Brazilian midfielder Gui Finkler sees his future at Melbourne Victory as he looks to finally feel settled at a club.
Brazilian midfielder Gui Finkler sees his future at Melbourne Victory as he looks to finally feel settled at a club.
The playmaker has spent time at numerous lower league clubs in Brazil over the past few years, but is adamant he wants to be a long-term player for the Victory.
“I like the idea of playing one, two, three, four years for one club. Sometimes in Brazil I had an injury, so I changed two clubs, but I stayed just one month at each club to train after being injured,” said Finkler on Wednesday.
“It’s not good because you cannot feel what the club wants, but I’m trying now to be at one club for as long as I can.”
And, Finkler was also asked to weigh into the debate surrounding Adelaide’ Jeronimo Neumann and his alleged dive against Wellington Phoenix last Saturday.
Phoenix centre-back Ben Sigmund was shown a straight red card at a crucial stage in that game against the Reds after what appeared to be minimal contact with Argentine forward Neumann.
Wellington captain Andrew Durante labelled the Adelaide man a cheat in a heated post-match interview with Fox Sports, an accusation dismissed by Neumann himself at a press conference earlier this week.
Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert later took aim at referee Jarred Gillett, but the match review panel upheld the decision and Sigmund’s ban stood.
Finkler believes Sigmund may have been somewhat stiff.
“He (Sigmund) didn’t touch him. It’s not fair for the referee because sometimes he is not in a good position on the pitch. I think we must try to go easy on the referee,” said Finkler, whose team take on the Phoenix on Monday.
“I think the linesman needs to help the referee because he is in a good position every time.”
The 27-year-old believes that, despite the contentious refereeing decision at Hindmarsh Stadium, officials in the Hyundai A-League support a well-contested, physical style of play.
“Some tackles I have seen in the A-League I would say, ‘That’s t foul in Brazil’, but here the referee would say, ‘carry on, there’s no foul here’,” he said.
“The referees in Brazil are quite different, there are a lot of free-kicks in Brazil than in Australia and Europe.
“They have changed that to not help the players dive.”
Finkler, who spent one year on loan to English Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2006, said adjusting to the playing style and physical rigours of playing in Australia has been his toughest assignment to date.
“In Brazil they play a different way the play more possession, but I am trying to improve at training and it is going to take a little bit of time,” he said.
“It’s quite different from Brazil, it’s really strong here, and it’s quite similar to England.”
Finkler believes Victory are in safe hands with new boss Ange Postecoglou, and he openly endorsed his manager’s new playing style.
“I really like the way that Ange coaches the team to play because it’s quite similar to the big teams in Brazil, they try to keep possession,” he said.
“Ange is a successful coach, he has two titles, and he is the right way to win the league.”
Finkler said he does not expect his groin injury – picked up in Victory’s 2-1 win over Adelaide in Week 3 – to rule him out of Monday’s clash against the Phoenix.
“I trained yesterday and I feel much better, today I’m going to recover. We have tomorrow off and Friday I’m going to see how I’m feeling,” he said.
