IF John Aloisi’s tenure at Western United proves a success he won’t be considering it third-time lucky, but the result of making the most of past lessons.<\/p>\n
The Socceroos great took the reins at the A-League Men club in July – more than two-and-a-half years after his most recent head coach role.<\/p>\n
Aloisi resigned as Brisbane Roar boss after a poor start to the 2018-19 season – having previously led them to two semi-finals and an elimination final.<\/p>\n
He was previously sacked by the then-lowly Melbourne Heart after just eight wins between 2012 and 2014.<\/p>\n
During his time away from coaching – which included missing out on the Melbourne Victory job to Grant Brebner – Aloisi worked as a pundit for Optus Sport but also visited clubs, soaked up experience and contemplated how he could improve.<\/p>\n
“I’ve wanted to get back in. It was making sure that it was the right opportunity, the right time,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s a club that’s still growing, so I can help and be part of that which is really important for me… there’s a number of younger boys that are in there, so that’s important as well.<\/p>\n
“With myself, sometimes you do need a little bit of time away – not always, because you want to try and stay in the job as long as possible.<\/p>\n
“But sometimes that little bit of break gives you that that energy that you need again and that experience that you need.<\/p>\n
“The more experience you have, the more you actually evolve and get better and understand things that you might have done a little bit different, or things that you did well in the past and see if those things still work.”<\/p>\n
Aloisi, 45, could “sense” the lingering disappointment at United from last season, when they finished 10th and sacked predecessor Mark Rudan, and has focused on building confidence.<\/p>\n
“The way we want to play, you have to play without fear,” he said.<\/p>\n
“If you make a mistake, that happens in football, it’s about rectifying it and making sure that we were together and we work together – instead of complaining and being upset at your teammate without actually helping him out.<\/p>\n
“You could still see there was a little bit of that. When you go through a bad patch it is quite tough and players do get down on themselves.<\/p>\n
“I don’t mind if someone makes a mistake, trying to do the right things. Then it’s how they react from that mistake.”<\/p>\n
Having promised an attacking but hard-working style, Aloisi isn’t putting any limits on what his squad can achieve.<\/p>\n
Swiss defender Leo Lacroix, Slovenian midfielder Rene Krhin and young guns Dylan Wenzel-Halls and Noah Botic are among the signings, while the likes of Alessandro Diamanti and Tomoki Imai remain.<\/p>\n
“You do need a little bit of luck, of course, with your major players staying on the pitch and making sure that they’re not getting injured,” Aloisi said.<\/p>\n
“But I believe with the squad that we’re building that we will have a real go at being there at the end of the season, fighting for silverware.”<\/p>\n
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