Melbourne City FC Head Coach John van’t Schip says competition for spots around the park will help his side gain a competitive edge as they prepare for the Hyundai A-League season.
This comes as his goalkeeping stocks received a significant boost with the arrival of former Danish international Thomas Sorensen.
Sorensen completed his first session as a City player on Tuesday and van’t Schip made it clear that the number one spot is up for grabs.
“It’s up to Tando (Velaphi) and Thomas to compete for a position and I think it’s only a good thing for a club wanting better, the competition has to be at a good level,” van’t Schip said.
“We decided last year we want to be more competitive in that area of the team and looking at last year and the experience we had, we wanted a goalkeeper with more experience.
“We all know that Thomas has a lot of experience but we all know in football that history doesn’t count and that’s why he’s coming here, because he is still eager to show he’s a good goalkeeper.
“It’s also like how Damien (Duff) came (to Melbourne) at his age. He was a player who still wanted to show he was a good player and a hard worker and that’s why we got Thomas in as well, because he has a high standard of what he wants and what he can achieve,
With the arrival of Sorensen fulfilling the quota of visa players, van’t Schip also confirmed that Jonatan Germano will not been retained for the upcoming season
“We know Jonatan is a great guy and I was the guy who brought him to the Club,” van’t Schip said.
“Although he was playing again, we made the decision that we couldn’t rely too much on that and looking at the injuries he already had, we had to make the decision. It’s not nice, but that’s the world (of football) and hopefully we’ll work in every way to help Jonatan find another club and at least get through this difficult period.”
NEWS: Sorensen set for City
van’t Schip said Harry Novillo’s injury sustained in the Round of 16 win over Wellington Phoenix would leave him sidelined for at least a few weeks.
“He’s injured, it’s going to take weeks for him to come back, how long? We don’t know but hopefully he can make a good recovery,” van’t Schip said.
“We have all seen that Harry can bring something to the team and hopefully we can get other players back and then Harry back as well.”
