Time to celebrate an A-League blockbuster

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By Mike Tuckerman, 15 Dec 2009 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

Tagged:: A-League, football, Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC

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Carlos Hernandez of Melbourne Victory in action during the round one A-League match between Sydney FC and the Melbourne Victory in Sydney on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2008. AAP Image/Jason McCawley

With all the hullabaloo surrounding Australia’s bid to host the World Cup, it’s been easy to overlook the burgeoning A-League title race. But with Melbourne Victory hosting Sydney FC next weekend, it’s time to put league action back in the spotlight.

The clash of the titans is one of the A-League’s genuine blockbusters, and Victory officials will hope to see fans pour through the Etihad Stadium turnstiles in season-high numbers.

Melbourne will be burning for revenge after Sydney dished out a 3-0 win at the same venue back in Round 10, and Victory are currently in form.

Since an uncharacteristic 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Central Coast Mariners in Round 14, Ernie Merrick’s men have taken ten points from their subsequent four games and scored nine goals in the process.

Sydney have been less conspicuous, recently snapping a recent three-game losing streak with back-to-back wins over North Queensland and Wellington Phoenix, although they’ve won the same number of games as Melbourne this season.

They haven’t always done it in quite the same cavalier style as the free-flowing Victory, but Vitezslav Lavicka’s team have shown that when the going gets tough, they’re capable of grinding out results.

Undoubtedly one of their best displays came in the thumping of Melbourne back in October, but their two-goal hero from that game Mark Bridge is still under an injury cloud.

The Sky Blues will also appeal the red card handed out to Simon Colosimo in the win over Wellington last weekend, but should the veteran defender miss out, former Victory man Sebastian Ryall could line up against his old club.

There are plenty of other intriguing match-ups, not the least the head-to-head duel between evergreen combatants Kevin Muscat and Steve Corica.

The latter has been in superb form this season, so much so that Fox commentator Robbie Slater recently claimed the harbour city side rely too heavily on the 36-year-old.

It’s not hard to see why, with Corica in sparkling form of late, and Sydney fans will hope to see the popular midfielder reprise his sterling efforts in the heart of enemy territory.

Now that Football Federation Australia has officially submitted documents to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, there’s no better time for a crowd of more than 30,000 fans to turn out for this high-profile encounter.

There’ll be fewer fans inside Energy Australia Stadium the following afternoon for Newcastle’s meeting with North Queensland Fury, but bizarrely Branko Culina’s side could conceivably move into third – despite having languished near the bottom of the table for most of the season so far.

It’s testament to just how tight the finals race is, with sixth placed Perth Glory now looking nervously over their shoulders – not least because Chris Coyne, Jacob Burns and Mile Sterjovski could all head out on loan in January.

Meanwhile Central Coast Mariners will be looking to put struggling Brisbane Roar to the sword at Bluetongue Stadium, as the Gosford side look to put behind them their recent defeat to Melbourne.

But this weekend is all about another must-see clash between Melbourne and their old foes Sydney, with the bubbling animosity between Australia’s two largest cities set to overflow against the backdrop of one of the A-League’s biggest grudge matches.

My money is on Sydney to do the double over Melbourne in their own backyard, although that probably has more to do with my place of birth than any non-partisan analysis!

Whatever the outcome, it should be a cracker – as the A-League gets set to shake to the sounds of its own version of ‘El Clásico.’

Follow Mike on twitter @Mike_Tuckerman

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The Crowd Says (111) | Page 1 of Comments

Vince said | December 15th 2009 @ 6:36am | Report comment

I believe that Fox Sports ran a website poll a little while ago to try and name this match up, I think ‘The Big Blue’ won , makes sense given the colours they teams wear as well as the australian slang element to it

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- Killer_Tomatoes said | December 15th 2009 @ 9:21am | Report comment
  
  Horrible name, why does it need a name, especially one such an unsubtle attempt by marketers to leave their grubby fingerprints all over it. I can just see in years to come, the ‘New Blue Coca-Cola brings to you the Fox Sports Big Blue’, shudder at the thought.
  
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  - Ben of Phnom Penh said | December 15th 2009 @ 11:43am | Report comment
    
    Really? I rather like the name.
    
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    - Killer_Tomatoes said | December 15th 2009 @ 12:15pm | Report comment
      
      The Big Blue? Why not just call it the City Derby or something, or let it grow a name naturally. Leeds and United have been playing eachother for over a century with a legitimate name they could call it, but nobody feels the need to give it a name, they just get on with their hate for eachother. Everything marketers get their hands on they bastardise, the A-League is ‘plastic’ enough without having Fox Sports decide what our big games are called for us.
      
