But the Dutchman might be better employed forgetting about more glitzy attacking players and focusing instead on strengthening a leaky rearguard that was brutally exposed by Melbourne Victory on Saturday night as the navy blues stormed over the top of City to win the first derby of the season 5-2.

Much has been made - rightly - about the attacking prowess City possesses, even though the coach has been unlucky that one of his key signings, Slovenian international midfielder Robert Koren, has been injured and unavailable all season.

But those who rushed to back the A-League's newest glamour club into pre-season favouritism for the title before a ball was kicked might now be ruing their confidence a little.

Yes, goals do win teams games. But defences win clubs championships.

And what has tended to be overlooked in the evaluation of City is that Van't Schip has gone into the new season with four of the five players who played in his defence last campaign - when the club finished bottom of the league.

Goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, right back Jason Hoffman, new captain Patrick Kisnorbo and Robbie Wielaert in the heart of defence were all regulars last year when the team didn't win for virtually half a season and conceded 42 goals in 27 games.

Of this year's defence only Iain Ramsay, who has been converted into a left back this season having spent his entire career to this point as a left winger or left midfielder, is new.

To be fair to Van't Schip he has had to struggle with injury concerns at the back and so there is little or no pressure for their places being brought to bear on the present incumbents.

Connor Chapman, a young centre back signed from Newcastle, contracted glandular fever and missed the whole pre-season. Youngster Ben Garuccio and, crucially, Argentinian utility Jonatan Germano have been injured..

Van't Schip did not spare his rearguard in the post-match press conference, saying his defence was at fault, particularly in the way it was caught cold at the start of the second half when Besart Berisha  scored Victory's third goal within seconds of the restart.

Where City was undone in the derby was down the flanks, especially the left side. On two occasions Kosta Barbarouses wreaked havoc as he ran at Ramsay - and others - to set up goals for Archie Thompson and Berisha.

Hoffman, the right back, is another who is learning the trade as a defender having spent much of his career as a striker. He is often targeted by teams probing for weaknesses.

Redmayne has had almost two seasons as City's number one but has never looked fully assured nor dominant in his goal. Tando Velaphi is on the sidelines but the ex-Victory and Perth Glory keeper has yet to force his way past Redmayne.

"At 3-2, the boys didn't recover from that and that's something that we should analyse and talk about because you have to be mentally strong," Van't Schip said.

"You have to be concentrated and know what you're doing. After the half-time break we were just not there."

Perhaps it was just an off day. After all, the fourth goal came from a stupidly conceded penalty by James Brown, and City was chasing the game when Archie Thompson broke free to score his second and Victory's fifth.

Van't Schip's side is not far off it, as it showed in the first half when it played some fast, fluid football and had by far the better of the contest, going ahead twice only to be undone by some slipshod defending.

Maybe the business with David Villa leaving for a break after the Adelaide game next Friday night, with no certainty that he will return to complete his 10-game guest stint, has unsettled the group more than anyone thought.

What can't be argued is that City has not played a full 90 minutes all season. In its first game it dominated Sydney but did not take its chances, fell behind and had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

In its second it did the same to Newcastle, went behind and then only levelled four minutes from time, Villa the scorer on both occasions.

And on Saturday it was the better team in the first half but once more could not make its superiority count.

"In the first half we showed again that we can play good but it's 90 minutes a game," he said. "We should analyse why ... we played three good first halves, the second halves are a big part of a game.

"More important because in the second half, games get decided. It's something we must improve."

If it does there is no reason it cannot beat Adelaide next Friday night. But if it continues to concede  soft goals and play for only half a game, it will certainly disappoint those who unloaded on it as title favourite before a ball was kicked.

Ladder after round 3