Melbourne Heart head coach John van 't Schip is looking to find the perfect balance for his new team in their debut season.
Whether it be the balance of their game style - trying to mix attack and defence - or whether it be bringing together youth and experience, the Dutchman is always tinkering with things to produce the best outcome possible.
Following last night's 2-0 friendly loss to English Premier League club Everton, van 't Schip was hoping he could find the right balance ahead of the franchise's first foray into the A-League.
"You can't always play aggressive on the attack because the game is 90 minutes so that's why you need to control the game, have the ball, and when you lose the ball get it back as quickly as possible," van 't Schip said.
"If we can get that more and more into our system then when we have the ball we can choose the moments when we can get dangerous and choose the moments when we need to play the ball around to have a breath. That's what we are working on every day and I think the boys are getting it and understanding it more and more. We could see a lot today in the game and we still have three weeks to go until the league starts."
The former Holland international said pre-season games against quality opposition were always very important as it gives him a chance to test players, both young and older, to see what sort of options he has at his disposal throughout the season.
"That's why these kind of games are very good and important," he added. "The young players are very motivated, they want to show their abilities. Next week four of them are leaving for more than a week but I think we bring the young players in during the season where possible.
"For example, Brendan Hamill played today for the first time as a right full-back and he did very well but it's also important why he did it will because he had two experienced players beside him (Simon Colosimo and Michael Beauchamp). You can't have eleven young players. It's good but you are asking too much so if you can bring in young players once in a while on every line and then during the season they develop, then they can play longer."