Melbourne Victory are fifth on the A-League ladder, but have lost their last three matches - including a 3-1 defeat to Sydney FC, and a 2-1 loss against cellar-dwellars Brisbane Roar.

Speaking to Foxsports, former A-League coach and Socceroo John Kosmina said Muscat needed to change his coaching style to secure Victory success.

“Kevin needs to get angry again,” he said.

“He’s changed his persona a little bit, I think he’s settled things down, he’s not as volatile on the bench as he was in his first couple of years of coaching.

“He doesn’t prowl around the technical area like he used to.”

“We’ve seen him sometimes really fire up and I think he needs … to actually get a little bit cranky and give those players a bit of a kick up the backside because he’s the manager,” he said.

“Managers, they’re the easy target — the players need to take responsibility and at the moment, I don’t know if Kevin’s players are actually giving him the support that he needs.”

Speaking on the same program, Mark Bosnich said Victory were in a "mini-crisis".

“For me, they’re in a mini-crisis and have been for some time and losing three games on the trot now, for a big club, is coming up to the Asian Champions League — put it this way, they’re on the nose,” he said.

“For me … Kevin, it’s time for some urgency."

Victory now enter an A-League break until February 24 - when they'll face a strong-performing Adelaide United - for an Asian Champions League doubleheader against K-League club Ulsan Hyundai and CSL club Shanghai East Asia.