Despite showing glimpses of good form in their season-opening draw with the Queensland Roar last weekend, Wellington coach Ricki Herbert wants more improvement from his side.
Despite showing glimpses of good form in their season-opening draw with the Queensland Roar last weekend, Wellington coach Ricki Herbert wants more improvement from his side.
This week the Phoenix take on the Victory, and Herbert knows his players will have to do more if they are to come away with the three points.
“It’s been a good week, the players have looked good and bright and we go into round two in a very positive frame of mind,” Herbert said.
“But there is honesty and reality around the team that we can do better and we will do better. It was good to get the season under way but we know we can do more right around the park and we-ll be looking to do exactly that against Melbourne.”
“While the performance (against Queensland) wasn’t where we wanted it to be in its entirety, there were times we got the ball into good areas and the goal was a good one.”
Herbert has named an extended squad of 17 for Sunday’s match, with Leo Bertos and Leilei Gao missing out with slight injury niggles.
“We might play slightly differently to what we did against Queensland with a bit of a tweak in formation to get more support forward into advance positions. So we’ll be looking for a bit more patience and to use wide players on the ball to get at the fullbacks and exploit the spaces that Melbourne can leave you.”
“I think the front third can be a lot more exciting than what we saw last weekend. Fortunately we’ve got depth and quality this season and if we don’t have Leo and Leilei available then there are chances for other players. That-s the desire I want to see around the club and at the weekend.”
Skipper Andrew Durante echoed his coach’s call for the players step up on Sunday.
“We were disappointing in the first game of the season and that had a lot to do with some nerves in front of the home crowd and trying to do a little too much. But we know we’re a good team and we-re going to stick to our game plan and show what we’re capable of.”
“What was very positive last weekend was the character we showed to hit back pretty quickly after they scored and the conviction within the squad this week that we mustn’t be that disappointing again.”
