Victory in Melbourne 

Much like during a match, Melbourne Victory has made a like for like substitution as they replaced the soon-to-be departing Robbie Kruse with now former Brisbane Roar striker, Jean Carlos Solarzano.

Solarzano, who when he joined Brisbane Roar was described by Carlos Hernandez as better than Archie Thompson, brings our contingent of Costa Ricans to three although with some doubt over the future of Marvin Angulo that number could very well change. But they way we are going we should change our name to Melbourne Ticos FC.

Whilst some question the reasoning behind making player signings when we haven’t found a replacement for the Ernie Merrick but with a player like Solarzano becoming available I believe it was a smart move to pick him up when he became available for two reasons. The first being his existing relationship with the aforementioned Carlos Hernandez which was instrumental in the move plus secondly it stopped Melbourne Heart from making a play for him.

As impressive as the Brisbane Roar were last year I was particularly impressed by the efforts of Solarzano who managed not only to score crucial goals against us in two of our encounters but also in many other matches for the Roar. He is more than an adequate replacement for Kruse who will depart the scene for Bundesliga 2 side, Fortuna Dusseldorf at the conclusion of the group stages of our ACL campaign.

Now I would like to see no more signings until a new manager is signed so they are given a chance to finish off the squad exactly to their liking. It’s not like the start of the new season is going to come round in a hurry is it now.

The title pretty much says it all and I’m not just talking about the performance against Adelaide. It also applies to their performance against the Wellington Phoenix on the preceding Wednesday as well. Never have I seen the Victory play such ordinary football in consecutive matches.

And the common denominator in both matches was Melbourne’s inability to get control in the all important midfield battle. This meant the defensive was always under constant pressure and the strikers weren’t getting enough of the ball. The Victory always plays well when they get can serious amount of midfield possession but both Adelaide and Wellington didn’t allow this to happen and when they did get possession it was often coughed up too quickly. Chief amongst the culprits was Billy Celeski, who hasn’t looked the player that he was before his knee construction. Whilst he hasn’t suffered the recurring injuries of both Thompson and Kemp, his form has definitely suffered and it would wise for Merrick to give him a couple of weeks break.

That all being said the Victory have certainly missed the presence of both Kruse and Thompson in attack with the combination of Danny Allsopp and Ricardinho yet to hit its straps as one would expect and maybe we as fans are expecting too much. Let’s hope they can both find some form against Sydney this weekend because another loss could spell disaster with teams like Melbourne Heart, Wellington Phoenix and Newcastle Jets all breathing down our neck for a finals position. What was looking like a comfortable finals finish a couple of matches ago has all of a sudden looked a tad precarious. What is of concern is those losses weren’t valiant losses, they were terrible, ugly losses and that more importantly needs to be rectified.

In my last post I stated that I our two matches over the Christmas/New Year period would surely define our season and went as far as to say that two wins would be perfect and the team duly delivered. Those two wins against both Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners made it four wins in a row and seven games unbeaten for the Victory. With a match tonight against the Wellington Phoenix there is every opportunity to make it five in a row.

With Robbie Kruse being absent for the next month with the Socceroos Asian Cup squad and Archie Thompson still out through injury it will be interesting to see if we contain our recent scoring record. The striking responsibilities now lie with Ricardinho and the returning Danny Allsopp, a combination that has yet to see pitch time together and fans will be hoping that they can gel quickly as the Victory look to maintain their recent momentum. It will be key in the team’s charge to a higher ladder position.

With 2010 coming to an end I have taken the opportunity to undertake my annual review in my latest piece for Australian FourFourTwo, which you can read here. Let’s hope 2011 is a better one for Victory fans than the previous one.

Something extremely rare happened on Saturday night, rare in the fact that up until the final whistle blew, us Victory fans had yet to see a consecutive win so far this season.

Two-thirds into the season and we are finally seeing some consistency in the performances from the team of the blue half of town. Unfortunate as it was to draw against the Roar two weeks ago, the performance has certainly appeared to provide the necessary impetus in the following two matches that give us fans some hope of a decent finals campaign.

