Melbourne Victory W-League coach Jeff Hopkins believes there is plenty of improvement left in his charges, despite beating reigning premier and cross-town rivals Melbourne City 6-0.
Sunday’s match demonstrated Victory are going to be one of the teams to beat this season and Hopkins comments post game only further highlighted the confidence he has.
“There are still things there we can do better,” Hopkins said.
“[The team] will realise once we sit down and watch the game that there are a number of areas we need to get better at.”
With an upward trajectory, Hopkins said he was very excited about where this team could go.
“We’re a long way off our best and we still did this to City today… if we keep getting better and better who knows where that will take us,” he said.
If Hopkins can help Victory improve their game, other clubs will start to see them as a league favourite for the title.
Victory’s first game saw a nil-all draw against fellow championship contender Brisbane Roar, meaning this game was no fluke.
City were also unlucky not to walk away with a draw against ladder leaders Canberra United last round, which makes the win for the Victory all the sweeter.
Victory and City will clash again this week due to the anomalies in the fixture this season.
Hopkins wants to see improvement again from his team, and the importance of winning is not lost on him.
“We’re going to come with a game plan to win the game, and we want to make sure we keep winning the ball higher up the ground,” Hopkins said.
The game was a role reversal of the last time the two sides met last season, where City dominated to win 4-0. Due to personnel changes and COVID-19 restrictions impacting the team during pre-season, City is drastically different to its multiple premiership winning team.
However, City coach Rado Visocic is not giving up hope and believes there are improvements to come from his side.
“To be honest some of these girls were a bit intimidated,” he said.
“We need to give them a few games to get used to the opponents, used to the speed. Remember some of these girls haven’t played since September 2019.”
Feature image credit: Melbourne City FC
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