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      - Ben of Phnom Penh said | December 15th 2009 @ 6:19pm | Report comment
        
        I just like it, that’s life. ‘Blue’ is great Aussie slang.
        
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MV Dave said | December 15th 2009 @ 6:49am | Report comment

Muscats 500th professional game adds just that little bit extra also. There were over 30,000 last time and hopefully something similar again…pity the rectangular seat formation was not kept for this one. With Colsimo out SFC have a defensive problem but MV also have injury worries with Surat, Brebner, Berger and Celeski all out for the medium to long term. Hopefully Victory get an early goal to make SFC come out of their defensive set up. A win here would provide MV with the perfect platform to go on and win the league.

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agga78 said | December 15th 2009 @ 7:13am | Report comment

This is the A leagues biggest game, The Big Blue is a decent name for the clash and should be marketed to both markets over the next few seasons. Sydney have had a really steady squad for the whole season only making 1 or 2 changes and the manager has been rarely tested with injuries or suspensions to his team, which has allowed them to be up at the top of the tree. Melbourne on the other hand has lost players every week, some for the season, some for a week, some forever, the defensive midfield role in the team is a poisoned chalice everyone who has played there has got a serious injury. But since Danny Allsop left Victory, Melbourne have changed the way they play, they have gone form a 5-3-2 formation with wingbacks to a 3-5-3 or 4-3-3 formation, they are attacking faster and are far more mobile in the attacking third than they have at anytime in their short history. Credit must go to Merrick who has his team playing the best football they have ever played, some of Melbourne’s football is breathtaking at times. This is the game of the year, two teams with different philosophy’s on how to play the game.

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simonjzw said | December 15th 2009 @ 7:28am | Report comment

The A-League is a second rate competition.

Pym Verbeek acknowledges this and the performance of the A-League representative team masquerading as the Socceroos earlier this year confirms it.

There is no such thing as an A-League Blockbuster no matter what name is used or how the spin masters want to promote a match.

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- mahony said | December 15th 2009 @ 7:37am | Report comment
  
  Are you done? Now you can go back to the pen with the other children. Be quiet, the adults are discussing the world game.
  
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  - Wannabemigs said | December 15th 2009 @ 7:49am | Report comment
    
    I don’t think Simon was being provocative like some of the AFL and NRL clowns. I think he has a legitimate point Mahony and there is no need for such snide and smug remarks.
    
    I’ll certainly be watching but I wouldn’t call it a blockbuster. It’s no Man U and Chelsea match.
    
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    - MV Dave said | December 15th 2009 @ 8:30am | Report comment
      
      How many MV vs SFC games have you been to Simon? If its none then perhaps you should get down to the TD Saturday night and be in a position to make an informed decision. Whilst quality on the pitch is important in many derby games sides cancel each other out. A blockbuster involves atmosphere at the ground, positions on the ladder etc both of which the ‘Big Blue’ has, with more than a little footballing quality thrown in.
      
      Wannabemigs
      The last match between Chelski v ManU at SB was a poor game and very scrappy with both sides largely cancelling each other out. The way the MV vs SFC is developing it could become one of the great football (of any code) rivalries in Oz with big, noisy crowds and passionate fierce games on the field. The 2 current playmakers Carlos ‘The Jackal’ Hernandez and Steve Corica are both top quality and worth paying admission alone.
      
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      - Wannabemigs said | December 15th 2009 @ 6:51pm | Report comment
        
        Well there weren’t many empty seats which certainly helped. If the TD is full on game day I will be impressed then.
        
        I can’t agree with you I am sorry. I blockbuster match would have the whole town talking. I live in Sydney and I can tell you it is very quiet. I understand that things are probably very different in Melbourne with their better sporting culture.
        
        It could well become one of the great football rivalries but I don’t see it happening any time soon. You can’t compare it to the State of Origin for instance. My friends and I find rugby league rather borish but come that time of year we all watch. I’m not really sure why. Perhaps it is the passion and atmosphere that leaps out from the TV screen. I’ll be behind SFC but we aren’t going to be in the local pub massed with local supporters.
        
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    - mahony said | December 15th 2009 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
      
      I do. Many of my peers do. Many Sydney fans do. So what is you point?
      
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      - Wannabemigs said | December 15th 2009 @ 11:54pm | Report comment
        
        Um, this is a little awkward. My point is really very simple. It isn’t.
        
