Vidmar hoping hard truths and honest conversations in Japan spur City improvements

Six weeks into the A-League Men season, Melbourne City finds themselves in a position they’d rather not be in. But after its players engaged in honest and upfront conversations that “are hard to have” in Japan, coach Aurelio Vidmar hopes their cream will rise to the top. 

After running roughshod over the league for near half a decade, City has experienced an uncharacteristically challenging start to the 2023-24 campaign, sitting seventh on the table after six rounds with more defeats than wins. 

Taking over after the three-time defending premiers shocked the league by ruthlessly moving Rado Vidošić on just two games into the season, Vidmar has steadied the ship following back-to-back defeats to open the league season without engineering a complete change in fortunes — guiding the side to two wins, two draws, and two defeats across all competitions since landing at Casey Fields.

A microcosm of that occurred across a hellacious Pan Pacific road trip last week, where City fell 1-0 to Wellington in Aeoteroa on Saturday, drew 3-3 with Ventforet Kofu in Tokyo on Wednesday, and defeated Newcastle 2-0 on Sunday. 

Speaking ahead of his side’s trip across the Nullabor to face Perth Glory on Friday evening, Vidmar detailed how that defeat against the Nix, one that left the club perilously close to the foot of the A-League Men table, sparked a series of frank conversations between the playing group during their trip to Japan. 

“They as a group, the players themselves had [a meeting],” said the coach. “I’m not privy to exactly what was said. That’s amongst amongst the players. 

“But they knew that they weren’t performing and they needed to get things out in the open. They had a nice discussion in Japan and whether that’s the turning point, who knows? But I think the policy here has always been to be honest, upfront, and truthful. 

“And sometimes those conversations are hard to have. So we’re growing up.”

Goals from debutant Ben Mazzeo and Jamie Maclaren eased City to a win over the Jets in the Hunter last round, a game that was also marked by the hosts being restricted to just a single shot on target. 

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It’s here, the defensive work rate, that Vidmar thinks will immediately benefit the most from the candid exchanges that take place between his playing group. 

“Certainly a little bit more resolve,” he said. “We had some moments in the way we play in our transition moments, attacking to defence — they’re a little bit more switched on now. 

“That comes also with training and making sure that we have the players in the right positions and a reaction of when we lose the ball. I think that’s vitally important. That’s part of our DNA here at the club. 

“It’s probably part of a lot of players’ games that they don’t like – we always want the ball we don’t want to do the hard work but unfortunately that is the game. 

“So it’s just an acceptance of doing that as part of your role. I think the more conversations that the players can have amongst themselves the better it is. 

“Coaches, we’re always having meetings and discussions but I think it means more once it’s coming from their peers.

“Hopefully that’s a good foundation for things moving forward.”

Ostensibly, the foundation for City to stiffen up a defence that has conceded 12 goals thus far this season, good for equal second most in the league, should be there. 

A year on from setting new club records for miserliness, City has the fewest expected goals (xG) conceded in the entire competition after six weeks, their 7.4 xG even superior to the stout backline of Western Sydney’s and their 7.6 xG conceded. 

However, whereas the Wanderers have outperformed this metric by only shipping a league-best four goals, City is underperforming their expectations by five. 

“Certainly in the last couple of weeks, we’ve made a couple of tweaks to the way we do defence and I think it’s improved that,” said Vidmar. “But we’ve still got a long way to go.”

Vidmar confirmed that Mat Leckie, who returned from an LCL injury off the bench during City’s time on the road, will travel with the side to face Perth Glory. 

Leo Natel and Scott Galloway will also return to the squad after missing the win over Newcastle, but Harry Politidis will miss with illness and Nune Reis will remain sidelined with a quad injury.

Maclaren, meanwhile, would appear to still be City’s first-choice penalty taker despite Tolgay Arslan converting from the spot against Kofu while he was still on the park – just days after the skipper had a penalty saved against Wellington. 

Well, that’s if Maclaren, who has traditionally been near automatic from the spot, wants to take it. 

“Jamie has been our number one penalty taker but he passed it on to Tolgay, and that’s absolutely fine,” said Vidmar. 

“We have a list of four or five that we put up every game who’s going to take [penalties] and whoever is confident is going to take it. 

“Obviously Jamie missed his last one, so he’s probably not in the right frame of mind. But the great thing for Jamie is that he’s scoring away from the penalties that’s more important for me.”

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_{Header Image Credit: Melbourne City}