“We’re all in it together” – Aloisi confident he’ll continue to lead the Western United project

John Aloisi is confident that he will continue as coach of Western United even if they fall to a seventh-straight A-League Men defeat against Brisbane Roar on Friday evening, citing the club’s long-term project and difficulties behind the scenes. 

Their opening-round win over Melbourne City a false dawn, United slumped to a sixth-straight defeat against the Central Coast Mariners last Friday, falling 4-0 and turning in a performance Aloisi described as the worst he’d seen in his time in Melbourne’s west. 

The result leaves United rooted to the bottom of the A-League Men’s table as the season nears one-third completion and with the gap between themselves and the finals places — currently seven points — slowly growing with each defeat. 

Aloisi’s two previous coaching stints have ended mid-season after sustained runs of poor form — sacked as Melbourne Heart boss after a ten-game winless start to the 2013-14 season and stepping down at Brisbane after winning just one of nine games to start the 2018-19 season – but the 47-year-old rejected questions on if a loss to the Roar on Friday would end his tenure at United. 

“No. No. I don’t think it’s under threat,” he said. “Because I know what’s happening within the football club. 

“The results are one thing. Of course, we’re not happy with the results. But at this football club, we’re building and we’re excited about where we’re at, in terms of where we’re going to get to. 

“This is a difficult moment for the whole football club, not just results, but everything in general. I don’t come out publicly and say what’s going on because that’s not my place. 

“I’m the one that will stand in front of the camera and be criticised and I accept that. I know what it’s like to be a head coach, but I don’t see the pressure. I see that opportunity. 

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“For me, it’s about opportunity this week on Friday, but also that the whole rest of the season. 

“I’ve had to deal with certain situations not only in football but in my life in general [Aloisi needed open-heart surgery to repair a severely torn mitral valve in 2019]. When difficult moments come, you can either hide and feel down about the situation or lift yourself up and work through that. 

“That’s what we’ll do and that’s what I’m doing.”

Now in his third season in Tarneit, Aloisi declined to elaborate on the challenges – “It’s pretty clear. So I don’t think I need to talk about it” – but from the outside, it would seem as if the former Socceroo is increasingly being worn down by similar issues to those that haunted his predecessor, Marko Rudan – as well as a few new ones.

The club’s lack of a proper home ground has denied them continuity, with the three ‘home’ games staged during this winless run all coming at Mars Stadium in Ballarat – an AFL venue with increasingly sparse crowds that effectively serves as another away fixture.

A much-ballyhooed move to play home games out of their training base in Tarneit and give them a permanent place to rest their heads still has no firm date for commencement, with the club’s home fixtures post-Roar all labelled as TBC.

United’s women’s team also have a host of TBC fixtures on their schedule, as does the club’s academy side in the Victorian VPL1, who were supposed to be using the training base – which is operated by Wyndham City Council – as a home venue.

Additionally, the club has yet to announce a replacement for outgoing chief executive Chris Pehlivanis, whose resignation, initially announced in July, will become effective on December 31 as he moves to lead Football Victoria.  

“We’ll work through it,” said Aloisi. “We’re all in it together, that’s the thing. We’re all in this together. I’ll cop the brunt because I’m at the head. 

“I don’t listen to the commentary because a lot of the commentary, I respect them because they have to comment, but they don’t know the ins and outs and a lot of them haven’t been head coaches before. 

“I respect them because I’ve worked in media. I know what it’s like I know that they have to make comments. Sometimes the commentary can come just because of the results and I accept that.”

Even accounting for the off-field challenges, however, there are very few justifications for the abject performance United put forward against the Mariners in Gosford last week. On three occasions, the hosts scored against haphazard defending on corners as United looked hapless on both sides of the ball.

“We’ve worked on how we’re gonna react from that,” the coach said on Thursday. “I spoke about just competing. 

“Sometimes, people like to talk about tactics and players playing in certain positions and doing certain things and whatever else but the basic stuff comes into play a lot of the time. It’s competing first and winning your individual battles and then as a group. 

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“Then the football will take care of itself after that because we know that we’ve got a good side with a lot of good players. We can play some really good football but you know, first and foremost, we have to compete. 

“That’s what I was upset about after the game because we gave them three goals. 

“There’s going to be games that you’re not going to be at your best and you’re going to get dominated for certain periods. That happens to the best teams in the world, but [you can’t] give away three goals like we did, then it becomes a difficult situation. 

“But we’ve pushed that aside, and now we’re focused on the game tomorrow night.”

Aloisi earmarked that there would be multiple changes to his side for the clash with Roar, who sit in second place on the A-League Men’s table and playing good football under the guidance of new coach Ross Aloisi – John’s brother. 

United will, though, still be without the services of James Donachie, who suffered a torn calf on the eve of the season, for at least one more week. Nikita Rukavytsya will also be out for “a period of time” after suffering a calf injury of his own. 

Aloisi said that conversations were taking place to see if United, who he said had room in the salary cap to bring in new additions during the January window, had the budget to do so.

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_{Header Image Credit: Western United}