Melbourne City coach John van’t Schip says there’s work to do

All might seem good for A-League powerhouse Melbourne City, but coach John van’t Schip isn’t about to get carried away.

Tim Cahill lets rip with his wonder goal against Melbourne Victory last weekend.

Unbeaten after two rounds, a sweet win over their bitter rivals and one game away from making the final of the FFA Cup.

All might seem good for A-League powerhouse Melbourne City less than a month into the new season, but coach John van’t Schip isn’t about to get carried away, even if the talk is still about Tim Cahill’s goal and the stunning 4-1 win over Melbourne Victory in last week’s derby.

Disposing so easily of a club that has long been regarded as the benchmark of the sport in this country on and off the field, City showed they had truly arrived as a force in their own right.

But, in keeping with his pragmatic style, van’t Schip isn’t about to take anything for granted.

“A lot,” was his succinct answer when asked if there was anything his team could improve on. “I talked to the players about it. We are working on a few things.

“Every game is different but the signs are good.

“We want to continue to work hard and play the way we want to play.

“Performances and results are not always easy to control. But you have to have the intention to play good football. The players see the vision that if the performance is good then it can reflect in the result.

“It is also only two games into the league and maybe we can talk about (how well things are going) later in the competition.

“Now is too early to say if we are consistent or not. We have to back up the results and especially the good play.”

But first, the tough games continue to come in the A-League: City are up against Perth Glory at AAMI Park tonight in a game that could throw more light on the quality of this City side.

Perth looked the goods in the first 45 minutes against a hapless Central Coast in the opening match of the season, leading 3-0 at the break before letting the Mariners back in for a 3-3 draw.

But they bounced back last week with a 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix in a result that will have them full of confidence.

“Perth are a strong team. They have quality everywhere,” van’t Schip said.

“They are physically strong, have a lot of speed going forward and have some interesting players in (Diego) Castro, (Andy) Keogh and (Nebo) Marinkovic.”

As for his own team, it appears that exciting attacking import Nicolas Colazo is in doubt with an ear infection. He did not train yesterday.

Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen is expected to slot back into the side after serving a one-game suspension after being sent off against Phoenix in the opening round.

Dean Bouzanis did a terrific job in the derby last week, but while van’t Schip refused to say if Sorensen would start, it would come as a surprise if the Dane were left out.

“We’ll make a decision on who plays tomorrow,” he said. “But that is the same with most of the players. We have a good squad and everyone has to be fighting for their spot.

“Bouzanis did well in the derby and did well in Wellington and he is closing the gap (on Sorensen).”

Perth attacking midfielder Marinkovic says City presented no fears for the West Australians.

“In this league, everyone can beat everyone,” he said earlier in the week. “I’ve played almost three years here and for us, it’s better to play against better squads.

“It doesn’t mean anything on paper. If we just put a strong effort in then I think we can beat them.”