Kevin Muscat is enduring his toughest time as head coach A-League side Melbourne Victory.
Since he took over in October 2013, he has won a premiership and grand final double in 2015 and an FFA Cup in the same year. Under Muscat Victory have never finished lower than sixth in the 10-team competition, back in 2016. Last season they improve greatly from that low point and came second, and reached the grand final, but were beaten to both trophies by a classy Sydney FC.
So far this season, after 20 rounds, the club sits in fifth spot with only seven victories and a whopping 23 points behind the league-leading Sky Blues.
You have to remember that this is Melbourne Victory, the biggest club in the A-League and who have won more Premier’s Plates than any other side, and sit equal with Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC with a haul of three championships. No team has played in as many grand finals – five – as Victory. Success is not a want at the Victorian outfit, it is a must.
Muscat knows this better than anyone. The former Socceroo has been there since one day, when he left Millwall and signed up at the dawn of the new league in 2005. He made 138 appearances for the club as a midfield anchor before hanging up his boots, serving as an assistant coach than taking the top job. You could argue the 44-year-old personifies Melbourne Victory.
But, as the old adage goes, no one individual is bigger than the club.
Muscat is feeling the heat because of a misfiring attack, a run of mediocre results and a failure to change and innovate. His team hasn’t won a game in a little over a month. On Tuesday they were beaten 4-1 by Shanghai SIPG in the Asian Champions League. Before that there were consecutive losses to Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC.
Victory have only scored 28 goals all season, and Besart Berisha and James Troisi have looked a shadow of their former selves. Berisha has bagged eight goals and he is the club’s highest-scorer. But at 32 his explosive best is maybe beyond him, while Troisi has only managed three goals.
New signing Matias Sanchez has not set the world alight. Key Socceroo Mark Milligan was sold overseas. There has little young talent coming through at the club. The shining lights have been Dutchman Leroy George, who leads the competition in assists, and Kosta Barbarouses who has seven goals and two assists.
Muscat continues to stick to a 4-2-3-1 formation week in, week out as he has done all campaign. Therefore Victory have been very predictable and their opponents have taken advantage of this.
The supporters are not happy and the coach was booed at home after their last A-League defeat. Neither is Muscat’s boss, club chairman Anthony Di Pietro. In February he said publicly: “I stand here and I offer no excuses, it’s not good enough and it’s not acceptable by anyone at this football club”.
With Muscat off-contract the end of this season, a big decision looms for the Victory powerbrokers. The next two months will be critical if the coach continues on at AAMI Park.
