Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond indicated he was cautious but confident heading into the Jets’ Asian Champions League clash with Nagoya Grampus at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Jets scored a well-earned 1-1 away draw against Nagoya two weeks ago and can move to the top of Group E with a win over the Japanese side. However, van Egmond said his side would have to maintain a strong defensive structure against the potent Grampus attack.
“We respect Nagoya and respect to their playing ability and how they play under pressure,” he said.
“I think what we did well over in Japan was to have a very strong defensive structure.”
“We didn’t actually dictate the game, Nagoya dictated the game, especially in the second half but with us being at home we have to reverse that and dominate the Japanese side and with that create a number of chances that we can capitalise on.”
Van Egmond said his side’s defensive structure had improved since its opening round loss to Beijing but admitted it would be put under pressure with the loss of key defenders Ljubo Milicevic and Adam D’Apuzzo, who are both suspended from Wednesday night’s match for accumulation of yellow cards in the ACL.
“It has been a whole lot better from the Beijing game to where we are now,” he said.
“We are a lot more compact and we are a lot more disciplined within our defensive unit but now we have to build on that to see how we can keep the ball well and to create more opportunities in that front third.”
“We have played a number of games against local opposition and changed the players around in different positions to try to get balance right and it not just a chance of looking at the back four but the whole team’s defensive structure.”
Van Egmond said the team would try to create scoring opportunities rather than play on the counter but would let the flow of the game dictate just how much they try to attack.
“It will depend on how the game goes whether we look to press on or drop off,” he said.
“You are not going to win games consistently if you just play counter-attack football there are times when you need to press on and when you need to dominate the opposition.”
“We are looking for a good game. The team that is coming first is on five points and the team coming fourth is on three points. So we know the importance of this game.”
“Nagoya is one of the favourites to win this championship and for us to benefit from the good result we got in Japan against Nagoya we need to take maximum points on our home ground. We are very much looking forward to the game and hopefully get a nice crowd in to support the team.”
