Victory in Melbourne 

Since Melbourne Victory’s rather insipid performance Melbourne Heart on the weekend much has been said about structure and formation with every Tom, Dick and Harry (including myself) having a crack at what we think Mehmet Durakovic should do in terms of formation. In light of this I thought I would share with you all a comparison of what happened on Saturday night and my possible solution

Melbourne Victory formation vs. Melbourne Heart (22 Oct 2011)*

Victory In Melbourne’s possible future Melbourne Victory formation

* NB. A cow has been has used as a symbol of how much space we left in the midfield, and is no way a reflection on Carlos Hernandez’s weight

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.

With the news this week that Melbourne Heart have been sniffing around Season 2 Grand Final hero and current DC United player, Fred and already having former Victory players Mate Dugandzic and Aziz Behich on their books I thought I would help the red and white boys out. I’ve compiled a list of former Victory players and the clubs (not including those at A-League clubs) they currently play for in the off chance that may be available for them for the upcoming season. I mean you wouldn’t want to think outside the box would you.

Mark Byrnes (APIA Leichhardt)
Geoffrey Claeys (retired)
Steve Pantelidis (Bintang Medan)
Michael Ferrante (Richmond)
Andy Vlahos (Hume City)
Carl Recchia (South Melbourne)
Simon Storey (Green Gully)
Richard Kitzbichler (retired)
Chris Tadrosse (Bonnyrigg White Eagles)
Ricky Diaco (Oakleigh Cannons)
Ramazan Tavanscioglu (Oakleigh Cannons)
Fred (DC United)
Adrian Caceres (Heidelberg United)
James Robinson (Oakleigh Cannons)
Antun Kovacic (Richmond)
Peter Gavalas (Heidelberg United)
Claudinho (Funorte Esporte Clube)
Alessandro (Neftçi)
Steven Pace (Hume City)
Ney Fabiano (Chonburi FC)
Marvin Angulo (CS Herediano)
Daniel Vasilevski (South Melbourne)
Geoff Kellaway (uncontracted)
Nathan Elasi (Bonnyrigg White Eagles)
Jose Luis Lopez (Deportivo Saprissa)
Mathew Theodore (Dandenong Thunder)
Sutee Suksomkit (Bangkok Glass)
Leandro Love (Portuguesa)
Mitchell Langerak (Borussia Dortmund)
Robbie Kruse (Fortuna Dusseldorf)

The cheque for my services is in the mail.

One derby down, two to go. One can hope that in the remaining two meetings of the two Melbourne teams that the Victory put in a much more spirited effort than the one we saw on Friday night. Not only were we outplayed for large parts of the contest but that usual Victory fighting spirit was absent. In many ways it was reminiscent of our 3-0 loss to Sydney on home turf last season. For more of my thoughts on the game make sure that you have a look at my latest blog for Australian FourFourTwo.

We may have had to wait an extra week for it, but the excitement is definitely building for the A-League’s first ever intracity derby. With the announcement today that the game has sold out, it is definitely going to be a spectacle to remember. Hopefully it is a match that lives up to the hype and is a pointer to all future encounters for both teams. For more of my thoughts on the derby, take a look at my first ever blog for Soccerlens, a site for which I will be making semi-regular contributions throughout the season.

It may still be well over a week away, but people are getting exciting about the first ever Melbourne A-League derby. That excitement may have something to do with the release of tickets to the general public, most of which would be Melbourne Victory fans considering it’s classed as a Heart home game.

I, myself picked up my tickets for the much anticipated clash on Monday afternoon. Usually I would be getting tickets in the Melbourne Active Support Areas, but due partly to going to the match with a number of people who are casual observers and the fact of where the Melbourne Victory active support would actual be located meant that I just got the cheapest reserved ticket I could find in what is classed as the “Away Supporters” section.

