A-Leagues legend Kevin Muscat made history in China after leading giants Shanghai Port to the Chinese Super League title, with three Australians by his side. The quartet speak in-depth to aleagues.com.au.
Another country and another title for Kevin Muscat.
In many respects, this latest triumph might be the most satisfying for a highly-rated Australian head coach, whose stock is rapidly rising.
The first Aussie to win league trophies in Australia, Japan and China, Muscat achieved what he set out to do at the beginning of 2024 – lead Shanghai Port to silverware with style. His attacking and high-octane brand of football took the Chinese juggernaut to an historic CSL title as they soared to heights they have never reached before.
Never before had Shanghai Port gone back-to-back in the Chinese Super League… until Muscat arrived with fellow Australians Ross Aloisi, Greg King and Vincenzo Ierardo by his side. His side shattered other records, including the CSL record for most consecutive matches won and most goals scored.
For Muscat, adding the CSL championship to his Isuzu UTE A-League and J1 League honours provided great satisfaction. Why? Before opting to swap Japanese side Yokohama F.Marinos for Shanghai, there was interest from elsewhere.
The former Melbourne Victory boss was heavily linked with Scottish Premiership giants Rangers and was reportedly one of the final two candidates before they decided to appoint Belgian Philippe Clement in October last year.
Speaking to aleagues.com.au ahead of the Chinese FA Cup final on November 23, Muscat said: “I was really happy because I had one or two private discussions with different parties towards the end of last season and in discussions, people actually from clubs said that ‘Well, that really can’t work here and how do you know that can work here, your methods?’
“When I finished those conversations, I was like you know what? Maybe this is not for me, because they’ve not followed me enough to to actually stick their neck out.
“Whereas here, the sports director Mr (Xiang) Sun, he’s one of the first two Chinese players to play in Europe. It was the complete opposite. I want you come out here and do what you’ve done in Shanghai. I want you to build it your way.
“I’m really happy for those guys because it was a completely different conversation. It wasn’t me trying to justify why it can work. I’m not going to try and justify my work. What it does mean is you’re not really truly believing in it. At some point there’s going to be a bump in the road and you know what? That’s going to be the first thing to come to your mind.
“Whereas our pre-season, I thought we were a bit behind, we had some injuries, we weren’t anywhere near ready for the Super Cup or the start of the season. But there was never any (doubt), not even an inkling. It was the complete opposite. The GM, the President, and particularly Mr. Sun, it was full steam ahead.
“As soon as there is a little bit of a chink in in the armour, people can smell it. All of a sudden, you wonder why it sort of goes downhill, or doesn’t go from strength to strength because you’re only as strong as your weakest link. It was the opposite here.
“I was really happy for Sun, the GM and president because they put their necks on the line, they stuck their neck out.”
There were so many layers, so many twists and turns in a dramatic title race that saw Muscat’s Shanghai Port pip city rivals Shanghai Shenhua to the title by a point on the final day of the season.
Shanghai Port started the season without losing any of their first 22 matches of the 2024 CSL campaign before the drama started.
Port and Shenhua were neck and neck throughout the campaign. Muscat’s men – led by former Chelsea and Brazil star Oscar and Chinese legend Wu Lei – managed to create some distance atop the table before they were stunned in the third-last match of the season.
That paved the way for Shenhua to leapfrog them at the summit with two rounds remaining. But there was to be one final twist. On the penultimate weekend, relegation-threatened Shenzhen Peng City shocked Shenhua, opening the door for Port to reclaim their lead in the title race – a position they never relinquished.
“The belief I had was that we could win our two games, therefore transferring a message to firstly, the coaching staff because the players pick up and feed off us,” Muscat said. “We have to make sure we get our side of the job done.
“The only way to do that is preparation because that leads to performance, and performance normally leads to outcome, outcomes leads to results. You can imagine we were top of the league for so long, and then all of a sudden, a lot of oxygen was taken out of us with the results in Round 28. We broke so many records, did so many things, but also we found ourselves second. So I wanted to shift the focus to on us and what we can control.
“I wanted to make sure that we, the staff, the rest of the group, were picking up good vibes and good energy off us. Going into that last game, particularly at home, it was huge. There was a lot riding on it. There was a lot of emotion, and there’s a lot of distractions throughout the week and we managed to stay focused. Credit to the group. They managed to stay focused on what was important to us, and we spoke about what was important to us.
