Victory in Melbourne 

It was with some irony that Melbourne Victory’s first home win of the season coincided with the first home game of the season that I was unable to attend due to a clash with a Grand Final that my futsal team* was playing.

Whilst it was a win that came at the end of probably the most tumultuous weeks in the short history of Melbourne Victory one must remember that this a win against a side sitting bottom of the ladder and with the worst defensive record in the league. It was also a game where the Victory when cruising at 2-0 up endeavoured to do their best to actually lose the game. First up, veteran Rodrigo Vargas decided he wanted an early shower with a two-footed challenge on the half-way line with a little over thirty minutes gone on the clock. To say Vargas should have known better is a massive understatement with the incident giving Gold Coast United the incentive to claw their way back into the game. This was followed by a rather soft penalty (it was a penalty just the Victory’s first two goals were penalties) on the stroke of half time which gave Gold Coast some much need momentum going into the second half.

Shortly after the break some lax defending saw Gold Coast equalise and you could almost hear the collective groan coming from AAMI Park in my lounge room as fans watched the team again throw away another two goal lead. Fortunately for the Victory they had come up against a team that quite clearly doesn’t know how to win and even with all of Miron Bleiberg’s so-called tactical genius couldn’t find that all important third goal against a Victory side that had gone to rabble following Vargas’ sending off. It seemed as if the home side suddenly realised that opponents didn’t have both the manpower or the will to actually win the game as both Carlos Hernandez and Archie Thompson rolled back the years (to be fair to Thompson, he’s been in outstanding form all season) and created a number of chances before the two combined for the winner in the 79th minute. Who would have thought that Hernandez could out jump three opponents.

Whilst one win doesn’t a title challenge make one pleasing aspect was the form of Billy Celeski, who looked more than the player of three seasons ago rather than the shadow of a player that existed since his return from a knee reconstruction. Whilst Ernie Merrick might have turned him into one of the best defensive midfielders of that title winning season, it seemed on a Sunday that Celeski relished a more attacking role, one that he was more accustomed to before arriving in our fair town. The result was a much more confident display than we have seen in at least one and a half seasons or maybe it just taken him that long to get over what was a quite a serious knee injury.

Next up is a clash with the Newcastle Jets, a team against which the Victory notoriously struggle against especially on their home turf. If Durakovic has indeed turned the season around then next week is surely a true test as to whether that is really the case.

* - for the record my futsal team lost the Grand Final 7-6 in extra time.

To label the A-League off season interminable is somewhat of an understatement but never fear we are only days away from the action kicking off. In light of that I finally got around to writing a season preview for The Elastico, the first part part of which you can read here. All I can say is that I’m glad I left Newcastle for the second part.

So we have come to the end the sixth season of the Melbourne Victory. A season full of dramas and momentous occasions that didn’t turn exactly how we all hoped and expected. With the somewhat enforced retirement of Kevin Muscat an era within the club has also come to an end.

Amongst all the accusations, persecutions and celebrations there were a number of highlights, including:

• The first Melbourne derby was despite the outcome was one of the momentous occasions of the season with the atmosphere being one that hasn’t been witnessed in the A-League before.
• The form of Marvin Angulo in the last couple of months has been a revelation. In fact one might go as far to say he is now the most important Costa Rican in the team. With the end of his loan period coming to an end it would be paramount that the Victory hierarchy ensure that his stay is a much longer one.
• With concerns over an aging backline it was extremely pleasing to see Petar Franjic come through and show enough to signal that he will be a regular starter come the next A-League season.
• Combining architectural innovation with an impeccable surface AAMI Park truly stamped itself as one of the best purpose built rectangular stadiums in the country.

We now have the Asian Champions League to look forward to but if you want to read some thoughts regarding our final loss, check out my latest blog for Australian FourFourTwo.

It may be Thursday and the next round’s game fast approaching but I thought it would be still be an opportune time to point everyone in the direction of my latest effort for 442. After three weeks of talking points, there wasn’t too much to talk about in relation to Sunday’s win over Gold Coast United and that was the subject of my blog. Basically it was a blog about nothing, in other words, a Seinfeld blog.

The week also saw the departure of Nick Ward as headed over the Tasman to try his luck with the Wellington Phoenix. Clearly out of favour with the Victory hierarchy it was looking rather desperate for the former Perth Glory man and a trip over the ditch may be the best thing for him. I remember when he first joined the Victory during our tumultuous third season and almost inspired us to an unlikely finals campaign. His contributions during our double-winning season of 2008/09 were again notable and many will hold dear that goal he scored against Sydney FC in that memorable 3-2 win. However, it was contribution or lack thereof during the 2009/10 season and subsequent ACL campaign that put many fans and ultimately the coaching staff offside. All in all it was a disappointing end to a Victory career that promised so much.

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.

I have just recently finished reading Eduardo Galeano’s seminal piece on football, “Football In Sun And Shadow” (proper review to follow soon). Galeano’s writing provided me with the inspiration for my latest 442 blog, particularly Galeano’s analogy that the goal is football’s orgasm.

The combination of Melbourne’s great play and closeness of the fans created a heady mix that surely will have fans wanting more. It will be interesting to see if the stadium management will again bring the seats in again for our next home game. Being that the next home game is against Sydney surely you would want that atmosphere again.

The North/South/East/West chant brought memories of our last every home game at Olympic Park against the now defunct New Zealand Knights. Coincidentally it was the game that wrapped at the premiership for that season.

Now can we have that every week? That is the quality football combined with the increased atmosphere. I can only hope so.

The good teams always seem to bring the best out of the Victory boys and Saturday night’s game against Gold Coast was no different. And with the new boys looking to knock us of perch it was great to see Melbourne play some of its best football of the season. Much has been said about Kevin Muscat’s penalty that ultimately handed Melbourne the three points and you can read what I have to say about the decision in my latest 442 blog. No point repeating it here. But I must say, sucked in Gold Coast!

No question about it, better than anything that Robbie Fowler has or will offer this season. Quite frankly, best goal in the history of the A-League. Not that I am biased at all.