Victory in Melbourne 

Earlier this week in my latest 442 blog I proposed that of most concern to Ernie Merrick and his backroom staff in the lead up to last night’s major semi-final first leg was that in 270 minutes of football so far this season against the boys in baby blue we had failed to find the back of the net.

So it was with some relief that when Nik Mrdja scored the opening goal for the Victory that 270 wouldn’t becoming 360 minutes. And then when Carlos Hernandez found the back of the net (captured so spectacularly in the image above) it looked like we would have a handy two goal advantage heading into the second leg. However, it wasn’t to be as supposed Melbourne Heart recruit, John Aloisi found the back of the net via a massive deflection from Kevin Muscat’s outstretched leg.

So I guess having a lead of 2-1 going into the second leg isn’t better than no lead at all although our serious issues with actually putting a striker on the pitch might be of significance after Nik Mrdja’s brain explosion and the resultant red card after elbowing Shannon Cole. Although the incident happened in the goal right in front of me I didn’t actually and have yet to see any replays. It was a stupid thing to do although to be honest I think Cole milked it for all its worth as he seem to get up rather quickly after it all happened. Also of interest is the fact that the linesman from over forty metres away could spot the incident but the one fifteen couldn’t. Linesman astound me sometimes.

Considering the players missing I thought the team put in a pretty solid effort and outplayed Sydney for the most part. Only when we were down to ten men did they really apply any pressure but more often than not it came to nothing. Now we have to have to wait over two weeks for the second leg with our first Asian Champions League match against Beijing Guoan coming up on Tuesday as a taster filler. Hopefully by the next leg (pardon the pun) Archie Thompson or even Robbie Kruse makes some kind of miracle recovery so we don’t end up playing a 4-6-0 formation.

Every wanted to know what happens in the Northern Terrace when Melbourne scores a goal? Here are two short examples from last night’s game against Sydney FC.

Next Sunday looms as one of the biggest games in the very short history of the A-League as Melbourne and Sydney battle it out for the much coveted Premier’s Plate and with it automatic qualification for the ACL.

For Melbourne, who are guaranteed a top two finish and the double chance will be looking to create history and become the first team to win back-to-back premierships. It will be interesting to see how the Victory back up against Sydney, especially in the continued absence of both Thompson and Muscat. Whilst it didn’t seem to effect the team against the Fury, Sydney is definitely a step up in class. Here’s hoping we get a repeat performance from Carlos Hernandez, who was at his brilliant best against the Fury.

It was also good to see Adrian Leijer step up to the plate as he took the captain’s armband for the first time. It suited him and you would have to say he is a frontrunner for the role once Kevin Muscat hangs up his boots.

Digressing a little, last week was certainly a topsy-turvy one and this was my topic of discussion in my latest 442 blog, which you can read here. You will also notice that my blog for 442 as I decided to go with ‘V is for Victory’.

So in the end three wins from three games in six games proved too much for the Melbourne Victory on Friday night. A combination of injuries before the game (Thompson) and during the game (Kruse) made what was going to be a difficult task anyway and much more difficult especially when there was no out-and-out striker to replace them in the squad or on the bench.

Leading up to the game, we were hoping for the free-flowing football of our last encounter at Skilled Park at it looked like we were going to get it with the opening ten minutes a feast of end-to-end football. However former Victory player, Steve Pantelidis put paid to that with his cowardly hit on Robbie Kruse. From then on, the game particularly in the first half degenerated into a slug fest with Kevin Muscat exacting his revenge with an elbow to Jason Culina’s face. Both players will come under investigation, its just a matter of how many weeks they get.

In the end, Gold Coast’s weight of possession told in the second half with a spectacular goal from Zenon Caravella capping it off. As for Melbourne, not having a recognised striker out there on the pitch resulted in very few chances being created as both Hernandez’s and Angulo’s creativity was stifled by their requirement to play as out and out strikers. Even though Nathan Elasi is not having his contract renewed at the end of the season surely it would be worthwhile having him on the bench in lieu of youngster, Aziz Behich.

