Melbourne Victory’s win over Sydney FC can prove the turning point that gets their A-League Men season back on track under Arthur Diles, says midfielder Ryan Teague.
Victory were firing on all cylinders before Patrick Kisnorbo’s shock departure in December, then went winless in six games under interim coach Diles.
Teague, whose corner set up the opener for Nikos Vergos in Friday night’s 2-0 win, was confident the tide could turn back fifth-placed Victory’s way after Bruno Fornaroli also netted for them at AAMI Park.
“We’ve been so close to getting a win. I think this is now maybe the turning point which we needed,” Teague said.
“There’s great camaraderie between the boys. It’s one of the best change rooms I’ve ever been a part of.
“So I think now we’re turning a table. We’ve had good performances, but now we’ve got the result to match it.
“So hopefully, going into Perth this week, we go out there, put in a good performance, and win again.”
Teague was also delighted for Diles, who claimed his first win in seven attempts.
“It was important for him, but also important for the club,” he said.
“He’s a great coach who’s probably stepped in at a hard time with the load of games and stuff.”
Diles has no clarity as yet on whether he will have the job full-time, insisting that was out of his control.
But he put the onus on winger Daniel Arzani to hit his straps.
This week, Socceroos and former Victory coach Tony Popovic said Arzani, 26, had been “poor” in October’s national team camp and needed to “raise his level”, with his comments being published on the day of the match.
“Daniel’s a talented footballer with a high ceiling. The challenge for Daniel is to reach that ceiling, and he’s got to keep working hard every day and make the most of his ability,” Diles said.
“I don’t like using the word potential, because he’s not a kid anymore. He’s got ability, and he’s got to use that to reach his ceiling. If he does that, then the sky’s the limit for Daniel.”
Diles said he hadn’t spoken to Arzani on game-day about Popovic’s comments.
“Socceroos is a separate thing to Melbourne Victory and, in the end, whether that’s motivation for Daniel or not, that’s for Daniel to decide,” he said.
“But Tony knows what he’s doing and in the end, he’s leading the Socceroos right now, and he’s focused on every individual player that’s up for selection for him, to make sure he gets the best out of them.
“And at the end of the day for us, it’s providing that platform for the players to perform each week, to try and get into those Socceroos.”
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