Is there one or two that have really stood out over pre-season that you think could surprise the league this year?

We had a couple of players that were doing well in pre-season this year.

We brought a couple of players into the squad they knew to the team.

One is Jacob Brazetti.

Mitch Smith as well is sort of a reasonably unknown player.

Brazetti played already in the A-League before.

And they are doing really well for us in pre-season.

Is there a couple of rival clubs that you already know that will really challenge you this year? Like not scare you, but ones that you have to be really wary of because of their form over the preseason or what they did last year?

Is there one or two that have really stood out over pre-season that you think could surprise the league this year?

We had a couple of players that were doing well in pre-season this year.

We brought a couple of players into the squad that are new to the team.

One is Jacob Brezedi.

Mitch Smith as well is sort of a reasonably unknown player.

Brezedi played already in the A-League before.

and they are doing really well for us in pre-season.

Is there one or two that have really stood out over pre-season that you think could surprise the league this year?

We had a couple of players who were doing well in pre-season this year.

We brought a couple of players into the squad they knew to the team.

One is Jacob Brazetti.

Mitch Smith as well is sort of a reasonably unknown player.

Brazetti played already in the A-League before.

And they were doing really well for us in pre-season.

Is there a couple of rival clubs that you already know that will really challenge you this year? Like, not scare you, but ones that you have to be really wary of because of their form over the pre-season or what they did last year?

How are you going to manage that?

yeah it's something new for us obviously the club has not been in that situation for for a long time but something that we look forward to it because we quite a feel a sense of excitement in in the whole team at the moment because we're playing two different competitions everybody has to understand i think majority of people know that when you play the a league is one type of football when you play in asia is a completely different type of football for for so many reasons.

They want to go away, the climb and everything else, the distances, but the way those opposition teams play in Asia.

So for us, we've been talking a lot about adapting to the situation.

A-League is more a transitional type of football, pressing, you know, not many people keeping the ball.

In Asia, the game, the tempo is a little bit slower.

So I thought that we were able to do that quite well when we played away in Thailand.

How's Goody going? Is he getting old with his groins? You're going to have to manage him.

How are you going to manage that?

Yeah, it's something new for us.

Obviously, the club has not been in that situation for a long time, but it's something that we look forward to because we feel a sense of excitement in the whole team at the moment because we're playing two different competitions.

Everybody has to understand.

I think the majority of people know that when you play the A-League, it's one type of football.

When you play in Asia, it's a completely different type of football for us.

for so many reasons.

No, Goody's

of

the game, you know, defence, midfield and attacking.

So we're trying to obviously... consolidate a little bit certain things that we want to do and a few things that we observe in the couple of matches we had in the Champions League, the qualifier one and the cup round, plus a few friendly games that we played.

So we try to address those things constantly.

But I mean, the main thing for us is playing football matches so that we can find the right chemistry amongst the players and finding the right combinations.

That's the key thing for us.

Unfortunately, as I said before, we You know, the opposition we play, they already played five games in the local league and this will be our first game in over a month.

We watched.

What parts of your game have you really been focusing in on at training during that time?

Look, we, we always focus, uh, our thing is, uh, it's a whole team effort.

We, we concentrate on all aspects of the game, you know, defense, uh, midfield, and attacking.

So we're trying to obviously, uh, consolidate a little bit certain things that we want to do and a few things that we observed in the couple of matches we had, um, in the Champions League, the qualifier one and the, the cup round, uh, plus a few friendly games that we played.

So we try to address those things constantly.

Um, but I mean, the, the main thing for us is playing football matches so that we can find the right chemistry amongst the players and, and finding the right combinations.

That's a, that's a key thing for us.

Yeah.

Mm

...

but not for these games.

That's not available, so we have to rely on, on the television footage, which doesn't give you the whole picture.

Um, w- we're getting to know a little bit, but the more we know is almost like the less we know, because they have so many foreign, foreign players in the squad.

They've got, uh, I think about 11 Brazilian players.

Uh, not all of them can play at once in the local league, but they all can play in Champions League.

Yeah.

Did you learn anything in particular from that game that you'd like to improve tonight?

Look, I mean, it, it's a difficult sort of a thing to, to take from that game.

This is going to be a completely different game.

Uh, obviously playing against, uh, South Melbourne, they, they're not a bad side in the NPL.

They're probably fifty or sixty games ahead of us.

They've been playing games consecutively.

That's what the NPL teams are at this moment, and you can't buy that match fitness.

Can you explain what the difference is?

Did you learn anything in particular from that game that you'd like to improve tonight?

Look, I mean, i-i-it's a difficult sort of a thing to, to take from that game.

This is going to be a completely different game.

Uh, obviously playing against, uh, South Melbourne, they, they're not a bad side in the NPL.

They're probably fifty or sixty games ahead of us.

They've been playing games consecutively.

That's what the NPL teams are at this moment, and you can't buy that match fitness, the, the sort of a feeling of playing from week-to-week basis competitive matches.

Can you explain what the difference is?

So he'd be excited about coming back?

Look, everyone is excited.

I mean, w-we are now, everyone is available.

We have players, all the players are ready to go.

They're all putting their hand up to play.

So whoever starts tomorrow, um, I'm pretty sure that we'll be, you know, ready to go, and then we have players on the bench as well that can come in and make us stronger as the game goes on.

So look, I mean, um, we couldn't from that perspective, from that angle, I think we're sitting in a good place.

... that keeps, yeah, everybody guessing, which is great.

As a coach, how did you handle that situation when he got suspended for last week's game after taking the shirt off in a goal celebration?

Look, we, uh, as I said this morning on my press conference, uh, everyone's available.

We, we couldn't be in a better situation now.

We have, uh, the whole squad back and, uh, we just have to now make a w- a sort of a, a very good assessment and, and put the players on the pitch that we think are going to help to give us the results.

So based on that, uh, all I can say is that everyone's available.

We, uh, we work on different scenarios this week, uh, with different players and different predicting sort of different situations to make sure that we're ready for everything.

And, um, I'm, I'm sort of, uh, fully confident that we, we will may have made the right decision and, and we're confident the players that will step in onto that pitch tomorrow will be able to do the job for us, knowing that we also have players, uh, as, as our strength to be, you know, having, uh, players that can come off the bench as well and, and help us, and potentially we can even, uh, get stronger as the game goes on, having all those players available for tomorrow.

Love it.

How are you going to manage Craig Goodwin?

Well, he's sort of obviously not 100% ready to play 90 minutes, but he's got some minutes that he can play.

So we're still finalizing the lineup.

I mean, we do have a clear idea of who we're going to play, but I just don't want to give too much away how we're going to use those players.

But we will use them.

to maximize our chances, use every player according to their individual abilities and attributes and try to blend in with the collective of the squad.

So that's how we prepare.

Your experiences in those two games, what do you think their strengths are, and what do you need to shut down with Auckland?