Any loss of Muscat will probably effect the Victory more than the loss of Pantelidis will do for the Gold Coast as the two teams compete with Sydney for the Premier’s Plate and the automatic ACL qualification. It sure makes for an interesting finish to the season, much like last season and hopefully it will be the same result.

For more of my thoughts on the game and my ponderings as to why Robbie Kruse always seem to be the target for attention, check out my latest 442 blog.

After Saturday night’s win against Adelaide I wrote in my latest blog for 442 that it was one down and two to go in what is the most important week of the season. So I guess after last night’s 4-0 demolition of Wellington Phoenix it is now two down and one to go for the Melbourne Victory. You get the picture.

Last night’s standout performance was from new Costa Rican import, Marvin Angulo. After struggling in his opening game against Newcastle (who wouldn’t struggle after three months of not playing football) he has impressed off the bench in his last two matches and earned himself a starting position against the Phoenix. After a somewhat slow start to the game he steadily worked himself into the play and capped off his performance by setting up Archie Thompson for a goal in his 100th match for the Victory.

Whilst occasionally being knocked off the ball a little too easily (although to his credit in most cases he continued to fight for the ball) and his final shot was a little week it surely was a performance that will have opposition teams a little worried in the final stages of the season. Dare I say, it was a performance reminiscent of a certain Brazilian player from Season 2, whose name we dare not mention.

Looking forward now to the final match of this all important week against Gold Coast United where a win will cement our position in the top two. Before getting ahead of myself it must be noted that the team from up north is definitely a step up in calls from both Adelaide and Wellington and should provided for an absorbing contest. Can’t wait for it.

Don’t forget that Victory In Melbourne can now be found on Facebook and you can become a fan. It’s only just started and there is not much to look at, but you can check it out here and more importantly become a fan.

If you have a read of my minute by minute analysis of Sunday’s game against Newcastle Jets you will probably notice the growing despairs in my writing. Following on from Melbourne’s poor performance against the Fury, two weeks before, you would have expected a much improved performance. However, it wasn’t to be as the Jets classier finishing capitalised on some poor defending and our attacking third looked toothless. For all my thoughts on the game, take out a look at my latest 442 blog, titled “What Is UnMelbourne-Like?”.

In other news, the possible return of Danny Allsopp has many fans salivating at a possible reunion with Archie Thompson and driving Melbourne back to the top of the table. Whilst nothing has been confirmed as yet, it remains an exciting prospect as the current Kruse-Thompson partnership really isn’t working and has been exposed in the last couple of rounds. While it is tad disappointing to see Allsopp quitting Al-Rayyan after only twelve minutes, as Michael Cockerill points out:

It’s not that Allsopp has been a disaster in Qatar - he scored six goals in 12 appearances - it’s just business. Al Rayyan have re-signed Oman international Imad Al Hosni on loan after his failed venture in Belgium, and Allsopp has to make way.

I guess we now have to just sit and wait and see what happens next.

Don’t forget that Victory In Melbourne can now be found on Facebook and you can become a fan. It’s only just started and there is not much to look at, but you can check it out here and more importantly become a fan.

Welcome to Victory In Melbourne’s minute by minute analysis of Melbourne Victory’s clash against the Newcastle Jets at Energy Australia Stadium, kickoff at 5pm AEST.

(Note: This page does not automatically update so you are going have to keep hitting that refresh button to see what’s going on.)

Angulo gets a start in his debut: Mitchell Langerak (gk), Kevin Muscat, Leigh Broxham, Matthew Kemp (c), Archie Thompson, Rodrigo Vargas, Carlos Hernandez, Robbie Kruse, Nick Ward, Adrian Leijer, Marvin Angulo. On the bench: Glenn Moss, Grant Brebner, Tom Pondeljak, Mate Dugandzic

Newcastle Starting XI: Neil Young (gk), Adam D’Apuzzo, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Ljubo Milicevic, Ben Kantarovski, Jin-Hyung Song, Matt Thompson (c), Tarek Elrich, Jobe Wheelhouse, Michael Bridges, Labinot Haliti. On the bench: Ben Kennedy, Sasho Petrovski, Sean Rooney, Ali Abbas. Look for plenty of puns with Neil Young in goals for the Jets. Hopefully he has a heart of gold towards the Victory and lets in a few goals.

