Melbourne Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic admits he is concerned by his side’s poor start to the A-League season after they gave up a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw against Perth Glory.
Melbourne Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic admits he is concerned by his side’s poor start to the A-League season after they gave up a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw against Perth Glory.
The star-studded Victory have won just one of their opening seven games, although only once have they tasted defeat.
It looked as though they would record a second win at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, but they let a 2-0 lead slip against 10 men and now sit a disappointing seventh on the table.
Victory were expected to be serious title contenders this campaign after the signings of Harry Kewell, Marco Rojas and Jean Carlos Solorzano complemented the attacking prowess of Archie Thompson and Carlos Hernandez.
But with such attacking talent at his disposal, it’s no wonder Durakovic is getting worried, particularly as his side has only managed four draws from as many home games.
“We need to get that momentum going and the consistency. Once we get that, we’ll be all right. I am concerned. We just need to get the three points at home,” he said.
“There’s a lot of big expectations on us with Harry Kewell coming on board, Marco Rojas we signed, (and Jean Carlos) Solorzano. We’ve got some good footballers.”
“Like I said, there is expectations and we need to be winning games.”
After a lacklustre first half, Victory came to life when Glory midfielder Liam Miller was sent off in the 38th minute.
But Carlos Hernandez’s penalty and Danny Allsopp’s close-range effort were cancelled out by an Andrezinho free-kick and a Shane Smeltz header as Glory finished with a flurry.
Durakovic said he was disappointed with the way his team finished off the game, and also blamed a lack of fitness in his players.
“We were winning 2-0 and all of a sudden we gave the ball away in the last 20 minutes. A free-kick and it goes in and you’re under pressure,” he said.
“(It’s) very disappointing not to get three points at home because we need to get as many points at home as we can.”
“We’ve got the next four out of five games at home and we need to be picking up points.”
It shapes as a vital run into Christmas for Victory, who host Gold Coast United, travel to Newcastle before clashes in Melbourne with Adelaide United, Wellington Phoenix and the derby against Heart.
Durakovic said they will continue looking for improvements with hard work on the training ground.
“We’re just going to be really working hard on the pitch at training, do whatever we can to improve and get the three points and get the results,” he said.
