Aloisi: Matildas links "exciting"
John Aloisi says reports linking him with the vacant Matildas coaching role are exciting but that, for now, he won’t address them as anything other than speculation.
John Aloisi says reports linking him with the vacant Matildas coaching role are exciting but that, for now, he won’t address them as anything other than speculation.
Whispers without much to underpin them having linked the current Western United coach with the role for several months in Tarneit, Optus Sport first formally reported Aloisi, who is out of contract at the end of the A-League Men season, was being viewed as a potential candidate to lead Australia’s women in March, with speculation increasing earlier this week when 7 News Adelaide reported that he had staged talks with Football Australia over the role.
While Joe Montemurro appears to be increasingly shaping as the favourite for the role should he want it – the 55-year-old is already contracted at French powers Lyon for next season – Aloisi is one of the few names that has emerged as a potential full-time boss following the exit of Tony Gustavsson following the Paris Olympics nearly a full year ago.
Tom Sermanni serving as an interim since the Swede’s departure, the sluggardly search for a new coach has drawn ire across Australian football, with players frustrated by the halfway house their preparation for the Asian Cup has been left in by the search.
If Montemurro is Football Australia’s preferred candidate, they have arrived at that determination just under a year on from the former Brunswick Juventus midfielder returning to Australia while still a free agent to serve as coach the A-League Women All-Stars — at a time when the federation ostensibly would have known it wasn’t going to renew Gustavsson’s deal.
It’s the second time, meanwhile, that Aloisi has been linked with leading an Australian national team in the past six months, with the former 55-time Socceroo understood to have been a finalist for the vacant men’s national team role that ultimately went to Tony Popovic.
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Speaking ahead of Western’s game against Perth Glory on Saturday evening, Aloisi acknowledged the honour that would come with leading the Matildas. But mostly left it at that.
“First of all, I'll say that even for my name to be associated with such a big role like that, that's exciting,” said Aloisi. “But there's always going to be speculation. I'm not going to go too much into it. My contract is up, there's jobs available, there's jobs around.
“I'm sure that there will be people thinking that I might be right for certain jobs. But at the moment my full focus is on what I'm doing here with Western United. We've got five games to go, an important game tomorrow, and that's all my focus is on at the moment.
“[Aloisi’s talks with Western United are] still ongoing. There's a bit to get through with that side. At the moment, there's no progress. We're just still in talks.”
Of course, the Matildas’ job isn’t the only one that Aloisi has been linked to as of late.
Amid Perth’s horror season, there has been talk in West Australia of him being tapped as a replacement for David Zdrillic — Glory CEO Anthony Radich recently telling The West no decisions on the role would be made until a postseason review. And with the axe reportedly hovering over Carl Veart at Adelaide United, speculation has now extended to a potential return to South Australia for the former Adelaide City product.
The latter, however, was something Aloisi wouldn’t countenance when put to him on Friday.
“That's something that 's not even there,” he said.
“Carl's in the job. Carl's done a great job there. I don't even know why there's talk about Carl; of them getting rid of Carl or Carl leaving. There's still five games left and Carl could end up finishing second.
“Everyone goes off of last results but what he's done over the six years he's been there has been incredible. It would be disrespectful of me to talk about any coach that's still in a job, where a job might become available.
“People might be looking at Western United and think that's a good role to take up. But at the moment, I'm talking to Western United. We don't know what's around the corner, but my full focus is on here and making sure the team's ready and prepared for the run home, especially tomorrow against Perth.”
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Much of the talk surrounding Aloisi’s future has been driven by Western’s unexpectedly strong season in the A-League Men this campaign: the coach taking a young side widely tipped to miss finals and instead guiding them to second place with five games of the regular season remaining.
Seven points back of league leaders Auckland FC — and set to host Steve Corsica’s side — on the final day of the season, there remains an outside chance that the side from Melbourne’s West could even stage a late surge for silverware across the coming month. To do so, though, their recent red hot form would need to continue and translate into 15 points in the coming month.
“At the moment, we just have to make sure that we win our game tomorrow,” said Aloisi. “ That's the first thing we have to worry about or focus on… it's not even a worry, it's more excitement about facing Perth at home.
“Then we'll see. The next game after that [away to Western Sydney] is obviously a big one. Each game is important, we know that. We'll just do our best and then if our best is good enough -- great. If not, then we know that we put everything in to make sure that we pick up maximum points.
“But we know that's not easy. We know that every game throws difficulties at you. We have to make sure that we're ready for each and every game, because they're all tough.”
Eight points clear of seventh-placed Sydney, Western are at the very least rapidly approaching the point wherein they will seal a return to the playoffs. But their coach has a different magic number in mind than points.
“I did have a magic number for goals scored,” the coach revealed. “Before the season started, I sat down with the coaches and I said 'we want 50 plus goals.' We find that if we get that, then you should be at least top four.
“We're getting there, we're getting close. It's helped that the last four games have scored 16 goals. So we'll keep on trying to push for that. The points that at the end, they will come when you're doing that.
“I think 41 points this season will probably guarantee you top six, but I'm not really focused on how many points because we're on 38 we just need to try and win as many games as possible.”
Header Image: Football Australia