Attacking flair and creativity will be the keys for new Melbourne City coach Erick Mombaerts, who has declared his intent to transform the A-League club's identity.
The experienced French mentor has been tasked with filling the vacancy left by Englishman Warren Joyce's departure.
Joyce led City to the finals in his two seasons at the helm, but his often pragmatic style led to a high player turnover, including a falling out with star striker Bruno Fornaroli that led to the Uruguayan's eventual exit.
Mombaerts linked up with his players for the first time on Monday and said he wanted to implement a more attacking playing style.
"I'm very confident in the motivation of our players to set up this difficult style of play," he told reporters.
"I hope our fans will be proud about this identity of play immediately, not after many years. I want to change a lot of things and this identity maybe (only) in a few months, but it's also our best way to win. We want to win with this style."
The 64-year-old Mombaerts' list of career achievements includes stints in charge of France's under-18s and under-21s, where he coached 2018 World Cup winners Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann.
While leading City to their first A-League title is an obvious goal, Mombaerts has set his sights on transforming the organisation starting at academy level.
"Objectively, I think the young players need to improve their level, first of all their tactical level," he said.
"That is the most difficult and maybe it is in this way that the young Australian players need to improve their level.
"To reach a high level, the player needs to have good tactical decision-making under pressure. They need to develop their capacity to have good emotional control.
"That's why they need to develop this kind of quality very early and also they need to have a good program to develop this.
"We want to score goals, we want to create opportunities, and to create opportunities, we need to have creative players."
Australian Associated Press
