The Coach of Year has done a tremendous job in making the Melbourne Victory a title-winning team. On the verge of a championship, how has Kevin Muscat done it?
Changing the Postecoglou Mantra
Australia’s greatest ever football coach (not you, Graham Arnold, despite what you say) left the seeds there for Muscat to take over.
Ange Postecoglou’s game was always about possession and pressing and it defines him to the core. It seemed natural that Muscat would slowly chip away at his predecessor’s plan and bring forth his own. No longer is the Victory the possession-patient waiting side, no longer does it press relentlessly leaving open a fragile back line and no longer does it implement the old classic “push-it-out-wide-before-cutting-it-in-to-our-strikerless-midfielders” move.
This Victory is more direct, more effective on the counter, has a wider range of goalscoring options and, importantly, is ruthless in its approach. Witness the semi-final against Melbourne City, in which it did what it had to do, score two quick goals and shut the game down. This new approach has pushed it to the verge of the championship-premiership double.
This is not longer Ange’s team, this is Kev’s.
Signing a striker
It seems a little simple does it not, sign a striker? But this was the first move of Muscat implementing his own tactical methods on the Victory. Gone was the “striker-less” formation, the need for midfielders to run into the “open spaces” to score and the waiting for the right passing move to happen.
The addition of the target man has changed the dynamics of the Victory; it now has a focal point, a player who can distract defenders and be the finisher in the box. To make it better, it is one of the best strikers in the league’s history in Besart Berisha.
Recruitment Policy
Has there been a side with a more successful recruitment campaign this past year? Graham Arnold might say no, the Perth Glory had a case, that is, until we found out it was not following the rules, and Ernie Merrick did a great job with the Phoenix. It is, however, hard to look past the Victory in this case.
An experienced title-winning defender in Mathieu Delpierre, who has added that calmness in the backline. Check. The best striker in the league, who not only has added goals and assists, but improved his game and the team’s? Check. Fahid Ben Khafallah, a creative midfielder who has claims to be one of the players of the season? Check. An experienced Socceroo in Carl Valeri who helped Mark Milligan with the midfield engine room, and become the key cog in the Victory machine? Check.
Did Muscat and his team nail on its recruiting? Check. Check. Check.
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Keeping the eye on the prize, while imposing his personality on the team
Muscat is a born winner. His past playing career suggests that he might have gone about it the wrong way, but with very little, Muscat achieved a lot. And his infectious winning personality can now be seen within the team.
In one of the closest Premiers’ Plate run-ins in the A-League’s history, the Victory indeed emerged victorious. While every other team dropped points along the way, the Victory notched four wins from the final five games, and did so in clinical fashion. Basically, when push came to shove, the Victory stood tall and held its nerves.
Credit to Muscat for keeping the players on their toes in the final run-in, and most importantly, implementing his style with a winning mentality.
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