2 mins: In the week leading up to this game, Jobe Wheelhouse reckons that South Americans (sic) don’t like to get kicked so he’s going to give Hernandez a few.

5 mins: Langerak pulls off a brilliant save to deny Michael Bridges. An early warning for the Victory.

10 mins: Sloppy opening from both teams early on. No one able to really assert themselves on the game.

13 mins: Can anybody explain to me why the Energy Australia Stadium pitch is in such bad condition? Looks like they have been holding tractor demonstrations.

14 mins: Angulo gets wrongly called offside on the edge of the penalty area denying Melbourne are scoring opportunity. Wheelhouse still yet to get near Hernandez to carry out his promise.

18 mins: Kevin Muscat gets the first yellow card of the game for a flying kick on opposing captain, Matthew Thompson. Probably a tad lucky to still remain on the pitch, it was fairly blatant.

19 mins: How about a bit of variety of the free-kicks, sometimes it pays not to take them quickly. Although looking at Broxham’s delivery they be the best option. Earlier the linesman on the opposite side of the pitch also forgets the rule book and calls Newcastle offside from a throw-in.

22 mins: Kantarovski picks up Newcastle’s first yellow card for an act of petulance.

26 mins: Matt Thompson puts the Jets in front after being set up nicely by Michael Bridges. It begs the question why he was left unmarked that close to goal. Maybe the goal will bring some composure into the Victory game, have been looking a little sloppy so far.

28 mins: Langerak denies Haliti from close range. Another example of some poor defending from the Victory as the Jet’s striker was allowed to much space in the front third.

31 mins: Maybe the Jets have Kruse confused with Hernandez, as the former Roar player has been getting kicked left, right and centre.

33 mins: PENALTY to Melbourne Victory for a blatant shirt tug by Kantarovski on Robbie Kruse in the area. Second yellow for Kantarovski sees him take an early shower and the Jets are down to ten men. Kevin Muscat duly converts the resulting penalty to bring the scores back to level pegging.

36 mins: Yellow card to Michael Bridges for a foul on Leijer. One has to think that Wheelhouse must be giving the team talks instead of Culina.

41 mins: Nick Ward gives us a fine example of the Maradona spin on the edge of the area, unfortunately it comes to nothing. Kruse looking the most dangerous of the Melbourne forwards, with Archie Thompson being rarely sighted.

44 mins: Goal to the Jets as Michael Bridges slips in unmarked at the back post. Another example of some poor defending sees Newcastle take a 2-1 lead. Poor effort by the Victory considering they have the man advantage.

45+2 mins: Matthew Breeze blows the whistle for half-time. Some seriously poor defending has seen the Victory give up to easy goals to the Newcastle Jets. Hopefully, Merrick will give them a good talking to in the half time interval and the second half will see the Victory make the most of their man advantage. The debutant, Marvin Angulo has rarely been in the play so far.

Half-time: A-League website has Melbourne having 71% of the possession. Slight exaggeration of Melbourne’s possession there don’t you think, probably more like 60%. Now to make that possession count. The lovely Mel McLaughlin tells us that Brebner is coming on for Angulo and Sean Rooney will be coming on for Bridges for the Jets. If I was a betting man, I would take Sportsbet up on that $3.25 for the Victory to win.

49 mins: Hernandez gets his first shot on target for the match. Unfortunately its straight at the Jets’ keeper.

51 mins: Melbourne defence again gets caught napping by a beautiful Song cross, fortunately for the Victory Rooney blazes it well over.

54 mins: Kemp robs Song blind and then makes a run into the penalty area that comes to nothing.

55 mins: Goal to Haliti (this guys sure likes to score against the Victory, his third in as many matches). Beautiful volley but again the defending leaves a lot to be desired. Also cops a yellow card for removing his shirt.

58 mins: Andy Harper is blaming Melbourne’s poor form in this match on lethargy from possible intensive training. No excuse really, considering they are a man up.

61 mins: Keep your arms by your side Vargas, that should have been a penalty to the Jets. Melbourne’s chance of taking the premiership could very well hinge on Perth’s performance against Sydney FC in the match following this one.

