Diles seeks to channel mounting frustration at Victory

His side now at six games without a win, interim Victory boss Arthur Diles wants to bottle their frustrations and harness them in Friday's Big Blue. Reinforcements, meanwhile, are on the horizon.

After their winless run was extended to six bitter foes Adelaide United, the sense of frustration surrounding Melbourne Victory’s men’s side is continuing to grow. For interim coach Arthur Diles, however, that there exists a feeling of tension is a good thing, given the alternative would be a sense of passive apathy.

Defeat 3-2 by the Reds on Saturday evening, Victory will enter their meeting with Big Blue foes Sydney FC without a win in 47 days, their last triumph coming on December 8 against Perth Glory, which made it five wins in their opening seven games and had them in second-position on the A-League Men table. Patrick Kisnorbo’s shock exit, however, augured a collapse in form that has seen them pick up just three of a possible 18 points and fall to seventh on the table, anything other than three points on Friday means the side will have gone a quarter of the season without picking up a win.

From an attacking perspective things have been similar under Diles as they were Kisnorbo, Victory consistently getting into dangerous positions – they’re second in the league in expected goals (xG) and big chances and third in touches in the opposition box – but proving incredibly wasteful when they do – missing more big chances that any other side. Indeed, Victory and Newcastle are the two sides this A-League Men season, per FotMob, that are underperforming their xG but while the Jets are doing so by 1.6, the Vuck are doing so by 5.7.

Inevitably, this has led to a rising tide of frustration, a vexation which has increasingly manifested itself on the park after a wayward shot, a missed run, or a wrong decision. For Diles, though, that should be fuel.

“I think that's good that they're frustrated,” he said. “That means they care. That means they're disappointed with some of the things that are happening. And that's a positive for me. That's not a negative. If the players were playing and didn't show emotion and weren't affected by that, then that'd be a big concern. For me, that means that they care.

“We've got to bottle that up and use that to our advantage. It's definitely not a disadvantage for us. These players care, we all care, and we want to make this better, and we've got to turn it around.”

One of the major areas of concern for Diles is that, while his side may threaten going forward, their recent collapse has taken what was the competition’s best defence and made it increasingly porous: conceding 13 goals in their last six games. Seven of these were shipped across the last fortnight, in a 4-3 loss to Western United in which Victory conceded twice in added time and a 3-2 defeat to Adelaide that saw them give up Ethan Alagich’s winner just moments after equalising through Santos.

Some of these goals, Western in particular feasting in transition amidst their comeback, have come as a result of opponents keying in on Victory’s weaknesses or collective foibles. But others have come down to individual errors and brain fades, such as both goals conceded in a 2-2 draw with Western Sydney. And with a high-powered Sydney attack coming to town, neither can be ignored come Friday.

“Any goal you can see,” said Diles. “Collectively you look at it first. Was it a tactical issue? Was it an individual error? Many things can happen that lead to goals.

“ In the end, we review everything. We want to be tactically better regardless. We don't want to be conceding the amount of goals we're conceding, whether that's from an error, an individual error, or whether that's from poor team defending, we don't want to be considering this many goals.

“That's something we're addressing, we want to build on and we want to fix. And we need to fix that quickly as well.”

After opting to start Jack Duncan over newly arrived Mitck Langerak in goal last week, Diles was coy when asked if he was going to make a change between the posts for the Sky Blues visit, saying that “there are a few people that maybe their positions up for grabs”. Every player, he said, was available for selection, Reno Piscopo overcoming the concussion that caused him to miss the Adelaide game and Nishan Velupillay getting closer to being able to start as he continued to build following his ankle injury.

Externally, after reported target Thommy Deng signed with Yokohama during the week, the interim confirmed that Socceroos defender Miloš Degenek was one of several players that the club was in contact about joining during the mid-season window – which closes February 12.

A free agent after leaving Serbian powers FK Crvena zvezda, Western Sydney have also been linked with Degenek, who would instantly become one of the best defenders in the league should he land in Australia – able to play centrally, as a right-back or even as a six in a pinch. However, Serbian SuperLiga side FK TSC and Hungarian outfit Debreceni VSC have also been touted as potential destinations, with Europe having previously reported as the 30-year-old’s preferred destination and still his most likely landing spot.

Concrete news on reinforcements, Diles said, be they Degenek or any of the other potential targets being looked at, would hopefully arrive in the coming days.

“We're in discussions with a lot of players at the moment,” said Diles. “Yeah, [Degenek is] one of them. I won't lie, that's a player that was mentioned. I'm sure there are a lot of clubs chasing Milos. But there's a lot of other players that we're looking at as well. Because we know that you can't put all your eggs in one basket, if that falls through then you're left in a position where now you're reacting. We're trying to be as proactive as possible in this market, in this window, and we have a number of options that we're looking at, and hopefully, in the coming days, those can be put to bed.

“We're looking all over. Definitely, we have to bring in another defender, because we're light there. Some younger players in the squad and in the club can step up as well, and we believe that they're in a position where they're ready to maybe take the next step. So we're looking at them as well. Between both options, I hope in the next week that there's clarity and news to talk about.”

Of course, given that he is winless in six as an interim, Friday represents a potentially pivotal moment for Diles.

Given the expectations both internal and external that Victory carry into any season — let alone one in which they have talent assembled as they do this year — six games without a win would be enough to have the seat of a permanent coach smoking, let alone an interim one. A seventh, against Sydney no less, would almost start a bonfire.

And while reports have suggested that Diles has signed a deal that would upgrade his status, the club has still yet to confirm their plans for the coaching position in the medium and long-term: a club spokesperson telling JDL Media that Diles’ title remained interim and he described his status as week-to-week.

“I'm not looking for security,” Diles said when asked if he was under pressure. “I'm here to do a job. If it's week to week, it's week to week. I'll do the best that I can every day that I'm in this position. In the end, the pressure is the same here at this club; if you won two in a row here, there'd be pressure to win three in a row, and the expectation would be to win four in a row and then five in a row. It's no different. That's something that not shying away from. We're not hiding. Yes, it's a fact. We want to do better. We want to pick up results and we'll continue to work hard to turn that around. I think we're very close.”