“We kept going around and around in circles until I heard what I wanted to hear in terms of what was important to us. We identified a few things that were really, really important to us. That was the messaging for the last four or five days before that game.”
With a breathtaking 5-0 rout of Tianjin Jinmen Tiger in the final round, Shanghai Port captured a second straight league title. However, this was different. This was a new brand of football that sceptics didn’t think was possible in China.
Like at Melbourne Victory and Yokohama F.Marinos, Muscat delivered a trophy his way.
“I’m really proud of the coaching staff, the guys that came with me here and embraced what we’re trying to do, but really happy and proud of the group as well,” Muscat reflected.
“We first sat down in January and the one key thing was we’re going to be different. We’re going to push you guys to the limit that you’re uncomfortable, that you’re really uncomfortable during this pre-season because we’re going to be different to everybody else. We’re going to be different in everything we do, the way we train, everything we do is going to be different because it’s going to push you to be the best version of yourself.
“I’ve got to say there was a lot of sceptics. In pre-season there was some rough patches, a lot of teething problems. The whole training methodology, intensity was different for a lot of the guys. We had a lot of injuries. Because of that, doubt starts to creep in, the media was saying this type of football can’t work in China.
“So to be able to sit back and say that the playing group took on and continued to believe. To be honest, they were unwavering and that come from within the club as well. I wouldn’t have come here myself, wouldn’t have brought the guys here if there was chance of disruptions throughout the season when things didn’t quite go our way.
“In the end, it was really proud, proud of the guys that they achieved something special together.”
It was not just the silverware, but the growth of established stars like Oscar, China international Wu Lei and Argentine forward Mathias Vargas.
Oscar, 33, broke the CSL record for most assists (20) and Wu Lei’s 34 goals created league history at the age of 32, while former Espanyol player Vargas enjoyed a career-best season with 12 goals.
“I’ve got a real strong desire about how I want my teams to play. Ross, Greg, Cenz, these guys, we wouldn’t be together if they didn’t mirror that, if they didn’t have that belief as well,” added Muscat.
“A lot of people associate it to results and it’s not always the case, because sometimes it takes a little bit longer. It took us a little bit of the season to get going. It depends on your process, what feedback are you actually giving them? None of the feedback we gave them is results driven, all of them was performance driven. The idea is, you go out there and and just focus on the performance. When that final whistle goes, look up and hopefully we should have more goals than them.
“The mental side of that was really challenging for us as well this season. Because there could be a comfortableness around the place – a lot of players are successful and winning the championship last year. Now asking them to do it in a in a totally different way. They’ve taken a great deal of joy out of out of the season so far.”
Muscat’s father and family had spent some time in Shanghai before returning to Melbourne prior to the title decider.
His dad, David, is a regular at Kevin’s boyhood club Caroline Springs George Cross – formerly Sunshine George Cross – where he made his debut as a 16-year-old in the now defunct National Soccer League.
“He was glued to the to his phone, TV or whatever he was watching,” Muscat smiled.
“I speak to him before every game. An hour, 45 minutes before every game, the last thing I do is give him a call. He wants to know the usual things, how’d you train, how’s the mentality, when’s the warm-up starting, and then it sort of puts him at ease. It’s become a routine over a period of time.”
Moving forward, there will undoubtedly be links with clubs abroad. There’s been talk of Rangers potentially reigniting their interest in Muscat amid Clement’s struggles in 2024-25, such has been Muscat’s impact on football in Asia, like mentor Ange Postecoglou before him.
This is a coach who won two Championships with Victory before replacing Postecoglou at F.Marinos, delivering a title in 2022 to go with the club’s first ever Japanese Super Cup.
For the 46-time Socceroo, however, his focus is elsewhere. He is too busy planning his next evolution.
“To get better at something, you need to repeat what you’ve done,” Muscat explained.
“You can’t run 11 kilometres – if you’re constantly running 10km and then all of a sudden you want to get better and run 11? Well, you can’t run 11 until you run the 10 first. So you need to repeat the 10. It’s the same for us.
“We need to maintain and repeat what we’ve done. The next thing going on in my head – we need to find somehow structurally/tactically to evolve our football. These guys have showed me, taken them out of their comfort zone, they’ve coped and excelled. We need to find ways to challenge them once again from a football perspective.
“We need to evolve physically. Strategically, we made a decision to modify what we really want to do, or wanted to do, because we sense that maybe it was too big a jump forward.
