Melbourne Victory’s one and only preseason hit out ended in a goalless draw on Saturday, leaving head coach Dave Edmondson disappointed and hoping for more improvement with the arrival of several international players over the coming weeks.
The 2012/13 W-League runners-up endured a frustrating afternoon, failing to find the net against a resilient WPL All-Stars side.
This was a slightly different team than the one that lost the Grand Final to Sydney in January, as they fielded several new signings in the shape of Matildas Lisa De Vanna and Emma Checker as well as teenage debutant Emily Hulbert.
“I thought we started a little bit slowly, just sloppy in everything that we did,” Edmondson said.
“We certainly have to be better than that, certainly than what we were in the first half. Probably should have been a goal down to be honest. Having said that, we probably should have been two or three to the good as well.”
Having made a couple of substitutions to mix things up at half time, Edmondson reserved some praise for one of his younger charges who made an impact in the second half.
“Young Emily Hulbert came in and I thought was excellent in the midfield, sped things up a little bit, got our ball speed up, got our movement up a little bit better,” he said.
“But we need to be better than that next week. [There is] plenty of work to do this week.”
One area he feels can be improved is the link up play between his front four attackers, as there were signs of a lack of chemistry over the ninety minutes.
“The understanding is going to come, and Lisa’s been away for a couple of weeks with the Matildas, and Ash [Brown] obviously just coming back here, and Jess Fishlock will be in in a couple of weeks,” he said.
“So whilst it does take time, we got to minimise that time as we play a competitive game on Sunday. We got to get ourselves in the right understanding but that’s the aim.”
The likes of Jessica Fishlock, Ashley Brown and Jessica Samuelsson will not be available for the first round against Sydney FC, and with a cloud hanging over Rebekah Stott’s return, there are certainly places for grabs in the starting line-up for round one, a fact Edmondson was keen to point out.
“There’s a couple of players not available today that will be available for the opening round. So that was never really going to be a starting eleven today,” he said.
“But certainly there are a couple of players who have really staked their claim a little bit today.
“We’ve made it pretty clear that reputation, name doesn’t mean anything. It’s how you play, how you train, and they have to earn their spot in there, and there’s probably one or two that’s done that today, and there might be one or two during the week that do as well. So spots are all there to be played for really.”