Victory star Louis D’Arrigo urges teammates to be greedy in bid to end goal drought
Melbourne Victory’s goal drought has reached crisis point as the four-time A-League champions sit bottom of the ladder without scoring in their past four matches.
Victory midfielder Louis D’Arrigo has called on his teammates to be “selfish" in Saturday night’s clash against his former club Adelaide United to ensure the Melbourne outfit’s goal drought comes to an end.
Once the pride of the A-League, four-time competition champions Victory have hit rock bottom. sitting at the foot of the ladder after picking up just one point from their past four games.
D’Arrigo’s side had also failed to score in any of those games, with pressure continuing to mount on embattled Victory coach Arthur Diles.
“You don’t want to be in the position we are at any time of the season, but looking around the camp, and around the club, we’re in good spirits, we know where we want to get to, and to get there we need to be more together than ever,” D’Arrigo said ahead of the AAMI Park battle.
“There’s no better way to bounce back than in a big game this weekend against Adelaide in front of our home fans.
“We just need to put our chances away.”
To do that, D’Arrigo said Victory players needed to be more greedy rather than trying to set up a teammate.
“In the final (attacking) third we need to be more selfish and take more shots,” he said.
“At the moment we’re in a goal drought, and we want to make the last pass extra special for someone else to score, but we need to think ‘I’m going to be the one to break the drought’.
“When that happens, goals will start to flow.”
D’Arrigo, 24, joined the Victory in the off-season after spending the previous two years
with Polish club Lechia Gdansk.
Injury delayed his first A-League appearance for Victory until the team’s 3-0 loss to Sydney FC on November 22, and he’s now keen to make up for lost time.
“I didn’t play much in my last year in Poland, so that/s why I really wanted to come back to Australia and get consistent game time,” he said.
“I felt like I should have played more there but … this is football. I’ve come here with a lot of experienced gained, and I’m looking forward to getting my consistency back.”
Before his move to Poland, D’Arrigo made 106 appearance in all competitions for his hometown club Adelaide, but there will be no room for sentiment in Saturday night’s “Original Rivalry” battle.
“I left there on great terms, but I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m looking forward to giving my all for Melbourne Victory, and putting a smile on the Victory fans’ faces because I know this game means a lot to them,” he said.
“It’s going to be fiery, which is exactly what we want.”
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