Victory in Melbourne 

If you have been living under a rock or in Canberra like myself* you may have not realised that Melbourne Victory was back in action for the 2012-13 as it played its first preseason friendly on Tuesday night against State League 1 side Port Melbourne Sharks. A match which they won 2-1.

It was of course Ange Postecoglou’s first game in charge and with expectations high it was interesting to follow from afar the comments of fans as to how they were playing under the tutelage of the former Queensland Brisbane Roar manager. Overall it appears that there was much to be pleased about and at this early stage it is already a marked improvement on the debacle that was last season. Of course you get those who expect us to be already playing like Barcelona or at the very least like Brisbane Roar of the last two seasons. But with such a high turnover from last season and a lot of new faces expecting instant result is just plain ludicrous. It would be like myself playing a few hands on OnlinePoker.com and then thinking I could match it in a high stakes tournament. In fact I would be surprised if the Victory were to be playing the style Ange wants consistently by the middle of the season.

With new recruit Marcos Flores yet to arrive in the country due to visa issues much attention was focused on new recruits Guilherme Finkler and Jonathan Bru and by all accounts their unofficial debuts were impressive with the Brazilian Finkler picking up the opening goal. Of course the arrival of Flores is much anticipated, especially by myself as it will go a long way to filling the void in both my heart and the hearts of many Victory fans left by the departure of Carlos Hernandez. It will also mean that I won’t feel so guilty about salivating over an opposition player as I did during Flores’ time at Adelaide United. It will be interesting to see how he fits into Ange’s system and in fact I look forward to seeing what Ange’s system actually looks like whether it be in the flesh or on the television, which is more likely the case.

The Port Melbourne match was the first in a series of five friendlies against VPL and State League opposition over the next five weeks and I will be looking forward to hearing how the team progresses towards the start of the new season and for those actually attend those games it would be good to hear some feedback first hand in boring lonely ol’ Canberra (aka the place without an A-League side).

* - I actually knew the game was on.

Whilst it was all well and good that Melbourne kept its fourth clean sheet in a row, what was more concerning that it was the third game in a row in which the team failed to find the back of the net. One key factor in the failure of Carlos Hernandez to find the back of the net so far this season, something that he managed to do thirteen times last season.

Whilst critics and fans alike like to assume it is because he is carrying extra weight in my opinion it down to having to carry the weight of expectation of a season like the last one, especially in the continued absence of Archie Thompson. In my latest blog for Australian FourFourTwo I take those critics and fans to task, especially those who constantly question is weight and fitness.

As for the game itself, it was pretty riveting 0-0 draw. However that being said, I can’t actually remember either of the keepers having to make any crucial saves, especially Michael Petkovic. With the absence of Brebner through injury it was pleasing to see Merrick give Marvin Angulo given a full ninety minutes in which to strut his stuff. And the Costa Rican midfielder didn’t let him down, playing his best game so far for the club. If he gets regular game time, his confidence will grow and hopefully take some of that pressure of his fellow countryman.

On a slightly different note, I have also started contributing to Sam Kelly’s excellent blog about Argentinian football, Hasta El Gol Siempre in his weekly segment entitled Argentine’s Abroad. Whilst the Victory doesn’t contain any Argentinians I will be updating the readers of Hasta El Gol Siempre on the weekly exploits of Adelaide United’s Marcos Flores and Central Coast Mariners’ Patricio Perez.