'There are definitely some trends' - City look to address holes ahead of Wanderer visit
Michael Matricciani feels he’s seen a common thread in Melbourne City’s three ALW defeats this season. But he’s confident the two-time defending premiers can solve them before season’s end.
Michael Matricciani believes he’s identified a common thread running through Melbourne City’s three A-League Women defeats this season. And while he’s not going to elaborate on what they are just yet – rival coaches need to do their own homework – he’s confident the two-time defending premiers can solve them before season’s end.
Making the trek to Adelaide, City’s women fell to their second defeat in their last four games against the Reds on Saturday, Leticia McKenna’s 65th-minute strike not enough to spark a comeback after Fiona Worts and Ella Tonkin put the hosts ahead. Combined with their loss to Newcastle last month and their defeat against Canberra United earlier in the season, this means City have now experienced three defeats in 2025-26.
Given that no side in the competition has fewer losses, and this hasn’t been enough to knock them from their perch atop the standings, this perhaps feels an odd thing to sweat. Yet, fairly or unfairly, last season’s invincible regular season does create an inevitable contrast.
Nonetheless, even if City falling to defeat still feels like something of a novelty, something that Western Sydney are going to look to experience when they visit Casey Fields on Wednesday evening, Matricciani is of the view that his unit is capable of shutting the door on any future upsets.
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“We always analyse and over-analyse every single detail on the reasons why [we lose] and how we can be better,” said the coach. “Our performance [against Adelaide] was good. In the first half, we missed our pressing moments. We addressed that at halftime, and then in the second half, we were much better. We then were able to dominate the match and probably should have scored our second goal, maybe kept kicking on, and had a chance to win it.
“There is [a common thread]. I probably won’t go into that detail; I’ll leave it to the other coaches to try and see the trends. But there are definitely some trends that we’ve been addressing ever since the Canberra game. There are things that we’re getting better at, definitely, but I wouldn’t put it down to this match. That’s the reason why we lost [to Adelaide]. But there is definitely a trend in some areas.
“[We] definitely can [fix them] and have been improving almost [to a] very good level, which I’m really happy with. Definitely extra personnel that we probably have missing, that are going to be coming back in the next two to four weeks -- they just fix it straight.”
On the injury front, Matricciani said that four-cap Matildas midfielder Leah Davidson was likely two to three weeks away as she recovers from a knee injury, while first-choice midfield partner Laura Hughes will likely return following the Women’s Asian Cup group-stage break.
Emphasising a cautious approach, the coach didn’t feel that Danella Butrus would be cleared to return from concussion until this weekend’s clash with Brisbane, but said that there were no fitness concerns arising from the defeat to Adelaide.
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“Everyone’s in full health, we ran out the game really well,” Matricciani said. “Yesterday’s training was excellent. And then we look forward to another training session today.”
Western Sydney’s visit on Wednesday evening will put the league’s top and bottom-placed sides against each other.
However, a case could be made that it’s the latter that will take the field in better form: Geoff Abrahams’s side making the trip to Melbourne fresh off a first Sydney Derby win in six years and having taken eight points from their last five, compared to City’s seven.
“There’s certain things that they’ve done in the last three weeks, where they’ve picked up two wins and a draw, which has been a big shift in their style of what they were trying to do in the beginning of the season,” the City coach observed. “And I think that’s helping them.
“If they continue to do that, then we’re very well prepared for that. If they want to throw something different, then we’ve seen briefly what they’ve done five or six weeks ago.
“They’re playing a little bit more strategically to get results, I’ll put it that way, over the last three weeks. I think it’s working for them, and they’re playing some really good football in moments. But they’re probably not taking as many risks as they probably were earlier in the season.”