Sydney FC’s rapidly improving National Youth League side take on the AIS team in Canberra this week.
Young central defender Tomi Mijic is having an outstanding season and has been a pivotal part of a defensive unit that has conceded just five goals, laying the foundations for some strong attacking performances.
Sydney FC-s rapidly improving National Youth League side take on the AIS team in Canberra this week.
Young central defender Tomi Mijic is having an outstanding season and has been a pivotal part of a defensive unit that has conceded just five goals, laying the foundations for some strong attacking performances.
One of those was the 5-1 crushing of Melbourne Victory at Leichhardt Oval last Sunday afternoon. Mijic, who was strong again, pinpointed possession as the critical reason for such a resounding victory.
“We dominated possession-wise,” the defender said, “and that gave us a lot of time to experiment with the type of play we wanted to carry out. Everyone played well and we got a good result.”
The Sky Blues will be looking to build on that performance this weekend. Mijic said that replicating the same facets of that game would be key.
“We have to play simple and stick to the game plan.
“The AIS are a younger team than us, and we just have to make sure we play consistently well throughout the whole game and we-ll get the result.”
Mijic has won many plaudits for his dominant performances in the heart of the Sydney defence this season and he is happy with the progress he is making.
“I feel like I-m improving with every game. I-m getting more and more used to the players around me and the system we-re playing.
“I-m really growing in confidence and that-s allowing me to perform better each week.”
Like their Hyundai A-League counterparts, the National Youth League squad are nicely placed in third spot.
Mijic wants Ian Crook-s side to emulate the senior side in more ways than one.
“Our main objective for this season is to play the way the first team plays.
“We want to keep possession of the ball and create as many chances as we can,” he said.
The Sky Blues take another step to fulfilling that objective in Canberra this Saturday afternoon.
AIS v Sydney FC
AIS Athletics Track, Canberra
Kick off: 3.00pm AEDT
Photo courtesy of Ron Hughes
