Melbourne Victory’s A-League Men supporters are not happy this season. You can’t blame them, either, with their side rapidly sliding towards a second wooden spoon in three seasons. But for those entrusted with turning things around, that sense of expectation and pressure associated with playing in front of one of the league’s biggest fanbases is something they’re trying to embrace.
The only thing worse than playing for a club whose fans are furious with results, after all, is being attached to a club whose fans just don’t care.
Victory players were serenaded with a blanket of boos upon the full-time whistle of their 2-1 loss to Western United on Monday evening, a result that ensured they would remain rooted at the bottom of the ALM table and drift nine points back of the top six.
Nonetheless, with just seven games remaining on the team’s 2022-23 slate, Victory’s season isn’t quite dead and buried despite that loss – albeit it likely would be if the league wasn’t gripped by a sense of parity or mediocrity, depending on one’s perspective, that has prevented real separation on the table.
Failure to win against Central Coast on Sunday afternoon probably wouldn’t completely kill it either, although at that point the realms of credulity would be being stretched to breaking point by attempting to fashion a narrative that there is any sort of realistic way back.
And with nerves and patience already stretched thin by poor results, sanctions and restrictions imposed after the violence of the Christmas Derby, and a general enmity towards the league largely traceable to the Grand Final, a defeat would only add to the antipathy from the fanbase.
Obviously, this isn’t a good thing. But as Connor Chapman told media, that the supporters do at least care enough to raise their voice in displeasure, and that rival fans take extra glee in their suffering, is an ‘honour’ that isn’t bestowed upon every club.
“The boss says that it’s a privilege to play for that,” said Chapman. “The fans that come, it’s sort of like playing in Europe. You’re playing for a team with a lot of fans, there are expectations in every game.
“And that’s good. That’s something that we need to embrace.
“Hopefully, we can embrace that this week and do it for the fans, do it for ourselves, and do it for the staff and the club.”
Perhaps indicative of why he’s telling his players to embrace the expectations of the club, Victory boss Tony Popovic has been consistent in his belief that his outfit hasn’t been playing as badly as their form would suggest across the past month and a half, and that the team is capable of getting results.
“They can see that the effort is there, they can see that the performances are not bad,” the Victory coach said. “But we need them to be able to ride this out with us.
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“We expect them to be unhappy when they come and watch a game and they see a defeat.
“When I say it’s a privilege; it’s the expectation of a big football club. We have to accept that. We can’t be angry about that. We have to accept the sentiment of the fans. Every fan wants their team to win every week. You can be top of the table and if you lose a game the fans aren’t happy.
“When I say privilege, that’s what I mean. It’s a privilege to be at Melbourne Victory. We all need to feel honoured to be here in our roles. And we are.
“We are going through a difficult moment in terms of results. But we need everyone to pull together to get through this. And when we get through the other side, that’s also a sign of a big club, that you can go through good and bad moments together.”
Popovic’s task to turn things around won’t get any easier this week, with third-placed Central Coast coming to town riding high off the back of a 4-1 win over Macarthur and looking to keep pace with Western Sydney and Adelaide in the race for second.
Nick Montgomery’s side defeated Victory 2-1 in their previous meeting in Gosford, with Jason Cummings netting a brace to steer his side to a win in their traditional New Year’s Eve fixture.
Alongside the likes of former Victory starlet Christian Theoharous and Samuel Silvera, the Scottish-born Socceroo is one of a number of players on the Coast that are comfortable operating with the ball at their feet in compact areas – a challenge for Victory’s back four that have been guilty multiple brain fades this season.
“They’ve had a few games where they didn’t get the results that they wanted, recently. But they had a very good win against Macarthur, they showed the signs of what they showed early in the season,” said Popovic.
“[They’re] very dangerous going forward, a lot of energy in their team, and they’ve got some good players. They’re doing a very good job on the Central Coast.
“It’s a great opportunity to play a team that’s confident. We know we have the quality in our team and there’s a chance to win a game against a good side.
“The best way of containing [the Mariners’ attack is] restricting the amount of ball they can get. To do that, the more we have the ball in the front third the more problems we can cause them. We’d like to think that they have to defend a lot more. And it keeps them away from the goal, where they’re dangerous.
“If we can manage to do that, it will restrict the opportunities that they have to combine around the box. That will happen, but you don’t want it to be frequent.”
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Header Image Credit: Melbourne Victory
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