Diles bats away questions on his future, declares Victory "ready for war"
His seat running red-hot, Melbourne Victory boss Arthur Diles has batted away questions on whether his side’s trip to face Macarthur this Friday represents a must-win game for his tenure
His seat running red-hot, Melbourne Victory boss Arthur Diles has played a straight bat to questions on whether his side’s trip to face Macarthur this Friday represents a must-win game for his tenure.
Making the trek to Lang Park, Victory slumped to their fourth defeat of the campaign last Friday; Sam Klein’s fourth-minute strike proving all that was needed to secure Brisbane Roar a 1-0 win that, combined with results elsewhere, condemned the Victorians to the foot of the A-League Men table.
Initially taking over what was a reeling squad as an interim after Patrick Kisnorbo’s stunning walkout on the eve of the Christmas Derby, Diles shook off an early winless run and signed a deal to become permanent Victory boss through to the end of the 2025-26 campaign in January, before guiding the club to a second-straight grand final.
However, with a talented squad (striking issues aside) mired at the foot of the table as the season approaches the quarter-way mark, memories of May’s derby decider now feel quite distant as the heat is increasingly turned up on the 43-year-old – the immediate aftermath of the Roar defeat dominated by speculation he was set for the axe.
The Victory brass opting to stay their hand, however, means that focus has now turned to this Friday’s trip to face Macarthur, with conjecture again rife that a defeat against the Bulls, or perhaps even a draw, will spell the end of his tenure.
Diles, for his part, knows that a fierce spotlight accompanies the privilege of being the coach of one of the biggest clubs in Australia. And every single coach in Australian football has been given extra reason to be looking over their shoulder in 2025-26, with John Aloisi still up for grabs after Western United’s hibernation.
But the Victory coach wouldn’t be drawn on whether Friday’s game represented a must-win game for his job security, instead saying his side would be “ready for war.”
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“It’s a must-win game, irrespective,” he said. “It’s not about my job. It’s a must-win game; it’s another game for Melbourne Victory that we have to win. And we’ll give ourselves every opportunity to win that match.
“It always starts with the first day back on the training pitch: seeing the attitude, the intensity, the temperament of the playing group. There’s never been any indication so far that these players aren’t up for a challenge and aren’t up to battle. We’ve had a great week. We’ll finish it off tomorrow as strong as we can and get ready for war.”
With veteran defender Jason Davidson at the forefront, Victory players engaged in a shoving match with Roar players following last week’s defeat, which, combined with Denis Genreau’s late red card that earned him a two-game ban, gave the impression of a playing group becoming increasingly frustrated.
Diles, though, sees this frustration as something that can be fuel for his playing group, declaring that the squad – who were forced to change at the National Tennis Centre on Olympic Boulevard on Wednesday after Kendrick Lamar took over AAMI Park – remained united.
“It’s definitely something we can harness,” Diles said of the vexation. “That frustration shows that the group is together and that the group is willing to fight and stand up for each other. That’s the most pleasing thing to see.
“We need to see more of that, we need to see that continuously: from the start of the match to the end. Whenever it’s needed, they’re there, and they’ll show solidarity and togetherness. That’s the most important thing: that when things aren’t going your way, which can happen, you stick together and you get through it.”
If Victory is to turn things around, it’ll need to address its goalscoring woes.
The team’s four goals in six games this season are, alongside Friday’s opponents Macarthur, the fewest in the A-League Men and the goalscoring droughts of Nikos Vergos and Jing Reec, the latter of whom has been tapped to start the side’s last two games, are ongoing and well-publicised.
Victory ranks fourth in the league in shots on target per 90 this season with 4.8 but, per Fotmob, only Central Coast and Brisbane have created fewer expected goals (xG) and big chances than they have this season – the former statistic one they ranked third in the league in last campaign – and their shot conversion rate of 4.5% is the worst in the league.
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These stats, at least, paint the picture of a wicked combination to this point of the season: they’re creating chances, but they’re not necessarily good ones, and they’re being wasteful even with those.
“We’ve got to keep building on our performance,” Diles said. We’ve got to, maybe, manage moments in matches a little bit street-smart, which is something we’re continuing to work on.
“In terms of effort and application, they’re working hard every day. They’ve worked hard every match. There have been little things that have let us down.
“Maybe quality in the front third has sometimes let us down. But not through a lack of trying or through a lack of getting there often. We’re constantly talking about being there, but there’s no point in being there if we don’t execute.
“The most pleasing thing is that we are getting there. And as long as that’s happening, we’ve got to harness that and not let go of that.
“Because in the end, that’s putting us in positions where we can get a result in a match. We can’t just throw that out the window and just think that there’s something more that needs to be done, or that what we’re doing doesn’t work.
“What we’re doing puts us in a position every game to have a chance of winning. And that’s something, and that’s what we want to keep building on.”
After he came off the bench in Brisbane last week, Diles said that Spanish superstar Juan Mata, who will likely move back into the ten role vacated by Genreau, will be able to start against the Bulls.
After making his season debut off the bench last week, Socceroo attacker Nishan Velupillay was said to have pulled up “really well” by his coach and was declared to be able to start if called upon. The 24-year-old played on the right after coming on against the Roar, but has been floated as a potential striking option this season.