Melbourne City boss Michael Matricciani insists his side’s Premiership triumph is now in the rearview mirror as they prepare to face Central Coast Mariners this weekend in what he describes as a ‘totally different competition.’
City have enjoyed the week off after sealing a second-consecutive Premiers Plate on the final weekend of the season following their 5-1 thumping of Perth Glory.
Furthermore, that result ensured Matricciani’s side completed an invincible season as they etched their names in to the Ninja A-League history books.
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However, whilst they may have navigated the regular season without tasting defeat, Matricciani insists his side now face a completely different challenge against the Mariners over the course of two legs.
“I have this debate with a lot of coaches,” said the City boss when speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning.
“In my personal opinion I think it’s two totally different competitions.
“So it doesn’t matter if you just scraped into the finals or if you, like us, went undefeated and top of the table, it’s now, for me, a totally different competition. It’s irrelevant now.
“I think whatever’s done is done, however you got there. Now both teams are going to do the best they can to try and win this tie to get into the final.
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“So I think over the 23 rounds, obviously we were top and won the Premiership, and now it’s a semi-final.
“They’re a good side, like I mentioned before, we’re a good side, and I think it’s going to be a great battle, and hopefully we get the upper hand.”
City head into the first leg of their semi-final clash in Gosford aware of the fact the Mariners were the only side they failed to dispatch during the regular season.
Drawing 2-2 and 0-0 respectively, Matricciani believes Emily Husband’s team will provide a stern test again on Saturday, praising their tactical flexibility.
“They’re a great side. We drew both encounters with them. I think the first one was a very, very even match, could have gone either way. When we drew at home, New Year’s Eve, I think that we dominated that match, and probably should have won that game quite comfortably.
“But they’re a tough side. They’re well organised. I think they’re very well coached. I think they play a couple of different formations, and then against Canberra for the first time, they played with a back three and changed it up again.
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“So I think tactically, let’s see what they throw at us. We’re ready for both ways. And I think it’s going to be a good a good tie.”
One notable absentee this weekend for City will be Mariana Speckmaier, with Matricciani revealing she’s in line to make her return from an ankle injury for the second-leg in Melbourne, rather than be pushed this weekend.
In preparation for the Mariners clash, City maintained their sharpness during the week off by playing an internal match against Melbourne City’s Under 15’s boys side.
But whilst the physical aspect of their conditioning is important, it was the tactical aspect of the internal fixture that he believes could be crucial come kick-off time.
“A big credit to the club, and obviously the coach of the under fifteens, because they did a couple of tactics against us that we wanted to work on.
“So the two different halves that we played, we got to get against two different formations that we’re sort of expecting might come, what we might come up against come this weekend.
“I think we’re going to be more prepared for it.”
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