Melbourne Victory’s Anthony Lesiotis likened to 300-game hard man Leigh Broxham
He’s the young gun who was thrown into the right back position after illness and injury robbed Melbourne Victory. Now he’s being touted as the second coming of legendary A-League games record holder Leigh Broxham.
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The ‘dodgy’ throw ins must be rectified, but emerging Melbourne Victory starlet Anthony Lesiotis hopes his positional switch can help him become Mr Versatile, aka the next Leigh Broxham.
Lesiotis, 20, had never played right-back until two 11th hour omissions a fortnight ago – Storm Roux turned up ill and was sent home, then Brandon Lauton got injured in warm-up – forced Marco Kurz to throw him there.
Now he is in contention make the Olyroos squad that attempts to qualify for Tokyo 2020 at next month’s qualifiers.
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“Oh no, my throw ins are dreadful. All the boys have been giving it to me,” Lesiotis said.
“I definitely need to just take 10 minutes to learn to take a throw in.
“Every week I get to the point where I’m going, oh no, ball, don’t go out. I don’t want to take a throw in. I’ve taken a quick one, but
never thrown further than five metres.
“Otherwise I’m enjoying the new position. Never played right back in my life – they put me there and I just winged it.”
That’s been the biggest adjustment for Lesiotis, who was poached by Kevin Muscat a year ago as a tenacious defensive midfielder.
“Apart from taking more throw ins, the biggest change is being more patient on the ball and defensively. When I’m in the middle, I’m always looking to win the ball with tackles – get the ball, force it forwards, try and pick out a player,” he said.
“Now being part of the backline, you need to be smarter on the ball. It’s a big issue if you lose it in the back, you can get (exposed).
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“I’ve always been (a defensive midfielder) and I’d love to play there. If they want me to play right back I’m more than happy to help. Being a young player, I just want to play really. So I’ll take anywhere on the pitch.
“It (versatility) can help. I’d love to be able to play all positions, centre back, anywhere. If there’s injuries, if I’m not playing one position, I could play somewhere else.”
Asked if he could play centre back, he said: “I believe I could, maybe not as good as (James) Donachie or Broxham, but I could definitely do a job. I’m 5’11’’, about the same height as Broxy.”
Lesiotis wants to prove a point to his former club Melbourne City in Saturday’s AAMI Park blockbuster and hopefully earn an Olyroos call up.
“I want to perform and show them what they missed out on I guess. The main thing is winning,” Lesiotis said.
Originally published as Melbourne Victory’s Anthony Lesiotis likened to 300-game hard man Leigh Broxham