Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou says he is delighted for the club’s Qantas Socceroos representatives, and believes the team is more than capable of covering their absences.
Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou says he is delighted for the club’s Qantas Socceroos representatives, and believes the team is more than capable of covering their absences.
Archie Thompson and Mark Milligan were chosen on Thursday in Holger Osieck’s 25-man squad for the East Asian Cup qualifiers from December 1-9.
Although their inclusion sees the pair ruled out of crucial Hyundai A-League matches against Adelaide United and Perth Glory, Postecoglou said he was pleased Osieck picked his players.
“It’s only for two games and it’s great for them,” Postecoglou said before training at Gosch’s Paddock on Friday.
“Archie’s been great for the Socceroos and he’s been great for us. We haven’t had him a lot, to be fair, but when he has played for us he’s been really good.
“And I think Millsy’s (Milligan) been outstanding, especially the last two or three games, (he’s been) a real driving force in the midfield so I’m really happy for them that they’re well in the mix for the Socceroos.”
Postecoglou said both Thompson and Brazilian Gui Finkler have a chance to replace the suspended Marcos Flores for Saturday night’s match against Western Sydney in Parramatta.
The Victory have conceded 16 goals so far in season 2012/13, and the coach believes this is an area they will improve in as the team begins to gel.
“I don’t think we’re settled yet, I think we’re sort of still tinkering around with things,” he said.
“I still think we can better in those areas, not just the back four but beyond that in terms of our defensive duties.
“We need to stop conceding goals and the goals we’re conceding aren’t the greatest from our point of view, so we need to keep improving in that area, no doubt.”
Postecoglou paid tribute to rising star Andrew Nabbout, who has burst onto the scene with three goals in his past two games.
Despite being wary of managing the 19-year-old’s workload, the coach said he had seen nothing to suggest Nabbout was not coping well with the step up from the youth team.
“He’s a great kid, he’s level-headed, he knows where he’s at – he understands he’s still got a lot of work to do,” Postecoglou said.
“I’m ignoring his age and his inexperience and looking at the fact he’s playing some good football and scoring goals.
“He’s training well – it’s only been his first full week of being in with us. I haven’t seen any signs that it’s getting to him at any stage.”
