Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini will keep the experimenting to a minimum when he meets the club’s ‘younger brothers’ Melbourne City on the Gold Coast tomorrow.
City defeated Adelaide United 2-0 with a raft of changes used in their training game this week.
And with a number of younger players in the travelling squad, some suggested it may be a weakened outfit that takes to the CBus Stadium park.
But on Saturday there will be a more cohesive Sky Blue side against the A-League outfit, promised the Chilean mentor.
“No, tomorrow we will play with just one team. We are going to make some changes in the second half,” he told reporters at the official pre-match press conference.
“But we will start with all the professional players and in the second half we’ll see to make some changes.”
And City captain Vincent Kompany has been impressed by what he’s seen so far from local A-League opposition.
“They were sharp,” he said of the Reds.
“They were good in ball possession and the level is actually of a pretty high standard.
“But for us it’s about the fitness and we got out of it what we did. But the standard of the team [Adelaide] technically was very good.”
And it wasn’t a surprise to the inspirational Belgian given he’s watched the A-League many times on TV in the UK.
In fact, Kompany watched the Melbourne Derby between City and Victory, he revealed with a wry smile.
“Most of the [A-League] games are quite open. And I like watching football from everywhere.
“It’s good, you don’t want to have a walkover when you start playing games.”
Kompany had some advice for City’s Australian brother club, who are into their second full season under the City Football Group ownership structure.
“I think they are at the same stage as we were four or five years ago. Constantly improving. If they can learn one thing from what we experienced is that if you work hard enough they will get to the top.”
