Melbourne Victory boss Grant Brebner says the players who retain their spot in his starting 11 should count themselves lucky after a dismal 5-2 loss to Brisbane Roar at Dolphin Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Victory shipped three goals in the opening 17 minutes to the rampant Roar but pegged their opponents back to 4-2 at half time, only to concede a fifth in the early knockings of the second stanza, quashing any chance of a revival.
The deflating result matched the performance on a hot afternoon in Redcliffe, leaving Victory languishing at the bottom of the A-League table.
And with a clash with the Wanderers – unbeaten in five under new boss Carl Robinson – looming on Wednesday night, Brebner has warned to expect changes aplenty to his underperforming side.
“So quickly after the game yes, there (are) a few things running through my mind,” Brebner said after the Roar defeat.
“We definitely have to look at changing things up a little bit, whether it’s tactically or whether it’s just bringing in players that will do a better job.
“There will definitely be changes for Wednesday night.
“We’re a professional football club, we are professional footballers and we have a responsibility… I don’t like losing but I can handle losing if there’s a manner in which we go about it.
“Today, as I said – I’m not making any excuses for it – it was unacceptable, and the players will know that.
The ones that are fortunate enough to play on Wednesday night will have to show us how much they want to keep their shirt, and the ones that aren’t shouldn’t have any complaints.”
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https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6229696574001
Brebner’s plans to reshuffle his starting lineup could receive a massive boost ahead of Wednesday night, pending the fitness of star attackers Callum McManaman and Rudy Gestede, who arrived in the off-season to much fanfare but have struggled to date with respective stints on the sidelines.
McManaman travelled with the squad to face Brisbane, while Gestede continues to close in on a return from his three-game hiatus due to a hamstring injury. If passed fit to face Western Sydney Wanderers on Wednesday the pair would offer considerable reinforcement to a toothless Victory attack which has scored just five goals to date.
“(Our table position is) a concern, it’s not something that’s a huge worry at the moment because we will get better,” Brebner said.
“We have players to come into the side, we are lacking a little bit up front… Callum and Rudy have to come into the squad, Nick Ansell will come back in as well.
“We’ve still got three big players to come into the team that will make us better.
“(Callum) was a bit tender in the area. Again, we don’t want to risk him, but he travelled.
“(There’s) an opportunity to look at (Gestede) over the next few days… he’s definitely a chance as well.”
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6229688349001
Brebner continued: “I’m not mincing my words in terms of where we were at today, we should be doing a lot better than that.
“There’s been a few high scoring games this year in the A-League, there’s been a few teams that have been hit with five.
“And generally you get a reaction, and we will have to have a reaction on Wednesday night, because like I said that was unacceptable today.
“We’ll focus on a review over the next 24 hours and then we’ll move on Monday to Western Sydney on Wednesday.”
Next fixtures – Matchweek 7
Brisbane Roar v Macarthur FC
Tuesday, 9 February 2021
Venue: Dolphin Stadium, Redcilffe
Kick-off: 7.35pm AEDT
Match Centre
Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne Victory
Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Venue: Bankwest Stadium
Kick-off: 7.05pm AEDT
Match Centre
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