Arthur Diles isn’t one to let an opportunity go begging.
Take his path to this Saturday’s A-League grand final with Melbourne Victory. At the beginning of December last year, Diles was an assistant coach. By the end of the month, he was in charge after Patrick Kisnorbo’s sudden departure for a job in Japan.
Victory coach Arthur Diles celebrates leading his club to the A-League men’s grand final.Credit: Getty Images
“I had to get through the first 24 hours,” Diles said with a laugh this week.
“It came as such a shock and I had no sleep, but once I had a good night’s sleep I was fine.”
The coach knows how important it is to take a chance when it’s presented.
One of his earliest successes was in his own professional development as he used some contacts at Spanish giants Real Madrid to make several long visits to observe their training practices and player development programs.
The lessons learnt in Madrid more than a decade ago informed his coaching ethos, but the most important lesson was to not die wondering.
“I was a youth coach at the time. They have big scouting networks and still have to develop those talents but they still had the same generational challenges we had back home, like devices and kids spending more time on the computer than on the street playing football,” Diles said.
“Football is a very small world and usually, someone knows someone pretty much anywhere.
“I was very fortunate. I made the most of it and didn’t sit back and think ‘I couldn’t do that’. I knew I had to act quickly as I couldn’t miss that kind of opportunity and I took it with both hands.”
You wouldn’t know it from Victory’s finals run, but Diles’ first seven weeks in the top job were no picnic.
Victory lost three matches and drew three others in that time. They slipped down the table and outside finals places in that winless stretch. But those games proved invaluable as Diles adjusted the side’s tactics to fit his preferred style.
“It’s been well-documented that our start wasn’t great in terms of results but I was quietly confident because we were performing quite well,” he said.
“As long as there is belief, you always have a chance and they’ve never wavered.”
Despite those Real Madrid connections, Diles has come from a modest background to follow in the footsteps of Kevin Muscat, Ernie Merrick, Ange Postecoglou and Tony Popovic.
Victory coach Arthur Diles gets his point across during the semi-final win over Auckland.Credit: Getty Images
The Sydney-raised Diles spent time with Sydney Olympic and Parramatta Power as a player before he rose through the youth coaching ranks at Western Sydney Wanderers and became assistant coach to Popovic and then Arthur Papas at Newcastle Jets.
He was on Popovic’s staff when he took over at the Victory and remained as an assistant when Popovic left to become Socceroos coach at the end of last season.
Former Socceroos and A-League striker Mark Bridge played with Diles at Parramatta and has closely watched his coaching career. But even he didn’t expect such a swift rise.
“He was welcoming to all us young boys and took us under his wing,” Bridge recalled.
Aziz Behich of Melbourne City, Melbourne City coach, Aurelio Vidmar, Head coach of the Victory, Arthur Diles and Roderick Miranda of the Victory pose with the championship trophy.Credit: Getty Images
“As a player, he was the same as he is a coach. Technically, very good. You know those players who are obsessed with the game? That’s him. He loves the game, consumes the whole game and was always sourcing knowledge so he took all that into his coaching.
“Players loved him and I knew he would be a good coach but did I think he would be this good, this quickly? Probably not because there are not many coaches that are at the start.
“It’s tough getting thrown into the cauldron like he did but he’s done well and you can see the boys want to play for him.”
Diles paid tribute to his coaching staff and players for their commitment as the team also had to adjust to losing veteran defender Jason Geria to a move to Japan in January along with some untimely injuries, most recently defender Brendan Hamill (ACL) and midfielder Nishan Velupillay (ankle) who is in doubt for the final.
Nishan Velupillay of the Victory reacts to a foul against Auckland FC in the semi-finals.Credit: Getty Images
Veteran defender Roderick Miranda said Diles did the job his way.
“He’s always been really close to the players, always really helpful and with an open door to discuss whatever we need to discuss,” Miranda said.
“We had to look to him with different eyes now he is the head coach, we needed to know he needed his own time to step back, to think, to deliberate, to do the formations and tactics but he remains the same guy.
“He’s friendly, respects everybody and if you feel that respect, then every player is willing to fight for that coach until the end.”
Victory have found a way to win in the finals, with match-winners such as Daniel Arzani, Ryan Teague and Zinedine Machach rising. Even those who have struggled for goals, such as striker Bruno Fornaroli, stepped up – Fornaroli scored the winning goal in the semi-final.
Whether it is Sydney Olympic, Real Madrid or Melbourne Victory, Diles said he embraced the task of bringing together a wide mix of players to form a winning team.
“We’re only allowed five foreign players but we’ve got such a multicultural country that while we are all Australians, you are dealing with a lot of ethnicities and cultures,” Diles said.
“I’ve always been interested in how to manage people from different cultures and make sure they are not all treated the same way, everyone is their own individual with their own story and I value that very highly.”
Diles knows the game has highs and lows but he is choosing to focus on the high of a full AAMI Park cheering on his side to what he hopes is a memorable championship while a “busload” of his family and friends will travel to the match.
“We know our fans are fantastic and I expect this place to be shaking on Saturday night.”
