 2024/25 season.
Jagarinec has now had some time to see what his team looks like on the pitch in a match and will most importantly start to form an idea of what his Match Day squad will look like for Canberra’s opening round against Brisbane Roar.
When asked whether he’s happy with where the team is at currently, Jagarinec was delighted.
“Absolutely! It was nerve-wracking bringing in a new roster, I think 50% of the squad is entirely brand new to Canberra (United). After a week we (as a group) were comfortable and two weeks in, we’re extremely confident. So (I’m) happy with our foundations, we’re growing every week but definitely not starting from zero which we’re really happy with (our) off-season recruiting.”
One of Canberra’s players to have returned from last season is midfielder Mary Stanic-Floody who will be looking to build on her 16 appearances and two goals.
Stanic-Floody has a lot of players around her with A-League Women’s experience that will help her game to the next level and further her development as a footballer.
When asked about how much she learnt last season, Stanic Floody said,
“Ant is incredible, I always learn from him.
“I learnt so much off Michelle Heyman, she is such a role model and to play against someone you idolise is such an honour. So I’ll always continue to learn, you never stop learning.”
“It’s so exciting to see where we (as a team) can be. Of course, it was good (against the NPLW All-Stars) but it’s not great, we’ve still got so far to go (ahead of Round One) but it’s exciting.”
impetusfootball.org 