Western looking to kickstart season with derby upset over City

Hit by injury, bottom of the table, and losers of two straight, Western United are up against things in the ALM. But coach John Aloisi is hoping a derby win over City can serve as a circuit breaker.

Bottom of the table and beset by a host of injuries, Western United coach John Aloisi is hoping that a derby win over Melbourne City can act as a circuit breaker for his side’s sputtering season. 

United's abject start to the 2023-24 campaign continued last Saturday, falling to a 2-0 defeat against ten-man Newcastle to bring up their eighth defeat of the year and leave them eight points adrift of the top six. 

Making matters worse, the injury bug continues to infest the dressing room in Tarneit, with James Donachie, Nikita Rukavystsa, and Sebastian Pasquali set to be joined on the long-term injury list by Japanese attacker Riku Danzaki, who needs shoulder surgery that will keep him out for six to eight weeks.

Now, an in-form Melbourne City awaits in a derby meeting at AAMI Park this Sunday.

But the cliche is that derby games are fixtures in which the form guide gets thrown out the window. And with both of United’s wins this season coming at AAMI Park, and one of those coming against City in round one there is some evidence from this season they have what it takes to get a result.

"We're looking forward to it,” said Aloisi. “We think that if we perform at our best we'll get the result and hopefully that kickstarts our season. It's been a difficult period in terms of results. 

“We've got a young group, especially at that front third area and also a little bit at the back when we've got a few injuries. We have to help them through this period, there's no other way around that -- because we've got no other players. 

“As a club, we decided to go down that path. And the likes of Noah Botic will be better for this. The younger players will be better for this once we do get through it. 

“But we're hoping this game can give him that belief again that we can go and beat anyone.”

Beating City is easier said than done, however, especially in the aftermath of a record-equalling 8-1 destruction of Brisbane Roar last week. 

That win extended Aurelio Vidmar’s side's unbeaten run across all competitions to seven and moved them into fourth on the A-League Men table.

“We know their strengths,” said the United boss. “We know they have quality all over the field, every single position has an outstanding player. But that's Melbourne City, Melbourne City has been like that for years now. 

“We knew that round one when we came up against them and we knew that when we beat them in the grand final. That player for player, they've got probably the best if not one of the best teams in the league. So we have to be at our best. 

“They caught Brisbane on the break a lot. So we have to make sure we don't allow that to happen. We have to make sure that even when we've got the ball we're well-positioned defensively.”

Providing perhaps an added bit of a boost to United’s hopes of a turnaround on their season was the revelation this week that the A-Leagues have adopted a new system of ladder tie-breaks this season: emphasising wins over goal difference. 

While Aloisi was unaware of the change (as was Vidmar, Victory coaches Tony Popovic and Jeff Hopkins, and United A-League coach Kat Smith) he’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth given that the change makes his side’s -16 goal difference much less of an anchor.

“It did give me a bit of a boost when I did see it!” he laughed. “Because our goal difference is not great. 

“So can we get enough wins and we're equal on points, maybe with the wins we can get on top of other teams. At the moment, we're just making sure we are focused on this game and trying to get the win that we want this weekend.

“I'm not sure how other teams or coaches will approach it. It's funny to see because we haven't dealt with that before. 

“But I can understand the wins. Will that make teams go more for a win? Maybe. Maybe we'll see more exciting and open games. But I still think that a lot of the games are exciting anyway.”