Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi says the best is yet to come after his side’s emphatic 4-1 win over defending champions Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi says the best is yet to come after his side’s emphatic 4-1 win over defending champions Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
Heart bounced back from three straight losses in stunning fashion, dominating Brisbane from the outset at AAMI Park to secure their second win of the season.
Patrick Gerhardt opened the scoring in the 20th minute before second-half goals from Richard Garcia, Josip Tadic and David Williams put the result beyond doubt.
“It was important for us to get back to winning ways,” Aloisi told reporters after the match.
“It’s always nice to score goals and I think that’s what we’ve been lacking in the last few games. We weren’t taking our chances when we had them.
“Three losses on the trot, but the boys still believed in what we were doing and that was important.
“I think the players did really well not to buy in to people saying that we’re going to struggle because I said we’re not far off and I still believe that we can improve a lot too.”
Aloisi hopes to have a full squad at his disposal in the coming weeks, having been tested by injuries and international commitments early in the campaign.
“There’s going to be periods where we’re not going to have a lot of players to choose from,” he said.
“We’ve got (Vince) Grella to come in soon, Fred is not too far away and the two young boys (Ben Garuccio and David Vrankovic) will come back soon.
“Our squad looks like it’s going to get stronger and we know it will once everyone’s fit.”
Aloisi refused to write off the Roar, despite the slow start to their title defence, after they slipped to the bottom of the ladder with just four points from six games.
“I saw the game last week that Brisbane played against Adelaide United and I still don’t know how Adelaide United won,” he said.
“Brisbane were all over them and tonight you saw periods there where we struggled to get the ball off them.
“Brisbane are a top side and I still believe that they’re the benchmark. They’re just going through a bad period at the moment, but don’t worry, they’ll be up there.
“Don’t forget they lost five in a row last year and people doubted them. You can’t doubt them too much.
“It doesn’t mean anything less because we beat them tonight. They can easily go on a run and win seven or eight in a row because they’re a good side.”
