Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar claims the club’s playing group is united ahead of a “season-defining week” for the besieged A-League champions.
City hosts Western Sydney Wanderers at AAMI Park on Saturday night before backing up with another home match on Tuesday night against the Central Coast Mariners.
Following Macarthur FC’s 3-2 home win over competition leaders Newcastle on Thursday night, City is now five points outside of the top-six.
“It’s more than likely going to be a season-defining week for us,” Vidmar said on Friday.
Preparations for this weekend’s clash against the last-placed Wanderers have been rocked by News Corp Australia’s On The Attack column revelation of a falling out between playmaker Daniel Arzani and City’s senior players, who are unhappy with the Socceroo’s attitude.
Vidmar on Friday claimed there not had been a fallout.
“We spoke about that yesterday (Thursday), we spoke again this morning … there’s always rumour and innuendo,” the City coach said.
“I’ve been here two and a half years, and we’ve had different issues through my two and a half years, and not once has something like this ever come up.
“We’ve had stoushes on the pitch, we’ve had lots of different things happen, but when the team’s not going well, something like that always sparks up, but it’s totally false.
“That’s a stain on the senior players here at the club.”
News Corp Australia stands by the report that Arzani’s attitude has been questioned by influential City players.
Vidmar claimed spirit in the City squad was “excellent”.
“They’re chirping like birds,” he said.
“The atmosphere around the group is very positive. That hasn’t been an issue for us. As long as I’m here, that will never be an issue because we’ve got so much to play for and very few have the ability to do, and (the players) don’t take it lightly. It’s a serious job.
“They get on well with each other. We’vce got such a strong leadership group here.”
Vidmar said City was ready for a “strong and tricky” Wanderers outfit.
“They’re a team that loves to attack. They should be in a much higher position than they are at the moment,” he said.
Wanderers captain Lawrence Thomas said his struggling team had to “finish strong”.
“It’s obviously been a difficult year for everyone involved at the club,” the experienced goalkeeper said.
“We’ve got four games to go. We need to pick up 12 points and just see what happens.”
Originally published as Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar claims his players are united