64 mins: Langerak saves a free Sean Rooney header. If that had gone in, it would have definitely been curtains for the Victory.

65 mins: Yellow card to Leijer for pulling on Matt Thompson’s shirt. Can’t see why he’s complaining about that one really.

72 mins: Simon Hill describes it as a most un-Melbourne like performance. It’s looking very much like Melbourne’s last start performance against the Fury so I guess that makes it two un-Melbourne like performances in a row. Whilst a lot of the blame could be placed at the feet of the defence for the result so far the front third is looking extremely unimaginative. Would have liked to see Nathan Elasi get a game in this one as he provides a different option going forward.

78 mins: Langerak gets down low to deny a Song free-kick that was bent nicely around the wall.

81 mins: Socceroo Matthew Kemp makes way for Mate Dugandzic. Who would have thought that after his relatively poor start for the Victory three seasons again that he would get a Socceroos starting spot.

82 mins: I give Abbas a 2 out of 10 for a dive that took place about fifteen minutes after being fouled.

86 mins: A crowd of 6,979 announced. Most of them who would be pretty happy with what they are seeing. Although there is a good Victory travelling contingent and they definitely wouldn’t be happy with they are seeing.

90+1 mins: GOAL to Hernandez! Probably a little too late you would have to think as Hernandez curls his shot around a despairing Neil Young.

90+3 mins: Matthew Breeze blows the final whistle just as Ali Abbas takes another theatrical dive after clashing with Kevin Muscat. A poor performance from the Victory, especially considering that they had a man advantage for almost an hour. Uninspiring in attack and sloppy in defence and as Simon Hill correctly stated, hands the advantage to Sydney FC in the race for the premiership. Two ordinary performances in a row on the road by the Victory, the home fans will surely be expecting a better home performance next week against Perth Glory.

After what was a successful year for the Melbourne Victory, Saturday night’s performance against the Fury was a disappointing way to end the year. It was a match where the Victory never really looked in the contest and thanks mainly efforts to the efforts of Mitchell Langerak, we were lucky that the damage was not more than the one goal.

For all my thoughts on the game you can check out my latest 442 blog, entitled “The Lost And The Furious”.

Welcome to Victory In Melbourne’s minute by minute analysis of Melbourne Victory’s clash against North Queensland Fury at Dairy Farmers Stadium, kickoff at 9pm AEST.

(Note: This page does not automatically update so you are going have to keep hitting that refresh button to see what’s going on.)

Congratulations to Matthew Foschini on his starting debut. Langerak (gk), Muscat (c), Kemp, Thompson, Vargas, Pondeljak, Foschini, Kruse, Ward, Leijer, Suksomskit. On the bench, Brebner, Moss (gk), Pilkington and Elasi. That’s one attacking starting XI.

8:57pm: Sydney defeat Adelaide 1-0, meaning that the Victory need to win to stay on top of the table.

Starting XI for the Fury. Pasfield (gk), Middelby, Tadrosse, Spagnuolo, Fowler (c), Brockie, Busch, Grossman, Daal, Smith, G., Smith, M. On the bench: Henderson (gk), McBreen, Kohler, Cooke

3 mins: Langerak almost gifts the Fury a golden opportunity as he looks to escort the ball out of bounds. Not long after Busch puts in one of the most ordinary tackles you will ever see. Lucky not to pick up a card.

7 mins: Very scrappy opening with neither team holding possession for more than a few seconds.

9 mins: First shot for the Victory with a long range effort from Pondeljak that goes well wide.

10 mins: Middleby makes some good space for himself in the penalty area but his shot is straight at Langerak.

12 mins: Thompson picks up a free kick in a dangerous position after being fouled by Spagnuolo. Free kick taken by Sutsomkit, cleared by the Fury.

15 mins: Muscat puts a brilliant through ball to Kruse, but Pasfield was out quickly to deny any scoring opportunity. Melbourne starting to get on top.

18 mins: Vargas almost puts the ball into the back of his own net after a somewhat innocuous clearance. Langerak breathing a definite sigh of relief.

24 mins: Muscat cops a Jeremy Brockie drive straight in the head. Like the true champion he is, just gets up and keeps playing.