“A big part of it will be that next preseason. We want to evolve physically as well, because these guys have had a good year under the belt physically. They’ll be able to again be challenged physically. We will have to see what movements there will be in the off-season.”
A reunion after Japanese interest: ‘Something I’ve never seen before’
Ross Aloisi and Kevin Muscat reunited in Shanghai at the start of the 2024 season, having previously worked together at Yokohama F.Marinos.
Aloisi was part of Muscat’s coaching staff when the Marinos claimed the 2022 J1 League crown.
The former Adelaide United captain started 2023-24 in charge of Brisbane Roar, where he reached the 2023 Australia Cup final.
“A lot of things” led to Aloisi’s Roar exit as he jumped at the opportunity to reunite with Muscat.
“I was signed by two people and they were pretty much gone within a month of me being there,” he explained.
“Kevin wanted me to join him, knowing the football he plays, what we would do together. He’d been watching what I was doing at Brisbane. A big factor of him having me there. Working with them, playing the football we play and knowing we could achieve something special at a big club.
“It was disappointing to have to leave but at the same time, it was a decision made purely based on football on both sides.”
Aloisi linked up with Muscat to become his senior assistant despite being contacted about a head coaching role in Japan.
The 51-year-old, though, still wants to return to head coaching.
“Kev always knew that’s the case,” Aloisi said. “He knew from the beginning.
“It’s funny, not a lot of people know this but at the same time Kevin had spoken to me about coming here, I was contacted by an agent working on behalf of a Japanese club to be the head coach.
“As soon as Kev asked me, I didn’t even think twice – I said yes. Not even a minute went by in that conversation, I just said yeah I’m coming with you. I knew what he was like as a coach. I knew he’d push me to be better and to learn. I knew we’d be successful.
“To become a head coach again, it’s got to be the right opportunity too. I don’t want to take a job just for the sake of it. When I got here, there was even more interest. There was some interest in South Korea and again in Japan, but I’m not in a hurry. I love what we’re doing here. I love what we’ve implemented.”
Reflecting on the wild end to the season, Aloisi said: “Losing that game and Shenhua winning to go above us, it was pretty frustrating but Kev did say, ‘we have to keep going and win the last two games because something will give’.
“I swear on my kids, Kev said that. He said ‘something will give, trust me, they will drop a point somewhere’.
“We thought maybe if they do, it would be the last game of the season against Chengdu. We didn’t realise it would be Shenzhen. But I remember the night before second to last game, we were away. We went for a walk with Vincenzo after dinner, he goes ‘I don’t know, I think Shenzhen is going to get something out of this game against Shenhua’.
“I was like, there’s no way in the world… if anything Chengdu, are Shenzhen going to get a result at Shenhua, no way in the world.
“There was that belief something was going to happen. They didn’t rotate their squad that much (Shenhua).
“To win that game. There was disbelief because we won 1-0 and one of the staff came around the corner at the end of our game and he’s like 2-2. We’re like, is it finished? He’s like nah, nah it’s still going. We’re like, why are you telling us for? You’re only aggravating us. Kev is looking at me and going, ‘is it over?’. I’m like nah and he walked off. We only knew it was over because the players started jumping up and down.”
The decision to move to China paid dividends for Aloisi. It also provided great satisfaction.
“I was proud,” he reflected. “Myself personally, when I did take the job… and I’ve never listened to anyone about my career and I don’t care what people say but nearly every single person apart from my brother (Western United boss John Aloisi) said I was making a mistake coming here. He was the only person.
“Not that I cared but it was pretty satisfying because people were like ‘you’re an idiot’. I copped a bit of abuse, even from some people I didn’t expect it to come from, saying ‘you finally got a head coach position..’. People didn’t know what I was going through either.
“I knew what I was doing. I don’t sit there and worry about anyone’s going to say, because I don’t care. I’m not being disrespectful but I know what I want in my life.
“F*** It’s been amazing. There’s always ups and downs in a season. It’s been brilliant.”
Aloisi spoke about jumping at the chance to work with Muscat again. His day-to-day experience with the former Australia international has opened the door to something the ex-Roar boss has “never seen before”.
“For me, he is up there with the best because he has the stats to prove it as far as wins go,” insisted Aloisi.
“To win a Championship anywhere is always difficult but the way he’s won them and the football he’s played puts him up there with the best.
“Where will he end up? Anywhere. He can coach anywhere. It’s not just football, it’s the psychology behind everything. The tactical side of things, it’s not just the training session. To play the football he wants to play, there’s a lot of work that goes into it. Video.
