Melbourne Victory coach Arthur Diles on ‘whirlwind’ six month journey to A-Leagues’ grand final

Arthur Diles found out he would coach Melbourne Victory while at a child’s graduation in December. He’s now preparing the side for a grand final. ERIN SMITH takes us inside the journey of the A-Leagues’ most unbelievable season.

Arthur Diles was watching his child graduate from primary school when the call came.

And in that moment, he too graduated … to become an A-League head coach.

In one of the most shocking moments of the Australian football season, Melbourne Victory mentor Patrick Kisnorbo quit just six months into his contract.

Enter Diles, 43, who after taking the job in December has incredibly guided Melbourne’s foundation club to an improbably A-League grand final appearance.

“It happened so suddenly and totally unexpected,” Diles said of his appointment.

“I was actually at my kid’s graduation from primary school when I got the call.

“After the first initial reaction of shock the next part was okay, we’ve got three massive games coming up.

“We had to try and navigate through that as best we could because we didn’t even have time to sit down and interview with assistant coaches, the first month was pretty much me with the help of some of the academy staff, the goalkeeper coach, a fitness coach, who just had to roll their sleeves up and get to work.”

Diles had never held a head coach role with a professional team before.

Melbourne Victory duo Lachlan Jackson and Roderick Miranda alongside Melbourne City’s Aziz Behich and Kai Trewin. Picture: Getty Images

Before landing at Victory for the 2023/24 season he had held assistant roles at Newcastle Jets, AO Xanthi and Western Sydney Wanderers.

Through most of it he worked closely with now Socceroos coach Tony Popovic.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with (Popovic) and worked with him and he shows you what professionalism looks like and he’s definitely been a great teacher of mine and someone I look up to,” Diles said.

“It was definitely something that helped me be ready but I’ve also put in a lot of time and effort over these last 10-15 years of my coaching to be ready for the opportunity when it arises.”

TAKING CHARGE

His first game in charge was a derby, against grand final rivals Melbourne City.

It ended in a 1-1 draw. From his first six games in charge Victory had three losses and three draws.

His first win came at the end of January with a 2-0 win over Sydney FC. From there Victory lost just three matches – including their 0-1 semi-final leg one loss to Auckland FC.

They finished the season in fifth, just five points behind second placed City.

Arthur Diles took on the job of Victory head coach in December. He’s steered them to the grand final. Picture: Getty Images

To progress to the final Victory pulled off a 2-1 win against Western Sydney Wanderers in the elimination final and overcame a 1-0 loss in the first semi-final with Auckland to win the second leg 2-1.

Diles gave full credit to the team, who had to adjust mid-season to the shock departure of their coach.

“They are great human beings first and foremost and talented footballers,” Diles said.

“But as we know a talented change room doesn’t guarantee success in any way, shape or form. We see that in a lot of sports, not just football.

“It’s important during this shock and change that everyone stayed on the course and attempted to stay on the right path.”

Diles said he was yet to make time to stop and think about what he has achieved this season.

“I’m actually looking forward to next week, sitting down and looking back at the last six months, because it has been a whirlwind, it’s been crazy,” he said.

“It’s been a lot of hard work and I haven’t had enough time to reflect on that but I will do that.

“In the meantime there’s a massive game ahead of us.”

Melbourne Victory coach Arthur Diles’ first game in charge of the club was against their grand final opponents - Melbourne City. Picture: Getty Images

FINAL DANCE

This isn’t Diles’ first grand final. He was on the bench next to Popovic at the 2023/24 grand final when Central Coast Mariners beat Victory to the trophy in extra time.

The loss was so painful that Diles still doesn’t like to talk about it.

“It wasn’t a great feeling,” Diles said.

“I haven’t really thought about last year. It’s a different season, a different coaching staff, different group of players.

“I haven’t even spoke about last year and I don’t want to speak about it to be honest because there’s no point in looking back.

“It was a great achievement to get there but we fell short and that was really disappointing, and it hurts.

“It is not something I want to relive. We want to look forward, we want to be as possible as we can and create something special on Saturday.”

Diles knows it won’t be easy. Of their three meetings with City this season Victory won the first and the other two ended in draws.

Kasey Bos is at risk of missing of the decider for Victory. Picture: Getty Images

“It is going to take every little bit of what we’ve got to get this over the line. It’s not easy to get to grand finals and they definitely are not easy to win,” he said.

“We’ve got to make sure that physically, mentally, emotionally, tactically, we’re ready to go and we can’t let anything slip.

“We can’t miss a beat. They are a team that is in form, they finished second and qualified for Asian, it’s going to be a really, really big ask for us but one that I’m sure, come Saturday night, we will be ready for.”

Adding to the challenge is Victory’s growing injury list.

Victory’s Brendan Hamil ruptured his ACL in the first leg of the semi-final. Diles said there were question marks around the fitness of Kasey Bos, Adama Traore and keeper Mitch Langerak.

“It’s not all great news on that front but it is what it is, that’s why we have a squad and that’s why everyone trains every day to be ready for an opportunity when it arises,” Diles said.

“Hopefully come Saturday the picture is looking a little bit better than it does today but if it doesn’t we’ve got to roll our sleeves up and be ready for whatever comes our way.”

Melbourne Victory play Melbourne City at 7.40pm on Saturday at AAMI Park.