Enough is enough. Ever since Kevin Muscat decided it was appropriate to perpetrate that tackle on Adrian Zahra the Australian football media has gone into a self-perpetuating frenzy reminiscent of a school of sharks that have just happened upon a large school of baitfish. Not only has Muscat come under fire but also coach Ernie Merrick and the club itself. Leading the charge has been the self-appointed guardian of football in this country, SBS’ The World Game.
Let me get one thing clear, I am not condoning Muscat’s actions and in fact I have labelled the tackle as one of the worst I have ever seen. In my latest blog for Australian FourFourTwo I have even gone as far as to say that Muscat’s time is well and truly up. Apart from those who resorted to cheap insults most of the comments were fairly positive. However, it seems that the Sydney-based The World Game machine has gone into overdrive in its attempt to sink the boot into anyone involved with Melbourne Victory. They are the self-appointed leaders of the lynch mob.
One particular comment that particularly got me riled was Francis Awaritefe’s assertion that the Victory has an inherent “culture of violence”, a phrase he claims to have coined after Muscat was sent off against Adelaide just over two weeks ago and which he repeated on The World Game on Monday night. When asked to expand on this he cites Surat Sukha’s unfortunate tackle on Matthew Leckie earlier this year. To compare Sukha’s tackle to Muscat’s tackle is to use an old cliché like comparing apples with oranges. Sure they were both bad tackles that injured players but should never ever been compared. Two tackles does not make for a “culture of violence”.
Jumping on the “culture of violence” bandwagon has been Craig Foster who in the Sydney Morning Herald claims that there there was a ”history at the club of violent acts”, adding that Melbourne’s culture fostered on-field intimidation. Again using the Leckie tackle as an example he claims that:
”The Matthew Leckie incident earlier in the season by Surat Sukha is an example. When he [Sukha] came here [from Thailand], he didn’t do those tackles. He learned those at the club”
That is a massive assumption by Foster based on who know what evidence. I asked SBS’ chief football analyst via Twitter as to whether he had actually seen Sukha play before he joined the Victory. At the stage of writing this I am yet to receive a response.
What both Awaritefe and Foster fail to mention is the constant kickings that the likes of Hernandez, Thompson, Kruse and Angulo receive on a weekly basis. I heard no outrage last season when Kruse was repeatedly targeted by opposition players. If you don’t remember them, let me list them for you.
- King hit behind play by Charlie Miller against the Brisbane Roar. Never mind the constant fouling he received during that game.
- Received a dislocated shoulder after being hit behind play by Gold Coast United’s Steve Pantelidis.
- Hacked down by Sydney FC’s Terry McFlynn in the final match of the season, severely damaging ankle ligaments.
Also a big fan of the Melbourne Victory bashing bandwagon is Jesse Fink who likes nothing more than trying to sink the boot into the Victory and Kevin Muscat. So much so that he felt the need to write four opinion pieces (yes four) on the incident, two of which were pretty much the same thing. Instead of giving you the links I’m going to hit you with some memorable quotes from the Finkster, who as you can see is not afraid of the hyperbole.
“A piffling eight weeks. Eight weeks for nearly ending a young player’s career and threatening his lifetime earnings because the Melbourne Victory skipper crossed the line of what is right and decent and tried his luck on the dark side.”
“What’s more breathtaking than the century of combined yellows and reds he’s collected is that it could have been five times more had officials had more bottle to deal with him, as I wrote last January.”
For the record, Muscat has received 33 yellow cards and five red cards in the six seasons he has played in the A-League.
“With his basic football knowledge and limited football smarts Merrick was never going to win titles playing fluid, Spanish-style passing combination football but he sure as hell had a chance to win a few games and keep his job if he had a man on the field, Muscat, who could not just monster opposition players but also school younger teammates in the no-frills English Championship way.”
There’s this guy called Hernandez, who plays with this other guy called Thompson, who is often seen in the company of the likes of Dugandzic, Angulo and Kruse.
“Whether it’s Muscat and his litany of indiscretions, Grant Brebner flying in with Roy Keane-style studs-up tackles or Adrian Leijer throwing his weight around like he’s Dolph Lundgren, Victory’s approach is clearly predicated on physical intimidation and harassment.”
Yes Melbourne do a physical brand of football but it also one based on the skill of the likes of Hernandez, Fred, Angulo, Thompson, etc. Without the input of those highly skilled players I would hardly assume that Melbourne would have won those two championship/premiership doubles and come within inches of a third. It’s time for The World Game to take off its Sydney-based orange-tinted glasses and take a balanced look at the Melbourne Victory.
