NYL Head Coach John Aloisi expects a potentially season defining challenge when Melbourne Heart FC’s youth outfit takes on the Brisbane Roar at the Cleveland Showgrounds.
NYL Head Coach John Aloisi expects a potentially season defining challenge when Melbourne Heart FC-s youth outfit takes on the Brisbane Roar at the Cleveland Showgrounds.
Aloisi-s side sits top of the National Youth League after recording victories in three of its last four matches, fast emerging as the most complete outfit in the competition.
With results a secondary consideration, Aloisi has set about instilling Heart-s overarching philosophy into his charges, implementing the 4-3-3 system which emphasises retaining possession and speed in transition.
Having played four of its last five matches on the road, Heart Youth has been forced to overcome a gruelling schedule in its rise to the top, with Sunday-s match poised to be the side-s third in succession.
This factor, combined with Brisbane-s impressive start to the campaign makes the top of the table clash a potential litmus test as Aloisi-s side seeks to show its wares against the Roar.
“I-m expecting a very tough test. They play exactly like their first team, so we-re expecting a tough game and are looking forward to it. We-ll see where we-re at as a team,” he said.
Aloisi though is quick to emphasise his primary aim lies in developing players for the Hyundai A-League, particularly given many members of his outfit have largely been overlooked by traditional development pathways.
“We just want to keep improving as a side,” he said.
“We-ve been getting good results, but there is a lot of improving to do, and we-re not really happy with how we-re playing all our games. We want to play a good game against and hopefully come away with three points.”
While Aloisi is quick to highlight his team-s spirit and mental fortitude as its strength, he-s forced to delve a little longer when grasping for an area of improvement.
“We could keep the ball a little bit better and try and press teams a little better up the pitch. If we can do that a bit better, I think we-ll win games easier than we have,” he said.
