Victory in Melbourne 

At the halfway mark of the season its nice to be sitting on top of the league after our second win in a row on the road. Much more pleasing was the way the result was achieved and the new attacking mentality of Ernie Merrick, a man not normally known for this attribute. It takes a brave man to send out a team with three strikers on the road, and a much braver coach when you consider two of those three strikers were returning from suspension.

After the Victory weathered the first twenty minutes of intense pressure by the Roar I was fairly confident that we would take out the three points as the Roar looked bereft of ideas in attack. Also our attacking triumvirate was looking extremely dangerous and Ney Fabiano was immense and didn’t look like he had just sat out the last six weeks. Maybe there was also sense of having to prove himself to both the team and the fans after such a long lay off.

Another standout was Billy Celeski whose pinpoint cross lead to the only goal for the game. He was dominant in the fifteen to twenty minutes leading up to the goal and capped it off with that cross. He has really raised his level in the last two weeks when the really needed someone in the midfield to really stamp themselves on the game.

The Victory can go into the mid season break feeling pretty happy with their position on the table considering the number of suspensions that have been accrued on the way. It has been good in recent times that the team has been a lot more disciplined of late and even their yellow card count is down. With this year’s competition being one of the closest, they can’t afford to slip up as they chase the title

Earlier in the day I went and watched the Victory women triumph over Perth Glory 3-0 which sees them sitting third on the ladder with two wins out of three matches, equal on points with both Sydney and Adelaide. This is also the subject of my latest au.fourfourtwo.com blog post, which can be found here.

Usually when Melbourne lose I take the result pretty philosophically, but some reason on Sunday I was pretty grumpy after our 2-0 loss to Queensland. Grumpy because of the way we played and tactics used. Grumpy because of the poor refereeing. Grumpy because one of my favourite players got sent off. And grumpy because I knew I would cop a lot of crap from the number of Roar fans that I know.

I went into the game in a pretty good, especially with the news that Wellington had beaten Sydney. But as I got to the ground and took my seat, it just didn’t feel like it would be our day. Maybe it was because I wasn’t wearing my “lucky hat” from the previous two home games. Who knows.

Tactically I think we got it wrong from the start. Last night’s game clearly showed that Brebner and Lopez can’t play in the same starting line-up. Brebner looked woeful and often got the balls that we have seen Lopez distribute with such efficiency in the previous five rounds. Also the relegation of Berger to the bench seemed a bit odd has been providing plenty of drive on the left.

And then there is Ben Williams, Sydney FC’s favourite referee. Missed a blatant handball in the area and should have carded Tiatto early on for one of his numerous late challenges. It set the tone for the rest of the match. And the Carlos Hernandez send off for a second bookable offence. Player gets his run checked and gets carded for simulation. What about the numerous body checks by Craig Moore all night? For once, I agree with Eamonn’s comments, we don’t need him in the Socceroos lineup.

In my grumpiness I almost forget to mention that it was great to see the Northern Terrace back in almost full voice. They have been missed. They are part of what makes Melbourne the best supported team in the land and hopefully the FFA sees the error of their HEM ways with a show of support such as this. Instead of sitting by myself in future I might actually join them.

I’m not really blaming the ref for the loss (just asking for the removal of the double standards) as in reality we didn’t deserve to win and some credit must go to Queensland for their efforts. I am thinking maybe we should start the game next week with ten men and save the referee the trouble of picking someone to send off because no one likes a grumpy Neil.