TOKYO — Kevin Muscat was branded "the
most hated man in football" by an opponent during his playing days but the
Australian hopes perceptions are changing after making his mark as a coach.
اضافة اعلان
England-born Muscat had a successful playing
career as a tough-tackling defender with the likes of Wolves, Millwall, and
Crystal Palace, and won 46 caps for Australia.
But he was also involved in a series of
controversial on-field incidents and was sent off 12 times.
In 2001, France coach Roger Lemerre
described a crunching Muscat tackle that injured forward Christophe Dugarry as
an "act of brutality".
Now 48 and manager of a
Yokohama F Marinos side playing attacking football in Japan's J-League, Muscat told AFP that he is
keen to "be judged separately" and says that "the perception is
maybe starting to change in people".
"I want to be involved in teams that
play a certain brand of football and that maybe contradicts what most people
perceive to my playing days," said Muscat.
"I'm trying to forge my own way in
terms of the way I coach, the way I manage and the way my teams play.
"That's really all I can do."
Aussies can do it in Europe
Muscat began his managerial career at
Melbourne Victory and following a stint in Belgium took over at 2019 J-League
champions Yokohama last summer after fellow Australian Ange Postecoglou left to
join Scottish giants Celtic.
Muscat took Yokohama to a runner-up finish
last season ahead of Andres Iniesta's Vissel Kobe and after seven games this
term they are second again, having stuck four goals past
champions
Kawasaki Frontale and winning plaudits for their fluid attacking
football.
But more than changing impressions about
himself, Muscat also hopes the same can be said about Australian coaches and he
wants to see more of his countrymen given the chance to manage overseas.
After a slow start in Scotland,
Postecoglou has propelled Celtic above fierce Glasgow rivals Rangers — where Muscat had a
spell as a player — and taken the Bhoys to a League Cup title.
"It's not doing any harm that Ange is
at the forefront of people's minds now and hopefully that transcends,"
said Muscat.
"It's been highlighted because of the
nature and the size of Celtic, but hopefully, over a period of time, more
Australians get opportunities not only in Europe but also in Asia."
Torn emotions
On Thursday, Muscat's two worlds collide
when Australia play Japan in a crucial World Cup qualifier in Sydney. He admits
that he is "a little bit torn".
The Socceroos badly need a win if they are
to secure one of the group's two automatic qualification spots for Qatar and
avoid a potentially hazardous playoff against a
South American side.
In his days as a player Muscat was part of
an Australia team that lost to Uruguay with a place at the 2002 World Cup up
for grabs.
He believes the playoffs will not
"faze" the Socceroos if it comes to that.
"Without doubt it's not going to be
easy, but qualifying for the World Cup shouldn't be easy," he said.
"I'm pretty sure that the belief in the
squad will still be really positive, but it seems that performances have
drained a little bit of confidence from the team."
Muscat has been mentioned as a potential
future Australia manager, having led Melbourne to two A-League championship
titles.
But he is enjoying the "good
challenges" of managing in the J-League and believes the change in
environment "adds more to your armory in the way you coach".
"I haven't found it difficult because I
look upon these things as a challenge," he said of working "90
percent through translators".
"What gets removed is the one-on-one
emotion side of things with the players, but I'm working with a very good
translator and I'm able to transfer as much of the emotion in the conversation
as possible."
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