Head Coach John van ‘t Schip has urged his charges to be fearless after Melbourne Heart FC’s 1-2 loss to Perth Glory at AAMI Park yesterday.
Head Coach John van ‘t Schip has urged his charges to be fearless after Melbourne Heart FC-s 1-2 loss to Perth Glory at AAMI Park yesterday.
Van ‘t Schip said his side appeared paralysed by a fear of failure during the loss, which consigns the team to the bottom of the ladder after consecutive losses.
While Heart entered the break on level terms despite dominating possession in the opening stanza, a defensive lapse ultimately cost the Red and White, with Shane Smeltz netting midway through the second half.
“We should be concerned after today seeing how we played,” van ‘t Schip said.
“During the first half there was a kind of fear in the team, not expressing themselves and feeling free to play and we all know that when you have fear you can’t perform.
“So I said, ‘get rid of that’, and it certainly went better in the second half, but it was not enough. Maybe it has something to do with last week, the way that we played and the goals that we conceded.”
With the team set to face cross town rivals Victory in the Melbourne Derby on Saturday night, van ‘t Schip said his team would need to bounce back with vigour, and avoid repeating yesterday-s display.
“The lesson of today is that it’s not going to help. Instead of having nightmares, I would prefer that they would enjoy the atmosphere and play free and try to make a good game of it,” he said.