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    - Killer_Tomatoes said | December 15th 2009 @ 12:18pm | Report comment
      
      lol, new enough to football wanabemigs? Sydney v Melbourne has been a ‘blockbuster’ for just as long as United v Chelsea, 5 years ago (pre-Abromovich) those two teams meant nothing to eachother. You need a history lesson mate.
      
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- Punter said | December 15th 2009 @ 8:13am | Report comment
  
  You are 100% correct, it is a 2nd rate competition, but when you average 10K & you get 30K it is a blockbuster.
  
  I don’t why you have to critiise something you don’t like unless you feel it’s a threat.
  
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  - Redb said | December 15th 2009 @ 3:23pm | Report comment
    
    I agree in relative terms for the A League it is blockbuster given the 10K ave and likely 30K+ crowd. The article does stipulate A league blockbuster. It is 2 of the top 3 teams as well.
    
    I went to a Melb-Syd game 2 season ago i think and it was alright, the new stadium will be better putting the fans a bit closer together.
    
    Redb
    
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- Killer_Tomatoes said | December 15th 2009 @ 9:22am | Report comment
  
  why continually bite at comments like this people? all you’re doing is vindicating this clowns presence
  
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- Realfootball said | December 15th 2009 @ 10:26am | Report comment
  
  Yep, and you are a second rate speller. Try Pim, not Pym, and go somewhere else to shoot yourself illiterately in the foot next time.
  
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- Lu said | December 15th 2009 @ 10:38am | Report comment
  
  Scott Munn CEO of new A-league team Melbourne Heart said it best in today paper (the Age), about not only he’s team, but the A-league in general..
  
  “We are not going to pretend we are something we are not. We are not the best league in the world. You can get that for $59.99 a month on Foxtel and watch all the Premiership games you want.
  
  (What the A-league is), is an adventure and a sense of belonging and ownership. ”We are looking to provide our fans with a journey. They can watch our young players come through, develop, play for the first team and if they are good enough they can go to Europe to become bigger stars. That’s part of the football journey, the traditional development, and we want our fans to enjoy that as well as watching the team.”
  
  Whether it’s second rate or not.. whats most important is that it’s OURS..
  
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  - mahony said | December 15th 2009 @ 12:18pm | Report comment
    
    Spot on. I wonder which other AF league’s compare favourably to the one here in Australia?
    
    Lets ‘call a spade a spade’ shall we? If people want to describe the A-League a “second rate” that is fine. Just don’t accept that football fans will simply cop it. Many of us have another view. A nuanced view. A historical view. A sophisticated view.
    
    If the A-League is “second rate” in a global context – then by this definition the AFL is a parochial little sport with no relevance. Alternatively, the A-League is a new, middle-ranking league in a large global sporting context which is still developing and the AFL is a well established league and a unique exemplar of Australian sporting culture.
    
    You choose. To do otherwise is to be disingenuous and provocative.
    
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    - Lazza said | December 15th 2009 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
      
      I’ve said it before but it’s only 2nd rate in comparison to the elite Football leagues in Europe. They are 90 pro Football leagues around the world so how do they all survive and prosper if we’re only interested in watching the top leagues? As a Football fan I’m just lucky that I’m so spoilt for choice and having our own pro league was the only thing missing.
      
      In comparison to the other domestic sporting leagues in this country, the HAL has the deepest talent pool with 1.2 million registered players and the whole world to recruit from. There’s a hell of a lot of talent out there if you can find it.
      
      The other sports don’t really have anything to compare their leagues to so you wouldn’t know if they were 2nd or 3rd rate.
      
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      - Punter said | December 15th 2009 @ 1:53pm | Report comment
        
        This is so true, in the latest 442 magazine, they listed the top 100 players & 97 of those players came from the top 5 leagues in the world, English, Spanish, Italians, Germans & French. So all other leagues around the world, all 200+ of them are 2nd rate.
        This is hard for traditional football codes (AFL 1 league, RL 2 leagues) to understand as they don’t have much in the way of int’l flavour.
        
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        Robbo said | December 16th 2009 @ 7:13am | Report comment
        
        I love how you soccer types managed to turn this into a anti-AFL/Rugby League thread when there aren’t even any AFL/RL people here.
        
        I guess I will fire the first shot: The last time this “blockbuster” was played 30,000 people turned up. That is 6,000 less than the AFL’s average crowd.
        
        AndyRoo said | December 16th 2009 @ 8:10am | Report comment
        
        Robbo….sorry mate Redb and Michael C were here well before you. Don’t try and claim first shot, your attempt was way after the full time siren, your just lucky it was paid.
        
