His eight-week job interview over, caretaker coach Mehmet Durakovic says he can improve Melbourne Victory further if appointed fulltime at the A-League club.
Former Socceroo Durakovic faces a nervous wait to find out whether he gets the coaching job permanently after his side’s Asian Champions League exit this week.
No timeframe has been set for the Victory board to decide on Ernie Merrick’s fulltime successor.
And with the new A-League season not starting until October, there is no pressure to sift through the 70-plus applicants for a winner.
But Durakovic’s CV and job prospects have been enriched through the club’s performance in five matches under his command in the ACL.
After losing his opening game, the Victory have been unbeaten in their past four.
They were unlucky not to win their past two – the players clearly responding to Durakovic’s urge to play a fluid, crisp passing style of football using width.
Their 1-1 away draw with Jeju United in South Korea on Wednesday night produced close to the best football the Victory have played in three failed ACL campaigns.
Poor refereeing decisions – including two wrongly disallowed goals against Jeju – and a horror 5-1 opening match loss to Gamba Osaka, which didn’t happen on Durakovic’s watch, proved the Victory’s ultimate undoing.
“It’s up to the board, but I just hope the board can see there’s been a lot of positives in the team and the way I want them to play,” Durakovic said from Korea on Thursday.
“The pleasing thing is the players have responded to my tactics and the way I wanted to play.
“With the short space of time I’ve had, these boys have really come a long way.
“We’ve got a long way to go … with a good pre-season, hopefully these boys will be fitter, technically sharper and playing with the intensity I want them to play the game at.”
The Victory will continue training for another two weeks before their belated end-of-season break ahead of the expected October 7 season kickoff.
Roarchild
Guest
Good post Brendo. I hadn't seen enough of there ACL games ( just the last 20 mins a few times) so was good to hear from someone how they are going tactically. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Elifanti
Guest
Yeh, that seems to be the way the board is thinking. There seems to be a bit of support for Durakovic on the twittersphere.
whiskeymac
Guest
it appeared, imo, at the outset that the noises from MV were that they wanted someone else - too many media stories about keane, yorke, littbarski, postecogulous etc etc - which suggest that the board, barring a miracle that didnt eventuate in the AFC, was always looking at other options.
nordster
Guest
yeah good points, they've been drawing games at least which is something to build from. I guess my thinking was, should MV put all the budget they can afford on a head coach into one guy? Or spread it out and build the broader football dept and get youth structures happening?
brendo51
Guest
I will take c) The best coach we can afford whether they are international or local. Durakovic has done well for the period he has had them. He removed the back 3 and sat Vargas down. It had to happen but Ernie just couldn't seem to bring himself to do it. The introduction of the flat back 4 has been Durakovic's biggest improvement. However there are still a lot of questions marks about his game plan. He seems stuck in this mindset of a 4-2-3-1 and playing Archie as a winger. It is obvious to everyone that Archie plays best centrally and it was a obvious move against Jeju but he seems reluctant to alter his structure mid-game. In fact he seems to unwilling to make any changes once a game begins. I cannot remember 1 tactical change he has made during a game. The lack of goals and especially in play goals is a real worry. Personally I am not convinced and I certainly don't think he has done enough to be just handed the job.
nordster
Guest
a good reaction in just a couple of games for Durakovic... had read the chairman was interviewing in London a few weeks back ... you'd have to ask MV fans though, at this point in the club's history, would you rather have: a) a higher profile, pricier O/S coach or b) Durakovic at a more reasonable cost, with the difference spent on a couple of youth coaches to start the process of building up an age team structure at Victory... which will start paying dividends down the line.