Melbourne City coach John van’t Schip has brushed off concerns over Saturday night’s derby defeat to Melbourne Victory by reflecting on his side’s progression this season.
City let slip of an early lead to lose 2-1 at AAMI Park and fall behind their neighbours on the ladder, but van’t Schip is preferring to look long-term.
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“Of course you want to win these kinds of games. You want to win every game,” van’t Schip said.
“But if you look at what we have done in the last six months I think we have shown a way of playing that everybody is talking about.
“Maybe not always in a positive way but that’s something (where others probably want to take things away from us.
“We’re happy we have a real identity of how we’re playing and that’s something we want to improve.
“Looking at the first six months, with 11 new players … compared to last season I think we are in a very good place.”
Despite his indecision playing a part in Victory’s equaliser, van’t Schip also insisted there was “no blame” for the result on young defender Ruon Tongyik.
“It was not very clear that it was [Ruon’s] in the first instance because Josh [Rose] was there as well,” the City coach said of Marco Rojas’ goal.
“He showed character, he showed quality [and] we are very happy with him.”
