Airton Andrioli discusses his side’s disappointing exit from the Australia Cup on Wednesday night whilst also highlighting the positive performances of Jonny Yull and Luke Duzel. Andrioli highlights areas for squad strengthening and the importance of mental strength leading into the A-League season.
Andrioli on his reaction following his side’s loss to Newcastle Jets in the Australia Cup Round of 32…
“Obviously the result was disappointing. We would have liked to go and play the game, get the result, and to continue to participate in the Cup. But in reality, we need to remind ourselves that there’s a lot happening in the Club at the moment with completely new coaching staff, we’re trying to restructure things, and it’s important that we put the structure and foundation in place now in order to do and be what we want to be. So, from a result perspective, yes, so disappointed. Newcastle was quite sharp; they were better than us last night in some aspects of the game. But as I said, this is just the beginning. We want to make sure that the foundation is good, and we can build on that.”
Andrioli on positive takeaways from last night and what needs further review…
“I want to reinforce the message that we have got some quality players in the squad. Jonny was very good in some moments of the game. It was nice to see Luke Duzel play a full 90 minutes. I think he’s also a player that’s still very young and has got a lot of talent. Talladira playing on the left is another player we can count on and is pushing for a spot in the team. So, there were some positives and some good moments from the game.
“I think what we lacked yesterday was I felt like we were not able to control the game with the ball like we normally do. We allowed the opposition to close us down, and then sometimes our touches let us down, which is something that this time of the season is expected, but it gives us something that we can look into and continue to look to improve.”
Andrioli on strengthening the squad to balance that presence on the field of experience with our already very talented youth team…
“We’ve [Ernest Faber] been having a few conversations over the last few weeks in regards to strengthening the squad in some areas that we think we need players. There are specific areas in the team we’ve been scouting. It’s finding that balance with experience.
Andrioli on his immediate priorities in developing the squad, both tactically and culturally, as we continue to build the foundations of this new team…
“In football, if you win the game and everything goes okay, everything is good. If you lose the game, especially in this sort of Cup round as a knockout competition, you’ve got to not let that get you down. We need to be mentally strong and not allow these things to affect us. We need to keep our heads down, continue to work hard, continue to implement that sort of a culture that we want to have, and that takes time; it doesn’t happen overnight.
“I am absolutely under no illusion of the difficulties of a job like this, The A-League is a very close league. The squads are constantly looking to improve and it’s a very competitive environment. We need to make sure that we focus on the thing that we want to do; initially establish and out in place a good foundation so that the young players feel confident to play the football they need to play, blended with some experienced players that can help them along. That is our goal for this pre-season. We’re confident that if we keep on going that way, we will be very competition in this up and coming season.
