Wind the clocks back to the end of 2016, captain Carl Valeri and coach Kevin Muscat were forced to defend their veteran striker after enduring criticism last season.

Berisha has scored 14 goals for Victory in the A-League this season in 27 games and his critics have questioned the Kosovan this season. 

The Big V are coming off a stirring 3-2 extra-time semi-final win over Sydney FC last week and the Kosovan admitted winning his fourth championship would be a sweet feeling after copping it in the past two seasons.

“I don’t want to say it’s rubbish, I want to say sometimes you cannot win as a player,” Berisha said on Thursday.

“If you score three goals in a game, they say ‘it’s selfish’, if you don’t score at all, they say ‘it’s not good’, if you score 113 goals, they say ‘ah, he just thinks for himself’, so you cannot win. 

“I just keep doing my job, the way I’m doing it, I’m very happy I’m playing my fifth Grand Final. 

“For me, it’s really important that a lot of people don’t see I’m working really hard on the field. 

“I’m trying and I delivered a great assist in Sydney even if I didn’t score. A lot of people don’t see that, for me, it’s really important I do my job and do what’s important for the club and team.

“I’m just really very grateful to have an opportunity to play a Grand Final as a footballer, it doesn’t come a long way, maybe once, maybe twice and you don’t know when it’s coming again.

“You do everything. I don’t take anything for granted, finals are my life, they’re my games, I love these games. I want to be ready for my club and my team.”

Victory had a slow start to season 2017/18 and Berisha said their resilience helped them get to the Grand Final.

“It shows we never give up, we have a great atmosphere and mentality through the group,” he said.

“We had a tough season this year, we got tested, we stood tall and now we are in the Grand Final. In many aspects of the game, we got tested this year - injuries, red cards, Champions League and a lot of traveling.

“We stood tall and stood together. It’s a great feeling to have this momentum in the team and it’ll help us in the final.”