Regardless of stakes, Vidmar demands City win over Western

When they take the field on Sunday afternoon, Melbourne City's place in the playoffs may already be secured. There's a line on assumptions, though, and Aurelio Vidmar isn't making any against Western.

For all the talk about Western Sydney looking to keep their finals hopes alive against Melbourne Victory on Saturday evening, Melbourne City can render all that moot on Sunday if they take care of business against local foes Western United. That, for coach Aurelio Vidmar, is the focus heading into this weekend, with his intention to play his best possible XI and build towards the playoffs regardless of the result the day prior. 

In their most important game of the season, City put their woes on the road to one side and secured a vital 2-1 win over the Wanderers at Parramatta Stadium last weekend, grabbing first-half goals through Léo Natel and Marin Jakoliš – Vidmar remarking he felt his side would have been good value for a third in that opening 45 minutes – before seeing off a furious second-half comeback from the hosts. 

It ensured that the continuation of City’s decade-long finals streak rests within their own hands heading into the final week of the season, with a win over United at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon enough to seal their place in the playoffs – and potentially even a fifth-placed finish, if Sydney can’t beat Perth Glory – regardless of what Marko Rudan’s outfit can do against Victory at the same venue the day prior. 

And that is the focus, according to Vidmar. Yes, his players will know exactly what they need to do when they jump in their cars and make their way down to Swan St on the weekend. But you can’t spend a week not preparing for a do-or-die fixture and then suddenly flick the switch if that’s what ultimately is required. United boss John Aloisi has already flagged that there will be no quarter from his side.

Thus, it doesn’t matter what Western Sydney does on Saturday for the City coach. He wants his side to prepare this week with only one outcome on their minds. 

“The message is to not even think about what's going to happen on Saturday night,” Vidmar explained. “The message is thinking about how we are going to win this game regardless.

“We're better [off] having the right mindset throughout the whole week, knowing you have to win. Yes, of course, they're playing before us on Saturday night and we will know before we get to the game. But the mindset is about coming into this weekend with a positive mindset about winning the game. 

“You don't want to put the handbrake on and we can't, we're not in a position to do that. We have to go steam ahead -- [which] we have over the last couple of months -- and if we're deserving of a finals berth then we need to win this weekend. 

“[We'd] rather go into finals on a winning note rather than an insipid performance and that's definitely not going to be the case.”

This focus on securing a win regardless of results elsewhere, per the City gaffer, extends to his starting XI, which has been unchanged across their back-to-back wins over Perth Glory and Western Sydney… not that you’d expect them to change things up after putting eight past the West Australians in the first of those matches. 

And the scope to switch things up may be limited, regardless. Scott Galloway has been named in the extended squad for the first time since February but after recovering from injury missed training with illness this week, hampering his chances of featuring in the matchday squad proper. Callum Talbot and Patrick Beach have both returned to Melbourne after the Olyroos group stage elimination at the AFC U23 Championships but the latter remains behind Jamie Young in the keeper’s union pecking order, while the former has been battling back spasms. 

In the absence of both Galloway and Talbot, Steven Ugarkovic has spent the past two games at right back and while a midfielder by trade, Vidmar praised the work of the 29-year-old, saying he’d done “exceptionally well.”

Marco Tilio, meanwhile, has suffered a setback in his recovery from a quadricep injury and won’t be available against United, with focus instead turning to his availability for a potential elimination final should City qualify. 

“We're gonna play the strongest team that is available to play on the weekend,” said Vidmar. “Like we have throughout the course of the season. 

“Nothing's going to change. We need to continue to build momentum. We've got a fair bit of confidence within the group. They're in a really good head space. Our work has been very, very good again this week at training. So the expectation is to win and keep winning.”