Heart primed to go forward

Outgoing Melbourne Heart coach John van ‘t Schip believes he is leaving the club in position to contend for the Hyundai A-League title in the next two or three seasons.

Outgoing Melbourne Heart coach John van ‘t Schip believes he is leaving the club in position to contend for the Hyundai A-League title in the next two or three seasons.

Van ‘t Schip’s tenure in Melbourne ended with a 3-0 elimination final loss to Perth on Sunday, a performance and result the coach described as hugely disappointing.

Heart were thoroughly outclassed in their first appearance in an Hyundai A-League final, with Shane Smeltz’s hat-trick securing victory for the Glory.

But van ‘t Schip said his team could still take plenty of positives out of their season.

The Dutchman, who is returning to Europe for family reasons, said the young players he blooded in his two-year tenure could lift the club to a higher level.

“With the experience that all these players had this year and also a lot of good improvement, the next step can be made next year,” he said.

“Hopefully the finals will make them want more, not just qualifying for the finals but qualifying for the grand final. I think that should be something in the next two or three years (which) has to be a goal.

“The team still has a lot of growth in it and with the right players that they can get in I believe there is a big future for the Heart.”

Van ‘t Schip feels improvements to the team’s stability and professionalism were necessary to meet those lofty ambitions.

“We played some good games but we didn’t finish them, we had some problems with really finishing games off,” he said.

“And [Heart must] get more professional in really playing the game for 90 minutes at a higher level.”

Predictions of improvement aside, the coach was left frustrated by Heart’s effort in the match against the Glory.

The visitors from Melbourne struggled to create chances in a lacklustre game at nib Stadium, before Smeltz netted three decisive goals in the final 25 minutes.

“We didn’t play our game, we didn’t create enough and we didn’t stretch the pitch. We didn’t make it difficult for Perth,” van ‘t Schip said.

“To lose is obviously something we didn’t want but not playing the way that we actually can was the most disappointing thing for everybody.

“We went the way of being too anxious and too over-concentrated … we too easily gave balls away, we didn’t win the second ball. We were not switched on.

“Perth, in the end, deserved to win.”