“His thought process on analysis and the way he presents to players is something I’ve never seen before, because he thinks of the way a player thinks, so visual. The way he speaks to players before the game, at half-time – it’s an art. A lot of people don’t have that art.
“He could end up anywhere – in Saudi Arabia, the EPL, Scottish Premier League, Europe somewhere at a big club. Everything I’ve said there sums up what type of coach I believe he is. He gets the best out of people but he demands a lot. He’s not rude in the way he does it.
‘There’s no way I would’ve written that story‘
Like Aloisi, Greg King had an existing relationship with Muscat before arriving in Shanghai.
The highly-rated Aussie coach was Head of High Performance when Muscat’s Marinos won the J1 League two years ago, while he was also part of Postecoglou’s staff when the Yokohama-based team reigned supreme in 2019.
At the end of 2023, King followed Muscat to Shanghai, where he helped get the squad in optimal condition to play the attacking brand of football wanted by his countryman.
It was a challenge in the Chinese heat and with an older demographic of players.
“In terms of building that foundation, principles and the conditioning levels required – that’s the first part of the season,” King – who also won a Championship with Adelaide United in 2016 – explained.
“With these Asian calendars, you have winter where you can work pretty hard and build a fair bit of load leading into the first part of the season and then early part of the season you can keep pushing them quite hard. It’s quite important from building the physical side but also when you’re with a new team, you need hours on the pitch. Utilise the first part of the season.
“In Yokohama and Tokyo, it’s pretty similar from a heat point of view. I would say Shanghai was slightly hotter and more humid. The early challenges were coming to a team that the previous year trained a lot different and the physical expectations of the way they played football was a lot different. Their output was a lot lower.
“We looked at the demographics of the group and we had many players over 30 and had not trained with at this kind of intensity for quite a while. You have to give those guys some credit – they’ve played a lot of years of professional football. They will always generally train quite hard. They’re capable. The challenges were trying to match where they were with where we expected them to be. That was quite a big challenge early. Because we have really good communication between Kevin, Ross, myself – we were able to manage that quite well and not make too many unnecessary mistakes.
“Once we got to summer, we really had our main squad fit and playing the football to the level we were hoping to get them to. We had many games in summer and it was really managing their recovery between games. Quite a few international windows now too and we’d always have several of our key players going there. A player like Wu Lei – they were our blocks of conditioning during the season, those windows. I can’t remember when he did a conditioning session with us because every time there’s a window, he goes away and he comes back and play. They’re the challenges. Adapting to each individual.”
Muscat introduced a new brand of football – one that is physically demanding but rewarding and successful. With it, comes hard work.
King added: “There’s a level of resistance because it’s hard. Natural human response is to not enjoy being pushed hard and out of your comfort zone etc. Bringing that psychological and mental intent to train, to concentrate and train hard everyday and also physical intent is not easy.
“That’s where I’ve been really lucky with the last two managers I’ve worked with being Ange and Kevin is they really push and drive those standards. That makes it easier on me. Yes, sometimes it’s harder on me because I have to keep pushing the players and that’s difficult too because generally I’m pushing them to do a lot of things they don’t want to do.
“But we also have the added benefit that most of the players enjoy the football we’re playing and they can see the correlation. Probably when I was working with Adelaide United, there was still a bit of a feeling that if you play high-possession football, you run less. But the last eight years, that’s changed. Players know and they can see the best teams in the world, yes they score a lot of goals and have a lot of possession, but they work hard. There’s a lot of pressing and high-speed transition.
“When they see the results, Kevin’s really good at giving them feedback. It’s putting it all together to give the player a lot of positive feedback on how important it is.”
King has been able to work with Postecoglou and Muscat since being lured away from Adelaide United by the former in 2018.
He sees similarities between the two, especially when it comes to being across sports science and conditioning, and curiosity.
“Kevin always says to me, he’s always wanting to learn more,” King said.
“At set times, we have some discussions – whether it’s sports science, in regards to conditioning players or injury prevention or how certain metrics effect performance.
“He has a good feel for that side of it. Definitely, I feel he has a lot of faith in me to control that area.”
King has spent many years working with Muscat, so what is it like?
“There’s the balance of that relentless pursuit of being excellent,” said King. “He is a winner. Just when you feel or someone in the squad or the coaching team, they feel they could take it easy or take a rest or shortcut, he’d be onto it. There’s that side of it.
