Victory ALW boss Hopkins forsees a player-led reaction against the Reds
After a "sub-standard" loss to Canberra last week, Melbourne Victory boss Jeff Hopkins says that he's confident that his players will drive a reaction in an Original Rivalry showdown with Adelaide.
There was a quiet fury evident from Jeff Hopkins in the wake of Melbourne Victory’s 3-1 loss to Canberra United last Friday. But a week on, with an Original Rivalry showdown with Adelaide United looming, the Melbourne Victory boss is confident that his players will drive a reaction against the Reds.
Coming in off the back of a commanding win over Perth the week prior, things began even more auspiciously for Victory against Canberra when just four minutes in, Emma Robers inadvertently put the ball into her own net in attempting to prevent a cross from reaching Kennedy White.
But from there, not much went right for the Victorians as the side from the Australian capital simply outworked their more fancied opponents and piled in three unanswered goals to not only take the points but also secure their first triumph over Victory in Melbourne since 2016.
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Clearly not wanting to say something he would regret amid his side’s inconsistent start to the season – Victory has now won three, lost three across their opening six games – Hopkins was a man of few words in the immediate aftermath of that defeat, some of the few he told JDL Media reflecting that the performance “wasn’t good enough,” and that it was “sub-standard.”
Speaking on Friday, however, ahead of a double-header between the men’s and women’s sides of Victory and Adelaide at AAMI Park on Saturday, the coach cut a less perturbed figure; his mood boosted by what he said was a player-led response to their loss.
“We’ve dealt with what happened last week,” he said. “There were a number of things that weren’t good enough, and they were [dealt with].
“If I’m being perfectly honest, I didn’t have to really point things out. The players brought those things to me just as much as I brought them to them: ‘[The Canberra game] wasn’t good enough. How do I do it better in a number of areas? With the ball and without the ball?’
“We’ve worked on those things, and I know that the players will be brave enough to go out there this week and try and put those things into place.”
Of course, it’s not just the Wuck that are looking to bounce back this Saturday.
Retaining the vast majority of the squad that set a club record for points and secured a third-placed finish last season, as well as taking advantage of Western United’s hibernation to pick up Matildas’ midfielder Adriana Taranto and her twin Mel, much was expected from Adelaide headed into this season.
But under new coach Theo Tsiounis, who took over following the shift of Adrian Stenta to the club’s men’s setup, the Reds have proven even more hit and miss than Victory so far this season: shipping three goals in defeats to Central Coast and Brisbane, drawing with Sydney, and downing Canberra.
Goals, in particular, have proven difficult to come by, with the side from the City of Churches troubling the scorers just three times across their opening four weeks.
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Nonetheless, to some extent, the form book can go out the window for this one, as games between Victory and Adelaide always bring out something in both sides and, highlighted by last year’s semifinals, the Reds have some level of vengeance they’ll be seeking.
“We were saying today, they’ve got a few motivating factors to dislike us after some of the results over the last few seasons,” said the Victory boss. “After some of the ways that the games have gone, and the way that we won games against them. A few players have been here and left here as well. So maybe a point to prove.
“We understand they will be a very motivated side… we won’t be underestimating them. And we enjoy playing against them. They’re a good side. They play good football. They make the game hard for us. They test us, and it’s always a really good game.
“And we’ve got a few things to prove as well this week, not just them. We need to get back to winning ways. We need to start getting some consistency into our game, and that augurs well for a really, really good game.”
Hopkins indicated that attacker Nicki Flannery would be back in the squad and in line to feature on Saturday, while defender Chelsea Blissett is “not far off.”