Undermanned Victory targets further defensive growth against Jets
Melbourne Victory may have been the third stoutest defence in the A-League Men last season, but coach Arthur Diles is demanding an even stiffer bulwark in 2024-25. Potential reinforcements for the side’s visit to the Jets this Friday evening, however, are unlikely.
Victory ground out a 0-0 draw with Auckland FC to open their campaign last Saturday evening, two stout defensive efforts combining with the rust associated with a long season in football to ensure that both sides struggled to create much in the way of attacking impetus throughout the contest at AAMI Park.
Victory skipper Roderick Miranda and midfielder Louis D’Arrigo were surprise absences from the teamsheet for that contest, leading to senior debuts for Sebastian Esposito in defence and Xavier Stella in the midfield.
Speaking ahead of his side’s trip to the Hunter to take on the Jets on Friday evening, Diles ruled out the prospect of a D’Arrigo return and cast doubt on Miranda’s participation. He did, however, flag that Josh Rawlins would return to the side following the serving of a one-game ban picked up for his red card against Olympic Kingsway in the Australia Cup.
“Rawlins is back because he was suspended, so we’ll look forward to having Joshy back,” Diles said. “Roddy’s touch and go; we’ll make a decision tomorrow after training and give him the opportunity to be fit for selection. But, at the same time, not taking anyone there who’s not 100% ready.”
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.
Already feeling the bite of injuries, the likes of Nishan Velupillay, Reno Piscopo, Franco Lino, and Luka Kolic are also unavailable for the first team, as is central defender BJ Hamill as he recovers from an ACL injury.
None of this injured contingent, per Diles, is close to a return, with the nearest at least a few weeks away.
“Nish Reno, they’re not close at the moment,” said Diles. “Franco Lino, he’s not close at the moment either. On that front, not much has really changed. Luka Kolic is still out for a number of weeks as well, so there’s nothing really there to report on other than what we did last week.
“They’re a few weeks away still, so they’re not even in the back of the mind when it comes to upcoming matches.”
Victory will make the trek North tomorrow afternoon to take on a Jets outfit that was brought somewhat back down to Earth in the opening round of the season: the highs of their Australia Cup triumph dulled by a dramatic late defeat to bitter F3 Derby foes the Newcastle Jets.
Young Socceroos standout Alex Badolato opened the scoring for Mark Milligan’s side in that contest, the 20-year-old having made the move to McDonald Jones Stadium in the offseason after spending the tail end of the 2024-25 campaign at Victory, who did attempt to bring him back to AAMI Park, on loan from Western Sydney.
“He was a player that we brought in last year that we knew had a lot of ability, and in the end, his decision wasn’t to stay at our club,” said Diles. “We don’t look further past that. That’s it for me. That’s old news. Now that’s done and dusted.
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.
“We look forward to improving the players that we have, and improving the squad that we have. We’re very happy with the players that we’ve been able to bring in.”
One area that Diles, who previously coached at McDonald Jones Stadium as an assistant to Arthur Papas, wants to see from his side on Friday night and in the weeks ahead is defensively.
Victory conceded 36 goals in 2024-25, the third fewest in the league, and were also the third stoutest when it came to expected goals (xG) conceded with 33.5.
Both of these figures, however, trailed premiers Auckland and champions Melbourne City and after shipping big margins to the likes of Western United, Sydney FC, and the Jets throughout the campaign, Diles wants to see more.
“We’re still improving defensively,” said the coach. “We don’t want to give away as many goals as we did last year. I know we were the third-best defence in the league last year, but, for me, we conceded way too many goals.
“Improving how we defend as a unit is really important for us; I don’t want to be in positions where we’ve scored three goals in the match and haven’t taken a point, which we did last year [a 4-3 loss to Western in round 13].
“It’s important for us that we keep developing that part of our game while also improving, at the same time, with the ball and plugging in the new players on how we want to play.”
Header Image: Melbourne Victory