Vidmar: City getting healthy, finding cohesion with third straight win
With finals coming into focus and Mat Leckie’s return highlighting an increasingly fit and cohesive squad, Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar feels his side has turned a corner at the right time.
With finals coming increasingly into focus as the season winds down and Mat Leckie’s return highlighting an increasingly fit squad, Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar feels his side has turned a corner at the right time.
Playing their third game in the span of eight days, goals from Aziz Behich and Marcus Younis helped move City to a solid 2-0 win that all but ended Wellington Phoenix’s A-League Men playoff hopes at AAMI Park.
Coming just days after they dealt a near-fatal blow to Central Coast’s playoff aspirations and sent Western Sydney further tumbling towards a wooden spoon, Sunday’s result made it three straight wins for Vidmar’s side, contributing to four wins across a five-game unbeaten run in league play.
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The three points strengthening their hold on sixth-place – City will end the evening four points clear of seventh-placed Macarthur if the Bulls lose to Perth Glory in the later kickoff – Sunday’s win also made it three straight in which they scored multiple goals, representing a stark contrast to the inability to kill teams off that has haunted their campaign this season.
“We’ve had some challenges this year; the team was never as stable as it is now,” said Vidmar. “We’re always making one or two changes, but in the past, we’ve made many.
“With the [January] introduction of Teaguey [Ryan Teague], Delly [Harrison Delbridge], Daniel [Arzani], and Marcus [Younis], it takes a little bit of time to get that flow.
“Cohesion is everything, and to get cohesion, you need time on the park and time together. We’ve been having that over the last six or so weeks, in the last couple of months, definitely. So, it’s pleasing.”
With Teague expected to return to training this week and push to feature in some capacity for City’s trip to face Brisbane next Saturday, the defending champions are finding fitness, as well as form, as the season winds down.
The win over the Phoenix featured Socceroo goalkeeper Patrick Beach back between the sticks after missing the past two games through an injury picked up on international duty, while Mat Leckie returned to the pitch for the first time since Halloween after undergoing hip surgery in December.
Introduced as an 83rd minute substitute, the 35-year-old was deployed in a deep-lying midfield role upon his entrance – the same role he played at the start of the season and as best afield in last year’s grand final – and now has two more weeks of football, plus potential finals, to press his case for inclusion in Tony Popovic’s squad for the World Cup.
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“We’ve been discussing over the last couple of days what’s going to be the best thing for him,” said Vidmar. “It also depended on how the game was panning out. We always thought 15-20 minutes was probably going to be the right amount of time for him.
“We were mindful that we didn’t stretch it out too much for him. I haven’t spoken to him yet, but he looked fine when it was on the pitch.
“We certainly tested him when he was in a transition moment, where he had to sprint back 30-35 meters - if anything was going to happen, it was probably going to be that moment!
“I think he’s done a top-up [run] now on the pitch, so, touch wood, everything’s fine.”
And regardless of how Leckie’s efforts to force his way into World Cup contention go, Vidmar is absolutely welcoming of the boost he’ll provide his side’s finals chances.
“He can play anywhere,” said the City coach. “He can play as a nine. He can play as a winger. He can play anywhere in the midfield. Someone of his ability and his status; we’ll always fit him in somewhere. But he’s got to feel comfortable and happy within himself, so that he can continue to get more minutes.
“We’ve probably had, during the course of the season, holes at the six or holes in the eight or ten positions. So he’s probably going to be somewhere in the midfield.”
Header Image: Melbourne City