‘We’ve got a lot left in the tank’: Checker’s warning to City’s title rivals

They are undefeated, on a six-game winning run and sit on top of the Westfield W-League ladder.

In their quest to get back to the top of the Westfield W-League, things couldn’t have started much better in 2019/20 for Melbourne City.

But in an ominous warning to the club’s biggest rivals, defender Emma Checker feels her side have only just scratched the surface of what they can produce.

While Checker has helped marshal the competition’s stingiest defence, it’s the team’s lack of goals so far – 10 in seven matches – that tells the 23-year-old there is still plenty of scope for improvement.

“I think we’ve got a lot left in the tank,” Checker told w-league.com.au on the eve of the clash with Canberra United on Thursday night.

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“Once we start scoring a few more goals that will really lift things up within the group and we’re training well and everyone’s positive.

“It’s just a matter of us collectively getting things right and we can all improve to get more goals on the board.

“I think we’re in a really good place and I really do think we’ll peak at the right time in the season.”

After missing the finals for the first time in the club’s Westfield W-League history last season, coach Rado Vidosic went about overhauling the squad’s roster and playing style.

Checker, who was captain of Adelaide United in 2018/19, joined the likes of Ellie Carpenter, Emily van Egmond, Claire Emslie and Milica Mijatovic as new recruits.

Vidosic also implemented a new formation, shifting to three at the back with Carpenter and fellow Westfield Matilda Steph Catley as wing-backs on each flank.

“It took us a little while to come together when you have players coming in from different places at the last minute,” Checker said.

“[But] It’s exciting football that we’re playing.

“It’s a different formation for us and I think we’re at a point now where it is really comfortable and solid. Steph and Ellie are working really hard out in the wide positions.

“It is a good formation for the calibre of players that we have. It’s a big part of our success this season.”

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While Checker admits it was difficult to leave her hometown of Adelaide, the opportunity to move to Melbourne and join City was too hard to refuse.

“I spent a lot of time in Melbourne over the last few years and felt very established here in what I was doing in my life away from football. I just want to be the best I can be,” Checker said.

“I feel like I made a good decision whilst it was tough and I was happy in Adelaide, there was no part of me that felt anything negative toward leaving.

“It’s a good place to be. The lifestyles good and I’m at the club where I’m feeling really challenge and enjoying the professionalism.

“It was a hard decision but I feel that it was the right one.”

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