Although Jamie Maclaren, a star striker for Melbourne City, has tied his longest goal drought in the A-League Men since 2015, coach Aurelio Vidmar feels his club has more important issues to address.
The defending premiers lost their fifth straight game, 5-1, at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night. Vidmar acknowledged that his team did not play well against the ruthless and hungry Roar.
Vidmar described it as a “painful” reality that needs to be changed before City’s local derby against Melbourne Victory on Saturday.
Maclaren, the all-time ALM top goalscorer, has not scored in his previous six appearances. He hadn’t done it since the 2014–2015 season, when he was a Perth Glory player.
According to Vidmar, this was not an uncommon situation for a skilled marksman.
“You are aware of the nature of the strikers. They may occasionally experience stretches when they are not scoring, and they will experience purple patches,” Vidmar said.
In recent weeks, he has had numerous opportunities, and tonight he will get a few more. For the strikers, it is the same. The objective appears to be double the size at times and like a mouse hole at others.”
With seven goals this season, Maclaren continues to be the club’s top scorer. The Socceroo continues to move into scoring position, and goalie Macklin Freke did a good job deflecting shots.
The coach is more concerned with the fact that he was forced to acknowledge that “we weren’t competitive” following the game. He stated that the impending Victory match “may” be a blessing in stopping that trend.
“We can’t put our head in the sand at all,” he stated.
We have to accept a lot of things, confront some realities, and keep moving forward. Although difficult, there isn’t another option.
Every week, we ought to be competitive. The fact that there is a derby approaching is irrelevant. Although we made great preparations over the past two weeks and encountered some difficulties, everyone is tremendously disappointed with today.”
The Roar had been defeated 8-1 by City in their prior meeting. Vidmar acknowledged that the league was “a strange league” this year, but he still supported his team’s ability to bounce back.
“We must continue to work. There isn’t an alternative,” he declared.
We must persevere and maintain our faith in order to complete the task. We won’t be the first team to have to try to reply because we are not the first team to get pounded.
“As poor as it is, and how disappointed everyone is, you just have to get back on the horse.”
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