Foxtel A-League All Star Coach Ange Postecoglou’s impact on this Saturday night’s fixture against Man Utd should not be under-estimated according to some of his players.
PARRAMATTA | The Foxtel A-League All Stars have only a week to familiarise themselves with each other but have made positive strides early into their camp in Sydney’s west.
Two training sessions in, the All Stars were already showing some promising touches as they trained in glorious winter sunshine at Sydney’s Olympic Park precinct on Sunday.
Competition for places will be fierce by next Saturday, but a structured team performance can be expected with Melbourne Victory’s highly successful tactician Ange Postecoglou pulling the strings.
“It’s very positive, as you can imagine there’s a lot of excitement and a buzz around the camp,” said goalkeeper Michael Theo.
“Obviously playing against one another during the Hyundai A-League season and (now) just getting to know one another a bit better and obviously getting that time to gel on the pitch.
“It’s great to get two sessions under our belt and I’m sure towards the end of the week we’ll really start gelling as a team.
“Hopefully it’ll hold us in good stead for Saturday night.”
Coach Postecoglou will benefit from having worked with several of his charges previously.
Billy Celeski trains under Postecoglou week in, week out at Melbourne Victory, while Brisbane Roar players Theo, Besart Berisha and Thomas Broich won back-to-back Hyundai A-League Championships with the All Stars coach.
Additionally, youth internationals Nigel Boogaard, Mark Bridge and David Williams played under Postecoglou while with the Under-17 and Under-20 national teams, ensuring that many of the All Stars already have some idea as to how they’ll line up against Manchester United.
“With his experience, being able to gel the boys in a short period of time is obviously key,” said Adelaide United defender Boogaard.
“He’s done it in the past with national teams, he’s experience at being able to bring a group of boys in and only work for a week and get the best out of them obviously is key to us succeeding on Saturday night.
“It’ll be the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of, definitely a lot more than the 35,000 odd for the Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
“Obviously I’m excited for the challenge and it should be a big day, probably one of the biggest highlights of my career so far.”
The Foxtel A-League All Stars will debut against Manchester United at ANZ Stadium, Sydney, on 20 July with the match to be broadcast live and exclusive on the Seven Network nationally.