However, just as it seems that the “two steps forward, three steps back” nature of our season might have come to an end, injuries to the recently returned Thompson and Kemp might kill off any momentum that may have been building. It has been no coincidence that the consistency that we crave has come when those two have been on the pitch.The return of Kemp has forced Merrick to do away with the somewhat disastrous idea of trying to fit the triumvirate of Muscat, Vargas and Leijer into a back four. With Kemp again forced back to the treatment table, how Merrick reacts will also be paramount. If he returns to the setup at the back that we saw before the return of Kemp, then it is obvious lessons haven’t been learnt.

A number of weeks back, in one of my pieces for Australian FouFourTwo I called for Marvin Angulo to get regular game time in order to see whether he could contribute effectively to the team. Merrick seems to have heeded my advice, with the slight Costa Rican starting the last five matches and finally showing on the pitch what everyone has been raving about on the training ground. His tireless running and his link between the back and front thirds has now made him a certain starter for the remainder of the season. He has impressed so much that he has appeared to have attracted the attention of teams in the MLS.

In all the hubbub surrounding the return of Thompson and the free-scoring ways of Robbie Kruse, many have forgotten that Ricardinho is still around and his return on Saturday night in the context of things it will be crucial how quickly he fits back into the team and can feed off the confidence of those around him.

Our next two encounters against the Jets and the Mariners will surely define the direction in which we will be heading in 2011, particularly when it comes to the month of February. Two wins would be perfect, two draws would be okay, two losses would be disastrous. What it will be though is season defining.

It’s not often I get on my soapbox, but with all the kerfuffle surrounding Friday night’s clash against Adelaide United and more specifically “that” tackle by Surat Sukha. Whilst I could have used my usual blog for Australian FourFourTwo to cover this issue I felt that it had it already been done to death and thus saw no need to go over old ground. But a tweet today from SBS analyst, Craig Foster really got under my skin. Foster who has recently started using his twitter account, wrote:

Match review panel v sukha - red card offence. Give automatic 1 match ban. No place for late/high tackle in game

My response for which I received no reply at this stage:

@Craig_Foster Why no comment on Paul Reid’s equally poor tackle on Billy Celeski? Bias because #Leckie is next big thing!

And that is my main beef with this issue. Whilst I will admit that Sukha’s tackle was late and clumsy and may have been worth a red card at worst and at least a yellow card the outrage that it has generated seems a little over the top. We all know Matthew Leckie is a great talent and his absence from the A-League will be sorely missed but has the reaction been a little superfluous because many consider Leckie to be Australian football’s next big things.

As a number fans have pointed out (and not just Melbourne Victory fans) Paul Reid’s cynical challenge on Billy Celeski during the second half for which he received a yellow card has received no attention whatsoever. Nor has a clumsy attempt by the aforementioned Leckie to put his studs into Robbie Kruse’s knee before his own incident. Why have these incidents received no attention? The answer is quite simply the players involved aren’t the current darlings of the Australian football media.

If we are going to highlight dangerous tackles in key moments of games, let’s not focus on what incident because it suits our purposes but let’s bring them all to light no matter who is involved. Because at the end of the day no one wants to see anyone player get hurt whether they be from their own team or from the opposition.

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.

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.

Well you can’t accuse the Melbourne Victory hierachy of resting on their laurels. Only days after losing two key players earlier in the week, the Victory announced the signings of Brisbane Roar’s Robbie Kruse and promoted youth player Mate Dugandzic.

Kruse, who has a reputation for spending more time in the bars of Fortitude Valley than on the training pitch, is a surprise addition to the squad. Not a really a direct replacement for Allsopp but a handy acquisition nonetheless, as long as we can keep him away from King Street.

Dugandzic, on the other hand has caught the eye of a number of fans through his performances for the Melbourne Knights in the Victorian Premier League. He did spend a year with Dinamo Zagreb and by all accounts impressed with his performances whilst on loan at NK Lokomotiva Zagreb. A player for the future one would think, but definitely a chance of getting some game time this season.