Giant Adelaide defender Sasa Ognenovski is the man who provides the biggest obstacle to Melbourne Victory getting a crucial away goal in Saturday’s first-leg of the Major Semi-final against Adelaide at Hindmarsh Stadium according to Archie Thompson.
The stats say that Adelaide is the toughest team in the league to score against, and Thompson concurs, saying the imposing presence of Ognenovski is key to Adelaide’s success this year.
“Have you seen Ognenovski? The guy’s been eating steaks since he was four months old. He’s very hard to get past. He’s had a great season this year. Their defence has been very solid. Me and Danny have always found it tough to play against Adelaide and I’m sure it’s going to be like that on Saturday,” he said.
“I’m sure if we stick to our guns. Feed the players we need to feed, and we get them on the ball, I’m sure we can cause them trouble.”
Thompson, who famously scored five goals against Adelaide the last time these two teams met in the finals, has only scored once in the past six encounters against the Reds, but he is not concerned, saying he had played key roles in the lead-up to goals scored in matches between the two teams.
“I got a penalty against Adelaide. I’m sure if I had have stepped up I would have scored it. We’ve had three wins, and that’s the most important thing. I’m more about the team winning then scoring goals. If I don’t score goals, I want to be setting up goals and I want to be winning,” he said.
Thompson rubbished suggestions that Adelaide was a defensive side, saying that its success this season has been based on an attacking game plan.
“They wouldn’t have made the AFC Champions League final if they were a negative team. They’ve achieved so much this year and you’ve got them respect. I’m sure they show us respect. The games against Adelaide are always very special. We’ve always had some good matches in the past, and I’m sure this will be the same,” he said.
While admitting that the nature of a two-legged Cup tie was different to that of an ordinary home and away match, the Hyundai A-League’s most prolific striker said Melbourne won’t be altering its style of play.
“Finals are different, but we have always had the mentality going into matches that we want to attack. We don’t want to sit back, we want to play entertaining football. That’s not going to change for the finals because that’s how we won the league, and that’s how we’ve been successful,” he said.
