Heading up to Sunday’s game against a struggling Melbourne Heart, midfielder Steven Lustica says the Reds are sticking firm to continuing the development of the style they are trying to play.
Heading up to Sunday-s game against a struggling Melbourne Heart, midfielder Steven Lustica says the Reds are sticking firm to continuing the development of the style they are trying to play.
Make no mistake – Coach Josep Gombau and the players are just as disappointed as the club-s supporters in regards to the string of the Reds- results so far this season, but Lustica has reinforced that despite sitting in the lower half of the table after seven rounds, the squad is not about to steer away from the type of football that is being constructed.
A 3-0 loss is never good whichever way you look at it and Lustica was not about to start reeling off excuses for the Reds- result at Etihad Stadium last Saturday night. As much as it hurts being on the receiving end of a score like that against your biggest rivals, Lustica knows dwelling on it is not the tonic that will get the players up for their third away match in a row on Sunday.
“Obviously it was a disappointing result for us and the fans, we wanted to get a better result, but I don-t think the result was realistic of the game,” Lustica said.
“I thought we did well in parts of the game and I thought we were unlucky not to get a goal, and maybe if we scored the penalty things could have been a lot different.”
Sure, it would be tempting and an easy out just to throw everything out the window that Gombau and the Reds have worked on since the Spaniard came to the club, but Gombau has reiterated he will persist and has absolute faith in what he is building.
The coach-s view is fully supported by his players, with Lustica saying the playing group is all singing from the same songbook as Gombau, and that they can see the benefits of his new ‘style- starting to take shape.
“We-re all on board with the style and we all believe in that, if we all believe in the style that Josep is implementing then we are going to improve,” Lustica said.
“I think if we keep believing in what we-re doing results will come.”
“It was never going to be easy or happen overnight, it-s just about converting our chances, fixing our mistakes and once we click I think it will be a lot better.”
The Reds manufactured a staggering 22 attempts at goal against the Victory away from home, and although it does not read well the fact that none of them found the back of the net, it demonstrates an intent and drive to create goal scoring opportunities.
Sunday-s game pits the Reds against another side that has had less than an ideal start with the Heart still searching for their first win, and Lustica is preparing for a team that will be just as desperate to turn their fortunes around.
“It-s a big game for us and a great opportunity to get a win on the board,” Lustica said.
“Every game is tough in the A-League, it-s very unpredictable so we-ll be going into it like we do every game, focus on ourselves and try to improve from last week.”
