As 'Nix test looms, Victory to keep plugging away in front of goal
Melbourne Victory's inconsistency in front of goal is well-documented. But Arthur Diles is content that they're creating the chances to give themselves every opportunity to turn that around.
Yet again, Melbourne Victory’s inconsistency in front of goal has prevented them from building up what looked like it could be a head of steam. But as his side prepares to head across the Tasman to take on Wellington, coach Arthur Diles is content that creating enough chances to give themselves every opportunity to turn that around.
Coming off the back of a Big Blue romp over Sydney, Victory came crashing back to earth last week in falling to a frustrating 1-0 defeat against Central Coast, a result that left them sitting eighth on the table ahead of this Friday’s trip to face the Phoenix. A win in that game could see them move as high as fifth on the table and close to within a game of second. A loss, however, could leave them in danger of slipping to tenth.
After seeing their four-game winning run ended with a tepid defeat at the hands of Western Sydney just under a month ago, Victory has followed that with a down-to-the-wire loss away to Adelaide, that 4-0 thumping of the Sky Blues, and the flat loss to the Mariners.
Said four-game winning run represents the only time this season Victory has been able to string together back-to-back games in which they have taken points, let alone wins, and their away form thus far is the second worst in the competition – only Western Sydney taking fewer than their seven road points.
JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.
And it won’t come as a shock to Victory fans, or anyone else who regularly watches them play, but much of this struggle to find consistent results can be traced to an inability to finish reliably: Victory consistently able to move the ball into dangerous areas – leading the league in corners and second only to Newcastle in touches in the opposition penalty area – but all-too-often failing to convert once there.
Against Central Coast, the Victorians outshot their opponents 26 to seven and had nine shots on target to one, only to fall to their seventh defeat of the campaign and remain outside the top six.
“I wish I had the magic answer,” Diles said when asked about his side’s inconsistent finishing. “In the end, all we can ask for is that we’re in those positions to score; that we’re creating chances to score.
“I’ve said from day one, for me, the most important thing is, are we creating chances to score? Then are we creating high-quality chances to score? Then, if we’re scoring, great! If we’re not scoring, then all we can do is keep putting the ball in those positions to score, and then it’s up to the individual to score, at the end of the day.
“That sometimes comes down to the execution or the decision; the execution could have been better and scored, as an individual, or the decision could have been.
“We always look at whether it’s decision-making? Was it execution? The most important thing is that we get there and we keep getting there as often as possible, and we know when we do that, then we give ourselves more chances to score.”
Not all chances, of course, are created equal – a bomb from 40 yards out and a tap-in from one yard, both technically shots, but carrying a significant difference in the threat they possess.
Victory, for their part, ranks third in the competition for shots on target per 90 minutes, per FotMob, but drops to fifth for expected goals (xG) and is seventh for big chances created. Nonetheless, Diles believes they are creating quality chances at a sufficient clip to get results.
“We had enough quality chances to score, absolutely,” said the coach. “We had a lot of chances to score. We had enough good chances to score goals [against the Mariners], and we didn’t, and that’s why, in the end, it’s on us.
“We’re responsible for that, and we need to be better at that, and that’s what we’re going to continue to work on. Because we showed not too long ago that we can be clinical. At this point in the season, we haven’t been clinical consistently enough.”
Diles reported that there were no injury concerns that would prevent players from travelling to Wellington following the Mariners’ defeat, and that defender BJ Hamill was nearing a welcome return – albeit one that won’t come this week – after logging a preseason VPL1 fixture with Besart Berisha’s youth side.
Though a few missed chances mean his long-awaited A-League debut perhaps wasn’t one that he’ll look back on too fondly, striker Charles NDuka was reported as pulling up well from his debut, and Diles believed that he’ll be better and sharper for the hitout.
JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.
“Very confident in that,” he said. “That’s why he works hard every day. That’s why everyone works hard every day. Our striker is there to lead the line. Our striker is there to score, but so are all our attacking players.”
One player that is likely to retain their place in the starting XI is goalkeeper Jack Warshawsky, who has continued to start despite the return of Jack Duncan from concussion over the past two weeks.
Originally from Moreton Bay, Warshawsky has always been one of the higher-rated goalkeeping prospects in Aussie football, previously representing both the Joeys and Young Socceros, but until this season had yet to make an A-League Men appearance: spending time in the academies of Brisbane Roar, Western Sydney, and Central Coast before arriving in Melbourne last year.
And his coach said the 21-year-old hadn’t done anything to merit being sent to the bench just yet.
“Jack’s [Warshawsky] done a great job and hasn’t done anything to be displaced,” Diles said. “He was given an opportunity after an injury to Jack [Duncan]... and he’s done well, and he continues to do well.
“It’s his decision to keep the number one spot or to give it back to Jack [Duncan]. That’s for them to fight it out. It’s a great headache for me to have.”