        Punter said | December 16th 2009 @ 8:12am | Report comment
        
        Robbo, what have you done with Robbos?
    - VooDoo said | December 16th 2009 @ 4:47am | Report comment
      
      Umm, that doesn’t seem right. By any analogy the AFL would be the pinnacle competition for Australian football. In no sense would anyone sensibly argue that the A-league sits on a comparable level of world soccer.
      
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      - albe said | December 16th 2009 @ 5:00am | Report comment
        
        clown… the A-league sits on a comparative level with most world leagues (of which there are many) just not the top ones. Your comment there about AFL being a ‘pinnacle’ shows u are clearly missing the point.
        
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Michael C said | December 15th 2009 @ 7:49am | Report comment

‘A-League’ Blockbuster…..bit of an oxymoron isn’t it??

seriously though – I still don’t understand why the FFA has not scheduled such a match on the weekend leading up to the Melb Cup……MVFC tend to play away….that’s just plain silly, why wouldn’t you have MVFC host either SFC or AU at Etihad on the Sunday before the Cup, Melb is carnival city and many, many people take the Monday off for a 4 day weekend.

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Il Duce said | December 15th 2009 @ 8:01am | Report comment

Well even if you are going to call it a 2nd rate comp still doesnt mean there isnt block busters. Spl is rated considered a 2nd rate comp in Europe and they still have a blockbuster that is one of the biggest in the world (Celtic V Rangers). I dont think either is a 2nd rate comp I was just making a point.

Melbourne people always tell everyone else in the league how they are the best fans in the league this is the game where they need to prove it, its first v second and its a derby game there should be no less than 30,000 at this game. I think it will be a scoring draw like 2-2 and as a neutral fan in this game (sort of I’m a reds fan) I will hoping it lives up to the hype and proves to people that this league and this sport can be exciting and entertaining if they just took the blinkers off.

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Eamonn Flanagan said | December 15th 2009 @ 8:05am | Report comment

Well said Mahoney! …and actually simonzjw the team picked for that game against Kuwait was simply the wrong team…most fans reckon there were a number of other players who could have beaten Kuwait from the A-League….try the eleven other A-League players other than Archie who had beaten Kuwait in Sydney just two years earlier!

Should be a great game on Saturday, an Aussie blockbuster no doubt, but unlike against the attack minded Gold Coast reckon Melbourne will struggle to break Sydney down. Although let’s face it last time Sydney only really attacked for ten minutes and got three goals.

First goal to Melbourne probably vital, but can their defence hold Sydney out this time? Conceding heaps at home is a Victory forte it seems. Think Roar, Mariners and Sydney.

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Gibbo said | December 15th 2009 @ 8:42am | Report comment

Unfortunately Victory seem to suck big time at home. I’d be more confident on the road.

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K B said | December 15th 2009 @ 9:31am | Report comment

Yes the Melb V will be baying for blood from the humiliating encounter from the last time they met SFC losing 0-3 at the Dome… Let’s not mince words here it was humiliating for the MV, with a capital HHHHH, then to also go down to CCM, 0-4 most convincingly at the Dome was Exasperating with a capital EEEEEE…

However, somehow the Scottish One “Merrick” with his band of merry Portuguese interpreters may have finally gotten through to “the Jackal” (Zorro as he likes to think of himself, no idea why), this time around at the Dome, this could be his time, recording some half decent performances on the road… And after having an outstanding game at the Dome against the GCU FC’s youth team…

But can he do it for a second time at home at the Dome against the mighty Sdnneeee Sky Bluesss…? Well maybe now he can, now that the Sky Blue’s uncompromising enforcer, Simon Colosimo, is out due to an unfair red card dismissal from the previous week, against the Nix… Maybe this will be the telling factor for the MV to turn the tables against the Sydneee Sky Blues for a very rear win against them…

All in all, this “is” the “Season’s Block Buster” no doubt about that, this game will determine who really deserves to be the Premiers no doubt at all about that—first past the post will be the real champions no doubt about that (well for me)…

So I think Lavickta’s men realising the importance of this encounter, the final run home to be on top of the table, might just do it, with a enthralling I-0 away from home win… Good luck to the Sky Blues, you can do this lads…

~~~~~~~
KB

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- MV Dave said | December 15th 2009 @ 12:11pm | Report comment
  
  Yes KB this and the last game of the season at SFC will be the deciders…hopefully will make the trip to Sydenee for that one as well…VICTOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
  
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Daniel King said | December 15th 2009 @ 10:20am | Report comment

Last game of the season is SFC v MV at the SFS, if they are still neck and neck that truly will be an absolute B-B-B-Belter!

Can’t wait.

Go SFC.

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