After City stumble, Western eyes turnaround in Victory clash
After they handed Western United their worst loss of the ALM season last month, John Aloisi is confident they can turn the tables on Melbourne Victory in Friday evening's re-match.
The last time Western United played Melbourne Victory, John Aloisi was left fuming as the side from Melbourne’s west slumped to a 3-1 defeat that, on another day, could have been even heavier. But with his side responding to that humbling by going on a five-game unbeaten run including four straight wins, he’s confident that there won’t be any repeats this time as United looks to bounce back from a midweek 2-0 loss to Melbourne City.
Coming off a four-day turnaround after playing in Perth on Saturday evening, goals in either half from a young City side snapped a club-record-equalling winning run for United, denying them the chance to go second on the table and, instead, leaving them sixth heading into this weekend’s action. Three points on Friday, however, would guarantee that they would move vault ahead of Victory on the table, something that probably would have felt unthinkable when the two last clashed in early December.
But it’s not just United who have changed since that fixture. Unknown to most at the time, including the club’s brass, the win over United would be the penultimate fixture that Patrick Kisnorbo oversaw as Victory coach before he sensationally quit to move to Yokohama F Marinos as an assistant. And while having lost just once since that shock departure, the side is still looking for its first win under interim Arthur Diles and could find themselves outside the playoff places come the end of the weekend should a defeat combine with a Macarthur win over Newcastle and Sydney triumph over Central Coast.
“We spoke about our response after that game against Melbourne Victory, that we went five games unbeaten,” Aloisi said. “We want the same response [to] the City game; to make sure that we perform the way that we have been and that we have the majority of the season. If we do that we're confident we can get a good result. That's the main focus.
“[Victory has] changed a little bit. Obviously, Bruno [Fornaroli] has started quite a few of the games since Arthur [Diles] has taken over. I found that they build up a little bit differently; they've been starting with [Adama] Traore most of the time and in build up he's been lower and [Jason] Geria's been higher. You still have the qualities of [Daniel] Arzani who can play out wide but who also drifts inside, [Zinedine] Machach] and [Reno] Piscopo and they can play with two up top.
“They've got top-quality players that they're going to be tough to play against. It's a little bit different in terms of what Arthur's done, but it's not drastically different; to say that there's a completely different system or formation or way of playing. There are a lot of similar aspects to what they've been trying to do, ever since PK was there.”
If United is to reverse the result from the previous meeting, however, they’ll need to demonstrate a significantly sharper edge than they did against City.
Having observed in the immediate aftermath of the contest that his side was second-best, Aloisi observed on Thursday that his side had been able to work the ball into promising areas against their local rivals – winning the corner counts seven to two and ending the game with more passes in City’s half than they did in theirs – but were let down when it came to putting the final touch on things – outshot 14 to seven and producing only two attempts on the City goal from inside their penalty area, both when they were already in a deficit.
One of the side’s leading facilitators this season, Noah Botić started that contest on the bench as Aloisi managed his side’s loads through a packed schedule and while the coach was quick to add that the players who started were capable creators, too, Aloisi acknowledged the role that his young striker played when asked about a possible return to the XI.
“Noah is a big plus for us,” said the coach. “He's been our main starting player. In Perth, in that first half when he flipped the ball around the corner for [Matt] Grimaldi to go through one-on-one, he's got that ability. He's got that quality.
“Him and Hiro [Hiroshi Ibusuki] are starting to get a really good understanding. We had to be careful of him backing up the short turnaround from Perth – it was his first 90 minutes this season – but he's feeling good for tomorrow night.”
Beyond Botić, Abel Walatee is set to be available after missing the defeat to City through injury, while Jordan Lauton will return from the suspension he earned after he received a second yellow card for taking his shirt off amidst the wild celebrations of his 93rd-minute, bicycle kick winner against Perth.
Further, with the transfer window for the A-League Men set to open next week, speculation has linked United with a move for Brazilian centre forward Crislan Henrique, who goes by the mononym Crislan and possesses experience with Japanese sides Shonan Bellmare, Shimizu S-Pulse, and Vegalta Sendai, the latter with whom he scored eight goals across 29 appearances during the 2017 J1 League season.
Also logging stints with Portuguese side Braga as well as multiple clubs in his homeland, the 32-year-old recently left Thai second-tier side Nakhonsi United, per Transfermarkt, after scoring three goals across 13 appearances and is followed by United’s official Instagram account.
But with Ibuski and Botić already in place in Tarneit, and Michael Ruhs on hand as a backup, Aloisi looked to poor cold water on any connection with a move for the South American.
“I coached a Henrique once but that was at Brisbane,” said Aloisi. That's the only Henrique that I know, so far. I haven't heard of that.”
“We won't be bringing in a striker, that's for sure. If there's any other player that can complement what we've already got at the club then I'm sure the club will speak about it.
“But at the moment, there's been no names thrown forward to me or anything like that. So, at the moment, we're not looking anywhere.”