Season Preview #2: Melbourne Victory FC

If Sydney FC are to start the season as favourites to defend their crown, Melbourne Victory will start the season amongst the favourites to knock the sky blues off.


The Victory have been the benchmark for club football in this country since the inception of the A-League (Perth Glory being the bar-setters in the old NSL), in terms of success both on and off the field. Adelaide United have put up strong showings in both the League and the Asian Champions League, and have claims to be the most consistent on-field performers of the A-League era, and Sydney last season joined MVFC as the only teams to have their name etched onto the ‘golden toilet seat’ twice, but there will be few arguments against the statement that, so far, the Victory have got it pretty spot-on.

There is a culture in Melbourne which differs from that of Sydney or the rest of Australia for that matter, a culture which is much more European when it comes to sport. Memberships are seen as mandatory rather than optional, and there is a ritual to going to watch your team play, whatever the sport, each weekend. This culture means that the introduction of Melbourne Heart will be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat for the Victory.

Just as competition for places in a starting XI forces players to raise their standards, the rivalry between the two clubs will provide the Victory with opportunities to galvanise their fans in an ‘us against them’ mentality. Expect sell-out crowds. Celtic v Rangers, Boca v River… Victory v Heart? Who knows.

On paper, MVFC’s squad is still very impressive. The departure of Mitch Langerak to Borussia Dortmund and Glen Moss to the Gold Coast has been countered by the shrewd acquisition of former Socceroos ‘keeper Michael Petkovic from Sivasspor in Turkey.

Following the circus which surrounded Robbie Kruse last year, he will be looking to build on some very impressive performances at the end of last season.

Question marks still surround the future of skipper Kevin Muscat, who has decided to play on for another season, though it remains to be seen how many minutes he will actually play. You would imagine opposition managers will take their fastest, most agile attackers and instruct them to give the Victory hard man nightmares.

Archie Thompson limped out of last season with a knee injury and at 31 years of age there will be eyes on his recovery and impact when he returns to full fitness. Should he make a full recovery, I believe he will still be good enough to score goals for Melbourne, and possibly Australia should we send a predominantly A-League based squad to the Asian Cup in January, which looks likely.

Major ins and outs for MVFC:

Ins:
Michael Petkovic (Sivasspor, Turkey)

Outs:
Mitch Langerak (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Glen Moss (Gold Coast United)