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Melbourne Victory
Semester Summary
What a difference half a season makes. Melbourne Victory started this campaign with Ange Postecoglou at the helm and were considered major title contenders; at the halfway mark that is no longer the case with Postecoglou gone and their run to the championship taking a serious dive over recent weeks. Postecoglou’s departure, accepting the gig as Socceroos head coach, after just three rounds of football saw club legend Kevin Muscat take the reins as manager. Going from having one of the most successful coaches in the domestic game in Ange to one with very little experience in Muscat was always going to be a challenge for the Victory to deal with and it has certainly panned out that way. Inconsistency has plagued the Victory so far this season; impressive home wins over Adelaide and Brisbane early in year have were curtailed by consecutive away loses to Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers, plus the demoralising home defeat at the hands of Brisbane Roar just recently. Combine that with injuries, national team call-ups and the fresh news that Mitch Nichols will be on his way out of the club, it has been a challenging start to the 2013-14 season for the Victory.
Areas of Excellence
The development of the clubs young players have been a positive sign for the team again this season. Postecoglou’s overhaul of the side he inherited when he took over included the promotion of Youth League players to the senior side, as well as bringing in youngsters from outside the club into the setup, will be one of the main legacies of his time at the club. This has continued under Muscat as Melbourne’s junior brigade continues to prosper. Rashid Mahazi in particular has been a standout since debuting in the Melbourne derby in round one. The 21-year-old missed out on his former side Northcote City’s run to the Victorian Premier League title to sign with the Victory and has looked comfortable in a midfield with the likes of experienced campaigners Mark Milligan and Leigh Broxham. Throw in the likes of Connor Pain, Jason Geria, Nick Ansell, Dylan Murnane and Andrew Nabbout and the future looks good for the boys in blue.
Areas in need of improvement
Despite their dominance in the middle of the park, it’s play in the final third that the Victory need the most improvement on. With Archie Thompson going through a long injury layoff, the Victory have been without a recognised striker for most of the year and have relied on their midfield men to carry the goal scoring load. Too many times the Victory have found themselves in good goalscoring positions only to waste chances with no one there to finish. Hopefully the problem is solved with Thompson back in action, plus with the money now in the bank with Nichols on his way to Japan, buying a backup striker wouldn’t be the worst bit of business the club has ever done. Talks are that Tom Rogic will make his way to the Victory by the end of the week.
Top Students
James Troisi has been a standout for the Victory so far this season. The man on loan from Atalanta returned home to Australia at the start of the year in order to increase his chances of making the Socceroos squad for Brazil and he has done his odds no harm. The South Australian native leads the league’s goalscoring charts with seven and has been the Victory’s best attacking threat by a long way.
Class Clowns
Pablo Contreras isn’t the first marquee player to get this award so far and probably won’t be the last either. Contreras wasn’t the big name marquee many expected the Victory to announce during the preseason but came to the club with a reputation as a quality defender. The Chilean is yet to show Australia the best of his abilities with his stay so far being dominated by suspensions, red cards, defensive mistakes, conceded penalties and his odd attraction to taking AFL-style marks over opponents. An honourable mention goes to Jonathan Bru for collecting a paycheck each week for doing absolutely nothing.
Grade
B. A solid start but with plenty more still to do.
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People underestimate how important a fit Archie Thompson is to the Victory. He is still a lethal goalscorer despite his age and is hugely important to the setup of the Victory. If Archie and skipper Milligan can stay fit, expect Melbourne to be there when it gets to the pointy end of the season but injuries may just get in the way of the Victory claiming their third championship.