Melbourne Victory Men’s boss Arthur Diles is taking the learnings from the highs and lows ahead of his team’s trip over to New Zealand in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Returning from the Central Coast for a few days on the training track before crossing the ditch to face Wellington Phoenix on Friday, February 6, kick-off 5pm AEDT, Victory are looking to put the disappointing defeat to the Mariners behind them with games coming thick and fast.
On cloud nine after a memorable 4-0 victory in the Big Blue, the Boys in Blue were stopped on their away trip to Gosford, conceding a first-half goal and being denied in their hunt to find the back of the net.
Victory and their Head Coach do not have time to linger on the result, though, and a focused turnaround is required ahead of visiting Sky Stadium in Round 16.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Diles talked about the value of learning from results, both positive and negative.
“It’s one thing that we weren’t happy with the result, absolutely. But performance-wise, we weren’t far off.
“We have to be better in those moments when we are trying to break down a deep block and numbers behind the ball. That’s on us; we had enough chances to win that match.
“We showed not too long ago that we can be clinical. At this point in the season, we haven’t been clinical consistently enough.”
Set to face the Phoenix at the Cake Tin on Friday, Diles is certainly not taking the fixture ahead lightly, despite Victory’s impressive 5-1 win against Giancarlo Italiano’s side back in Round 10, noting the frantic nature of the competition’s results this season.
“There’s a lot of quality there. They’ve got the league’s top scorer. They’ve picked up some good players in the window as well.
“Every team is so difficult on their day, and it’s been proven time and time again, week after week, that you have to be up for every match, irrespective of who you’re playing and where you’re playing. That’s what we have to be better at as well – making sure that we can be consistent in our performance and consistent with our results.”
Away to Central Coast, Charles Nduka made his Victory debut, and Diles is confident that the January arrival will grow game by game in Australia, as the striker eyes more minutes against the Nix.
“It was great to have him on the pitch, get minutes. It was great for him to experience what the A-League’s about.
“He’s probably been in a position to score one or two. He hasn’t, but the most important thing is that he’s in a position to score, and that doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Watch Diles’ full press conference below.