“Then there’s the care – genuine care for players, staff, the way we play football, the club and club’s image, integrity. A good mixture of both.
“It makes for an environment where you feel you’re part of something that’s really special and you’re going to be a winner. You have to keep trying to be the best at what you do.”
King is already busy planning Shanghai Port’s off-season and pre-season programs. Players will be afforded around 10 days off after their AFC Champions League Elite clash with Gwangju before returning to prepare for a February 11 showdown with Japanese giants Vissel Kobe in the ACL Elite.
“Everyone knows, if you come back out of shape usually you either have an injury or lose your place in the team,” he said.
It is all part of an incredible journey for King, who like Muscat, has now won titles in Australia, Japan and China.
“When the chance came to move across from Port Adelaide (in the AFL) to Adelaide United… three years earlier there’s no way I would’ve written that story and said it’s possible that I’d be head fitness coach at Adelaide United,” said King, who spent 10 years as a PE teacher.
“It was so exciting to be working in the professional league in Australia. From there, I’ve just gone with the flow a bit. Try to be the best at what I do.
“I don’t know what’s next, I’m happy here. Along that period, you sort of go – the optimal would be to work in the Premier League.
“I have friends all the time and they ask when am I going to go to the EPL? That’s changed the last few years in terms of what’s important for me – the environment, the challenge, the people you’re working with, the city you’re in for your family. Those things are more important.”
‘How good is he? Kev could be in the Premier League now‘
There were tears when Vincenzo Ierardo departed Western United to join Muscat’s Shanghai Port ahead of the 2024 season.
An inaugural member of Western’s football department, assistant Ierardo won the 2021-22 Isuzu UTE A-League Championship during his time as part of John Aloisi’s staff.
“It was just a convo through Kevin. I got a call from him and he asked if I was interested,” Ierardo said of how the move came about.
“It was a difficult move for me because Western United is a fabulous club, great people. I did break down once I did make the decision to move. At that stage of my career, it was too hard to pass up.”
“You always hope you get a phone call some time. It was a surreal feeling once I got the call.”
Ierardo had previously spent six years with Melbourne Victory, where he worked as an assistant coach in the youth NPL setup and another three years with the Ninja A-League side while Muscat was coaching the Melbourne-based outfit.
“I had a relationship with Kevin prior. He knew my character I’d go into his trainings almost daily and he allowed me into his meetings for a couple of seasons.”
In Shanghai, Ierardo has been working as a second assistant to Aloisi, while also leading the analysis program.
“It’s been a tough and rewarding move. I’m not here with my family. Credit to them for letting me chase my dream. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible,” he said.
“What we have at this club, and it’s instilled in everybody, is their work ethic. We’re there for each other. The culture that Kev has built is unbelievable. We’re willing to do everything for each other. While we have that, we will continue to do well.”
It has been a rewarding experience for Ierardo, who added: “This year has been challenging. Have I learnt about myself more? Yes. There’s things I didn’t know about myself and taking myself out of my comfort zone into a new environment has opened my eyes.
“The way we work here has resonated with me and it’s also challenged my coaching because you’re sort of set in one way then Kevin and Ross, and the coaching group want to work another way. It did take that little bit of time to adjust but I feel I’m getting better every day with that.”
Working with Muscat in Shanghai has opened Ierardo’s eyes to many things.
“Just simple stuff like the standards you don’t address are the standards you express,” he said.
“We’d make sure if we walked past something we didn’t like, we’d address it there and then because if you do walk past it, then it gets accepted. Kevin was big on that.
It has also given Ierardo a front-row seat to Muscat’s methods.
“I always talk about the human first. So Kev as a human and making sure you’re okay, it’s been unbelievable. Especially me coming on my own at the start, him, Ross and Greg all helped me with that transition.
“Kev the human first and foremost is unbelievable. He will make sure you’re okay and give you all the tools to do your job as a secondary.
“As a leader, he completely trusts you. He gives you the power to do your work the best you know how but he will challenge you and hold you to account. It’s a rewarding experience but he gives you the freedom, within the structure, to be the best you can be for the benefit of the team.”
Ierardo added: “He has a clear belief in the way the game should be played. We have staff who believe the same things he does.
“How good is he? For me, Kev could be in the Premier League now, tomorrow. I watch a lot of football like everyone does, his management side of the game, the way he manages players, staff, board, is second to none.
“How far can he go is up to Kev. If we call the Premier League the best league in the world, he will reach those levels no problem.”
