"Slap in the face" - Victory hit with the underdog status in ALM semi with Auckland
Melbourne Victory boss Arthur Diles is happy to put the pressure of favouritism on Auckland going into their ALM semifinal. But the underdog role provides a different motivation to some of his players
Few expected Melbourne Victory to go to Western Sydney and eliminate a rampant Wanderers from the A-League Men finals before they did just that. And now, a similarly sparse number view them as chances to dump premiers Auckland FC across two semifinal legs. For their coach Arthur Diles, it’s an outsider role he welcomes, but, for some of the more well-credentialed members of the squad, it’s a “slap in the face” their coach admits has dented a few egos.
Off the back of Kasey Bos’ fourth goal in as many games and a standout performance from Socceroo attacker Daniel Arzani, Victory stunned the Wanderers 2-1 in their elimination final last week, snapping the 12-game unbeaten run of Alen Stajcic’s side and denying them a first finals win in 3,303 days.
Their reward was a two-legged semi-final meeting with Auckland, who capped off a remarkable debut season by finishing the regular campaign five points clear atop the A-League Men table and bringing the first piece of Australian national league silverware to Aotearoa.
Diles revealed last week that articles predicting that Victory would fail to make the finals had been printed off and pasted around the changeroom to boost his side’s motivation – the other big piece of news there being that there’s still enough coverage of Australian football to provide bulletin board material – and the coach moved quickly to shift expectation to the big-spending premiers on Friday, declaring that “the pressure is on them; they're the team that won the comp and we're the team that many people didn't expect to be here right now.”
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But while this outsider role might sit fine with the coach, it might not sit all that comfortably with several members of his playing group, veterans of numerous A-League Men finals campaigns, some of the biggest leagues in the world, the Socceroos, and more. Fortunately for Diles, though, this provides a level of motivation in and of itself.
“I like it, personally, but for our players, it's almost like a slap in the face for a lot of them, because they don't expect that,” he said.
“They're quality footballers and a quality team. When you have that expectation thrown upon you, it can sometimes be a dent to your ego – maybe it's dented a few egos in our camp.
“And if that's what works for us, fantastic. We'll use that to our advantage and run with that.”
Just as they did last year, when Diles was serving as an assistant to Tony Popovic, Victory will host the first leg of their semifinal, before making their way to the Land of the Long White Cloud for the return fixture the following week.
This worked out pretty well for them last time, too, surviving the scare of a late equaliser to end the fairytale season of the Wellington Phoenix in extra-time thanks to a goal from Chris Ikonomidis.
“For me, it's one game: the first half is in Melbourne and the second half in Auckland,” said Diles. “That's how I see it.
“Most important, for the players, it's worrying about tomorrow, first and foremost. Next week's in the back of our mind, we can't think that far ahead because then we'll lose focus and lose sight of what's at hand tomorrow night. And we've had a really good week of training, which is positive. They're ready to go.”
Absent since Victory’s 2-0 defeat to Auckland in the third final round of the season due to a foot injury, goalkeeper Mitch Langerak will once again be unavailable for selection this week but Diles said that he was hopeful the veteran would be in contention to travel for the trip to New Zealand after returning to training during the week. The moon boot the keeper was spotted in this week, the coach said, was a precautionary measure designed to aid healing.
After missing the past month with a calf injury, Reno Piscopo will be available for selection for Saturday’s fixture, while Adama Traore, who has been restricted to just eleven appearances amid the emergence of Bos, will again miss after not making the squad that travelled to Parramatta.
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Bos’ emergence towards the tail end of the season has been one of the biggest positives for Victory in 2024-25, and Diles feels there’s more to come.
“This is Kasey's first full season of senior football and, to date, he's done really well,” he said. “He's gone through some periods throughout the year where he plateaued a little bit. But I expect that in the development of a young player.
“It's one thing to physically have to cope with the demands of senior football on a week-to-week basis. The other thing is the mental demands and dealing with that pressure on a day-to-day of training and a week-to-week in front of these fans. I've seen that for many years now, young players have their ups and downs throughout their first seasons in the first team.
“And so far, so good for Kasey. He's coming out at the right end and delivering what we'd hoped he'd deliver. And I think there's more ahead of him.”