The first days of pre-season convinced the Western United boss that his squad has what it takes to retain their inaugural championship trophy – but he also got the recruit he wanted to evolve his side into 2022-23, he explained to David Weiner.
Everybody hates the C-word, but football coaches more than most – especially title-defending coaches.
It’s a word that someone like John Aloisi was on the look-out for in his dressing room as soon as he returned to mount Western United’s Championship defence.
A word that can undo the most meticulous plans for a title defence.
Complacency.
When Aloisi returned for pre-season training, complacency was the characteristic he knew was most dangerous as the squad prepared for a first ever season as defending champions.
“I spoke to quite a few different people at successful clubs,” he explained to KEEPUP.
“They said…if a team comes back complacent in pre-season, that’s when they might struggle; or if you lose a large group of players.
“Our boys definitely aren’t (complacent): they’re back motivated, ready to go – we had a really good pre-season.
“The players tasted the success, know the formula – hard work – and we’re ready for it and anything thrown at us.”
ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE SEASON 2022-23: WESTERN UNITED GUIDE
Aloisi, who claimed the Championship after stunning both Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City on the way to the title, says he saw those positive traits as soon as his players turned up for their pre-season.
It was a period where he has kept his squad largely intact, too. In fact, it has become a deep squad too, with the return of talisman Alessandro Diamanti – although he is yet to return to full fitness – and grand final hero Aleksandar Prijovic, who many thought would return to Europe.
Mali international Tongo Doumbia adds depth to an engine room already boasting Neil Kilkenny and Steven Lustica, while former Socceroos creative midfielder James Troisi is looking to re-ignite his career, having moved between Melbourne Victory, Adelaide United and Western Sydney since 2019.
“He has that technical ability to unlock defence, score goals, very, very good technically and I know he is a hard worker,” Aloisi said.
“People don’t see that side of him. He knows the group works, he has fitted in with us, he has been working as hard as anyone – I think he has a lot to offer still, excited to see him.”
He added: “Diamanti is back again – he will take a little bit of time to get up to speed, but that’s like a new signing. We brought (James) Troisi in. A lot of people will be impressed by him, he’s a midfielder with a lot of experience.
“And the younger boys have come on another level. Rhys Bozinovski, Nicolas Milanovic, Dylan Pierias. It has been a year, under us, working with us, you can see how much they’ve improved. That is going to help us improve as a squad; when they do play, I am confident they will do well.”
Western might have been known for their frugal defence last term, which became the foundations of their run to the finals, particularly with their record streak of 1-0 wins.
But, Aloisi suggests, that overshadowed the side’s attacking evolution towards the backend of last season, which will continue into 2022-23, particularly with Troisi and a fit-again Diamanti.
Aloisi said: “We’re always evolving and trying to get better in all aspect of our game – there are things we focused on a little more than we did last season.
“We felt sometimes when teams sat off us in the final third we didn’t have the creativity because Diamanti was out majority of the season. We worked on that, now James Troisi comes in.
“We are positive about our performance in pre-season and our results have been really good… we’ve had a lot of positive performances. The motivation has been there and we didn’t have to change too much; the players understand our principles. That helps a lot.”
He continued: “We saw the evolution last year, really, but people forget about it because we were so solid. In the second half of the season we were scoring nearly two a game.
“We were chasing a game, against Victory in the semi (because of the aggregate two leg set-up), and were able to score four goals.
“Second half of the season we were scoring freely – with amount of new players coming in, it took a while to gel.
“People look at 1-0 results and people think we’re not attacking. This pre-season we’ve been doing it a lot: two goals down against Adelaide; won 2-1 against Central Coast Mariners.
“When we go forward, we have a lot of dangerous players, and goals in us, and if a team sits off us, we can find a way, and when a team comes at us…we have a lot of pace in behind too.”
