Melbourne City coach John van ‘t Schip has slammed Brisbane Roar counterpart John Aloisi as “childish” as a war of words erupted between the two coaches head of Saturday night’s Hyundai A-League game at AAMI Park.
There is little love lost between Aloisi and Van ‘t Schip with the Roar boss having criticised City midfielder Neil Kilkenny for diving earlier last month, while last season the former Caltex Socceroos striker declared City had played “anti-football” after a 1-1 draw in Brisbane.
Hyundai A-League preview: City v Roar
Aloisi was replaced by Van ‘t Schip as coach of Melbourne Heart after the former was sacked during the 2013/14 Hyundai A-League season.
Speaking on Thursday, Aloisi questioned City’s physicality so far this season, pinpointing Luke Brattan’s sliding tackle on Sydney FC defender Michael Zullo early in the Westfield FFA Cup Final as something referee Shaun Evans should be “on top of” when Roar visit AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Van ‘t Schip clearly wasn’t impressed.
“I think the most important thing is that he’s always having a go at us and the thing that I think is that he needs to worry more about his own team and not about us,” the Dutch coach said on Friday.
“Worry about his own style and not about us because it’s getting a bit childish, he’s whingeing like a baby. He has to stay away from our players and stop criticising them.”
Van ‘t Schip didn’t stop there, claiming that Aloisi had turned Brisbane into a “park-the-bus kind of team” this season.
Roar defeated City 1-0 in Brisbane earlier in the season despite the visitors having over 65 per cent possession.
“John has changed their attacking style from [ex-Roar coach] Ange [Postecoglou] to a defensive, park-the-bus kind of team, with quick players on the break, so we have to be prepared for that,” Van ‘t Schip said.
City will enter the Round 9 fixture as newly-crowned Westfield FFA Cup winners after they overcame Sydney 1-0 on Wednesday night.
