Marco Kurz confident of turning Melbourne Victory around

Melbourne Victory are struggling near the bottom of the table, but coach Marco Kurz says he can still turn things around.

Melbourne Victory coach Marco Kurz oversees a training session at Gosch’s Paddock earlier this week. Picture: Getty Images

Melbourne Victory are struggling near the bottom of the A-League table, but coach Marco Kurz says he can still turn things around.

Pressure is mounting on the Victory boss and his team after a horror start to the season – just one win in seven games – with Friday night’s clash with the similarly struggling Perth Glory shaping as a crunch match.

There are arguably higher expectations at traditional powerhouse Victory than at his previous club Adelaide, but Kurz said he didn’t feel more pressure on him to succeed.

“We have a couple of problems and we have to handle it – I have to handle it because I am the head of the group, the head of the boys and I’m here to get a result for our fantastic club and that’s what I have to do, that’s the point,” Kurz said.

“But it’s not more pressure, I give to myself enough pressure because I want to work (successfully) for my club.”

Kurz said he couldn’t judge his own job security, but was determined to turn things around.

“I’m still hard working, that I feel with a lot of energy to find the turnaround but the decision-maker in this case is not the coach,” he said.

Victory’s struggles haven’t been helped by injuries, especially early-season setbacks to Robbie Kruse, Tim Hoogland and Andrew Nabbout.

But imports Kristijan Dobras and Jakob Poulsen have failed to impress in the opening seven weeks, compounding the situation.

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Dobras won’t feature for the second week in a row, with Victory looking to build his fitness after a lacklustre start to his time in the A-League.

“The late signings were always hard for us,” Kurz said.

“The fitness level, not only from Dobras, was not the same, maybe, from other players.

“But he had, during this time, some problems – with some game time we thought (we) could handle it but now we decide to give him more time to set up his fitness, to show the quality.” With the January transfer window fast approaching, the final four games of the calendar year shape as a chance for players to make their mark – or risk being replaced when Victory can next adjust a struggling squad.

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“We have a lot of players who are one-year contracted and we must have a few eyes around on which players are available next season maybe from other clubs,” Kurz said.

“In this period starts the preparation for the next season.”

Meanwhile, Victory will be without centre back Thomas Deng for the visit of Perth after he suffered a groin injury in training.

Deng was recently away with the Olyroos and Kurz said he believed overloading had played a role in the injury.

AAP