Bos Moves: Kasey Bos looking to seize opportunities at Victory
After an electric cameo in last year's finals, Kasey Bos is eager to press his case to begin the new A-League Men season as Victory's left back and forge a story of a Bos in navy, not light, blue.
The kickabouts in the Bos household were likely a tad more competitive than the countless others in backyards across Australia. On the one side, there was Jordy, who in the years ahead would break the outbound Australian transfer record and represent the Socceroos. On the other side was Kasey, one year his junior, who looks to have the inside track on Melbourne Victory’s starting left-back slot for the 2024-25 season and is rapidly emerging as one of the A-League Men’s better prospects.
Under the watchful eye of their father, the two would compete, looking to bend the ball into the top corner of a set of goals the family patriarch had installed, with a pair of towels draped over the crossbar to designate an unsavable target. Needless to say, some of Kasey’s earliest memories can be found in those sessions in the west of Melbourne.
“Playing in the backyard with my dad and my brother, you know, it's something you do,” he remarked. “And it helped me a lot.
“[Bos’ father instilled a message to] don't take everything to heart. Just play the game.”
Playing his junior football out at Saltwater Reserve with Point Cook, Bos initially followed in the footsteps of his brother by entering the academy of Melbourne City, only for the logistical challenges associated with their move to Casey to force him into a change.
While Western United was in the process of laying down the roots of an academy out west, recruitment efforts led Agim Sherifovski – who this week will serve as an assistant at South Melbourne in the Australia Cup semifinals – had him feeling like the move to Victory was the right one for him. It may have led to a couple of awkward conversations with Jordy – “increased the rivalry,” as he puts it – but judging from the past six months, it’s hard to argue otherwise.
After spending upwards of six months training with the senior team of Tony Popović and making two appearances off the bench for Victory during the 2023-24 A-League Men season, Bos was thrown in the deep end during the finals: thrown on with his side trailing Melbourne City 1-0, with five minutes remaining in an elimination final. But he responded with aplomb, setting up Nishan Velupillay to equalise – his first-ever senior score involvement – and set the table for Paul Izzo’s penalty shootout heroics that saw Victory advance.
During the 2024 Australia Cup, new Victory gaffer Patrick Kisnorbo has started the 20-year-old — who, like his brother, also holds a Dutch passport — for every game of Victory’s run to the semifinals, with a first senior goal arriving in the 4-0 thumping of Moreton City on the weekend. Short of disaster, it’s difficult to envision him not starting the semifinal against Adelaide on the weekend.
"I feel like I've done relatively well in the transition [from Popović to Kisnorbo],” said Bos. “I can take information on board. Being able to do exactly as [Kisnorbo] says, that's one of the most challenging parts. But I feel like as time goes on, it becomes clearer to me in what he wants me to do and the team to do, and I feel like once the season comes, we'll be ready,
“He wants me to get very high when we have possession… Tony wanted me to more stay back and then push forward when it's on my side.
“I feel like PK just wants us to go forward, forward, forward. Catch [opponents] on the break and play attacking football. Don't let the opposition breathe, really.”
Elevated to a senior contract this season, Kisnorbo’s repeated declarations about the need to give youth a go and his performances in the Cup indicate Bos is well on his way to entering the new season as Victory’s starting left-back, in which Victory will travel to Gosford in round one for a grand final rematch with the Central Coast Mariners.
And while preseason predictions can rapidly prove folly, the unit he’s looking to establish himself in under the ex-City boss – whose recruitment itself represents something of an all-in move from the Victory brass – looks like one of the strongest assembled heading into a new season.
Silverware, thus, is not an unfair expectation. And it’s something that the players aren’t shying away from.
“All the boys, they're fired up,” said Bos, who is eligible for Olyroos selection. “We all want to win some silverware this year and the boys have been great. We've really gelled this year. And hopefully, we can display that on the pitch.
“[Getting to start for Victory] would be amazing, really; all the hard work paying off. That's what it would mean to me. Adama [Traore, Bos' competition at left back] is great, he's been a real help to me and he wants me to succeed. So having him on my side has been a real help.”
And of course, while he doesn’t exactly need the extra incentive, should Bos get the start at left-back for Victory this season there’s also the chance that the childhood Liverpool fan could find himself going head-to-head with new Sydney FC signing Douglas Costa or new Western Sydney Wanderer Juan Mata.
“It would be great; I watched these guys when I was younger, growing up,” he smiled. “But now being able to play against them, it'll be a great experience, and hopefully I can just do my job and help our team.”