28 mins: Langerak makes a brilliant save to deny Jeremy Brockie after the ball takes a deflection off Vargas.

31 mins: Goal to North Queensland Fury as Dyron Daal puts it past Langerak. You could almost see that one coming. Melbourne certainly have some work to do having barely touched the ball in the last five to ten minutes.

39 mins: Melbourne currently playing without a midfield at the moment and is a key reason why they aren’t creating any decent chances on goal.

40 mins: Vargas puts a header wide of the mark after getting free of his marker at a corner. Will definitely be disappointed that he didn’t find the back of the net with that effort.

45 mins: That’s the first half done and dusted. It has been a disappointing performance so far by the Victory and it’s definitely time for one of those half-time sprays from Ernie Merrick.

46 mins: Grant Brebner comes on for Sutee Suksomkit at the break. Hopefully that brings some steel to the Melbourne midfield. It also means the last appearance for Suksomkit in Victory colours as his loan spell comes to an end.

47 mins: Thompson forces a save out of Pasfield after being put through by Kruse.

50 mins: Plenty of free kicks going the way of the Victory at the start of the second half as they look to impose themselves on the game.

51 mins: I give Daal 5 out of 10 for that dive. Very lucky not see himself going into the book for that one and didn’t Muscat let Peter Green know about it as well.

56 mins: Green misses a fairly obvious handball in the box after Thompson looks to fire a ball across the penalty area. Must be the week for referees missing handballs, but to Melbourne’s credit they didn’t actually appeal for a penalty unlike the Mariners. Wouldn’t mind seeing Elasi getting a run about now. Could definitely cause some problems to the Fury defence.

60 mins: Daal somehow manages to beat three Melbourne defenders but thankfully doesn’t get his shot on target.

66 mins: Langerak makes a crucial block to deny Brockie. After an early period of dominance by the Victory, the Fury are well and truly back in the swing of things and causing some headaches for the Melbourne defence. This performance is very reminiscent of efforts against Perth in recent seasons.

71 mins: Time to give Kruse a rest, his first touch for most of the second half has been woeful. Merrick replaces Foschini with Football Superstar winner, Luke Pilkington. Not the change I would have made.

75 mins: Melbourne’s continual use of the long ball is starting to look a little predictable with no real chances ever being created from them as the Fury defence clean them up time after time.

78 mins: Pondeljak, who has largely been ineffectual tonight, has been replaced by Elasi. On another note, how are we losing to a team that has Beau Busch playing for it.

87 mins: Rather tame effort from Elasi leaves Pasfield with an easy save. Game has rather petered out with both teams not producing any real highlights - it’s also probably the reason why I haven’t added anything for nearly ten minutes.

89 mins: Contrary to what Messrs Cockerill and Harper just said, McBreen did make a play at the ball as he run right passed it and was like only two feet away from the ball. It may sound like sour grapes, but our two esteemed were definitely against the Victory right from the get go.

90 mins: Three minutes of added time, it looks likes Melbourne will surrender it’s lead to the boys in baby blue. But we do have a game in hand.

90+3 mins: And there goes the final whistle. A disappointing performance from the Victory where we never really looked that threatening in the final third of the pitch. Certainly missed the influence of Hernandez in the midfield as without him it was pretty much non-existent. Definitely not the way we wanted to finish off 2009, especially surrendering the league lead to Sydney.

Whilst it was disappointing not to take all three points against the boys in baby blue on Saturday night the fact that there wasn’t a repeat of our last encounter was very welcoming as was the maintaining of our three point buffer at the top of the table.

What was really disappointing was the actions of a small minority of Melbourne fans who thought it was cool to be a hool’ and caused some some problems both before and after the game. For my full thoughts on this issue, you can read my latest 442 blog.

As for the game itself, Archie Thompson was immense creating numerous chances for both himself and his team-mates. However, unlike recent games, the goal of Clint Bolton lead a charmed life and the back of the net could not be found. Other standouts on the night were Matthew Kemp, who is in career best form, and Nick Ward who seemed to be everywhere and was providing that all important link between defence and attack. Ward has been a real revelation since returning to the squad and his form will be all important in the lead up to the finals campaign.