Whilst I am on the topic of active support there has been much consternation amongst the Victory’s active support at the amount of seating available for the club’s very large contingent of supporters. For an excellent summary and comment on the situation I would highly recommend having a look at this blog on Australian FourFourTwo, which is already causing much discussion.

If you are interested in what I had to say about the Victory’s 0-0 draw with the North Queensland Fury, check out my latest effort for Australian FourFourTwo.

Football Federation Australia today released the fixture for the 2010/11 season and surprise, surprise Melbourne Victory play Sydney FC in the first round. This will be the fifth time in a row that Melbourne will have played Sydney and quite frankly I’m getting a little sick of the sight of them. I know that the powers that be always like to have the two teams who have played off for the title play the first game of the season but considering that we played each other four times in the space of six weeks at the end of last season surely warrants a change. I would have much preferred to see a Melbourne derby to start off the season. Other interesting points to note from the new fixture are:

• Melbourne’s first game at AAMI Park will be against Perth Glory, who coincidentally were the first team to play the Victory at Olympic Park in the first season;
• The first Melbourne derby takes place on October 2, 2010 with Melbourne Heart being the home team. I wonder how the seating arrangements will be for that one;
• Melbourne Victory don’t get a “weekend break” until Round 16, whilst both Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners get two in that time;
• The second Melbourne derby of the season unfortunately takes place on the weekend of my girlfriend’s birthday. Again it is a Melbourne Heart home game;
• Melbourne plays four midweek games against Wellington Phoenix, the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets with only one of them being an away game (Wellington);
• The third Melbourne derby will be played at Etihad Stadium. Are they forgetting that for the first two derbies Victory supporters will also be attending?
• Last game of the season is against Adelaide United at the Adelaide Oval. Pencil in three points for that one.

Australia’s No.1 Newspaper today is reporting that Melbourne will have a second elite football for the 2010-11 A-League season. And as the article quite rightly points out all it needs now

“is a name, colours, a coach and manager, some players, a ground, a chief executive, staff and a fan base.”

And it’s the final one that may prove the most difficult with the Melbourne Victory well entrenched in the Melbourne market. There has been talk of marketing themselves to the South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, but in all honesty I can’t see that working that well. But first things first they must ditch the Melbourne Heart tag and get themselves a decent name and then they can really start looking for fans.

Some may question whether or not Melbourne can handle having two football teams and that the supporter bases may be diluted. In response to that I have the following five words - sporting capital of the world.

So finally, in the word’s of Torrance Shipman, “Bring It On!”

I was asked to comment in my previous post about the announcement last week that the FFA has become talks with a consortium to create a second Melbourne team for the 2010/11 A-League season. I provided a brief response but I thought I would elaborate.

Initially I was skeptical of the idea of a second team in Melbourne, mainly because there was probably other areas in Australia that could be better served by an A-League team rather than create a second team here in Melbourne. But after some thought I personally can’t wait for the inclusion of a second team in Melbourne. The A-League in order to continue to grow needs to great some serious rivalries. Whilst Melbourne Victory has fairly intense rivalries with Sydney and Adelaide - a city rival would be so much better. I can’t wait for the sold out crowds that will surely be the envy of all other states.

I’m not too sold on the name “Melbourne Heart” but it is my understand that this is just a consortium name and is more likely to Melbourne City or Melbourne United. And as for colours for the proposed new team - I reckon they should be red. Why red you may ask? When you think of all the city rivalries around the world, more often than there is a red half and a blue half. Think of Liverpool and Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City, AC Milan and Internazionale, Lazio and Roma and Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich just to name a few.

My only concern with a second team in Melbourne is their proposed target. With the Victory already well established as one of the best supported teams in the country it will be initially difficult for the new team to attract their own audience. Their has been talk of this team targetting or basing themselves in the ever expanding south eastern suburbs of Melbourne. For me I don’t believe this is a wise move, they should just aim to be an alternative to the Melbourne Victory.

Bring on 2010 I say - I can’t wait for the derby games. Plus it gives me the opportunity to go and watch football every weekend.