Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou praised his side’s ‘dangerous’ attack after their 5-0 thrashing of the Newcastle Jets on Sunday.
Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou praised his side’s ‘dangerous’ attack after their 5-0 thrashing of the Newcastle Jets on Sunday.
A brace from Marco Rojas, two Mark Milligan penalties and an Adrian Leijer header helped the Victory avoid a club record fourth-straight A-League loss.
The Victory struck three times in the opening half-hour at AAMI Park, taking advantage of the high defensive line played by the Jets, a gamble which backfired badly for the visitors.
Postecoglou said his team recaptured some of their form from earlier in the campaign, when they caused opponents real problems in the attacking third.
“We just looked a lot more threatening going forward like we had for most of the year,” he said.
“When we were playing well, we look very dangerous going forward. I thought today, particularly in the first half, every time we went up we looked like we were going to score a goal.
“Our intent was very positive and the players felt very good about it so I guess that’s the key thing.
“When we play well, we’re a dangerous team and we’re always threatening oppositions.
“I thought that was really evident, particularly in the first half-hour today.”
The return of Archie Thompson from a hamstring injury helped Victory return to form, while the Jets were also reduced to 10 men when Taylor Regan was sent off in the 56th minute.
Socceroo Thompson has lined up out wide for much of this season but started in the centre of attack against the Jets and was a handful to deal with.
Postecoglou said Thompson’s return allowed Rojas to shine, with the Kiwi winger receiving less attention from Gary van Egmond’s side.
“He (Thompson) is an important player and he’s a key player in our team. It helps,” he said.
“Not just Archie being out there, but then it helps people like Marco and even young Connor Pain because obviously the opposition have to pay attention to him.
“It just makes us look more threatening in different areas. We probably, the last few weeks, because of absences of players we’ve been pretty easy to shut down because they’re shutting one or two avenues, we’re not finding other ways through.
“With Archie there and when Marcos (Flores) comes back, we’ve got two or three different ways to open up an opposition and that helps.”
Postecoglou hopes his side can hit top form and be a serious threat in the finals but believes they still have areas to improve on.
