Tony Merakis: “It’s a very ambitious season, we will do everything to win”

By Theo Athans

Box Hill United are gearing up for a vital 2024 season where they look to improve on their eighth place finish last time round.

Senior Men’s Head Coach Tony Merakis and Assistant Coach Andrew Cartanos recently gave insight into the current squad’s pre-season – from the overall look at the list, as well as what the goals are on the pitch internally at the club.

Pre-season has been a very busy one as usual with many trialists to look at and returning players getting back to full fitness. There are many changes have been made from the 2023 campaign that fans can be excited about it.

Tony Merakis is set to enter his first full season in charge.

Merakis has a selection headache with a young squad that is showing a lot of promise, in what has been a very progressive pre-season. He explained the current squad situation, how it’s coming together and talked about any standouts so far in pre-season.

“The squad is almost complete and it’s shaping up really nicely with the season approaching,” he said.

“There are no injuries currently which is always nice, and I can say it’s certainly going in the right direction. The aim is to finish as high as we can with a young squad in front of us.

“All my players are standing out at the moment, and it’ll be very difficult this season regarding selection. We don’t like to single any players out in pre-season –  they are all going extremely well, and it looks like the squad has a lot of depth.”

Box Hill United will no doubt only have their sights set on moving up after a rollercoaster campaign. With this young squad, there is no doubt that development and growth are important goals, but Tony and Andrew have set higher expectations on the field.

“For Andrew and I it’s a very ambitious season, we will do everything to win and the squad is definitely looking to do that and achieve our goals,” Merakis added.

Tony Merakis and Andrew Cartanos will link up to deliver an exciting brand of football.

Assistant Coach Andrew Cartanos, who is enjoying his first ever preseason as a coach, had a message for the Box Hill fans on what to expect out of this group of players as we get closer to the start of the season.

“The fans can look forward to watching an exciting, fast-paced brand of football first and foremost,” he said.

“The way Tony has set up this squad we aren’t here to play ugly football, we are here to play attractive football for everyone and most importantly for the result.”

“Everyone involved in the club can be excited about winning because that’s our mentality going into 2024.”

Box Hill United are aiming high, and it looks like the team is definitely set to take on whatever challenges come their way in 2024.

It’s shaping up to be an exciting season on the pitch for Box Hill United.