Brillante outlines how City can become a top team amid ‘weak mentality’ talk

Josh Brillante is adamant there is no cultural issue at Melbourne City amid fierce criticism of the club’s 2-1 defeat to Sydney FC on Sunday.

City suffered a blow to their Premiership hopes after going down to the Sky Blues despite taking an early lead and playing with a man advantage following Rhyan Grant’s 25^th minute dismissal.

Erick Mombaerts’ side have come under scrutiny after a string of poor results in December that has since seen age-old accusations of a ‘soft underbelly’ resurface.

City were handily beaten by Perth Glory 3-0 at the start of the month and lost the Christmas Melbourne Derby 2-1 to Melbourne Victory in a lacklustre performance.

A comprehensive 4-0 win over Newcastle Jets sandwiched in between those two defeats illustrate the concerns currently being levelled at the club from Bundoora, who many believe wither when the pressure is on.

Brillante knows a thing or two about what it takes to win big matches, having won two Premierships, two Championships and an FFA Cup during his time at Sydney.

The 26-year-old, who signed a multi-year deal with City in May, insists talk of ‘weak mentality’ is being overplayed and said the gap between them and the Hyundai A-League elite is one of small margins.

“I don’t think it’s a cultural issue. I’ve been here for the last six months and there’s a great culture here at the club,” he said.

“It’s just small little differences in the game that makes the difference… staying focused and not having a mental lapse within the game can be the big differences and that’s what the top teams are good at doing.

“It’s just making sure that when these opportunities arrive that you keep thinking about these things.

“I think in the last 15-20 minutes of the game obviously players are tired, and you can get a bit lazy physically and mentally.

NEWS: Griffiths blasts City’s mentality as Mombaerts concedes Premiership bid is over
NEWS: Rudan says Western United will eye reinforcements amid injury crisis
NEWS: Frustrated Fowler says Roar’s ladder position is a lie
NEWS: Slater – Wellington are the second-best team in the Hyundai A-League

“We had a man extra on the weekend and it wasn’t like we were outplayed or outnumbered it was just tactical small mistakes. We have to try and eliminate those situations.”

The gap between second-placed City and Sydney now stands at nine points after Sunday’s defeat in Kogarah.

And as well as a deficit to make up in the Premiership race, the loss demonstrated that City, despite their ambitions and early season promise, have ground to make up to on the competition benchmark.

But Brillante is optimistic. He says ‘there is not much of a difference’ to the way the two clubs are run as footballing institutions and said catching the Sky Blues this season was not impossible.

“We’re halfway through the season, they’ve got ACL coming so they have a lot of travel and tough games,” he said.

“And the back part of the year I think comes down to injuries too, which teams can stay the fittest. It’s definitely not over.”