Griffiths brilliant as Beijing sink Victory
By AAP, 24 Feb 2010 AAP is a Roar Pro
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Former A-League star Joel Griffiths has again sunk old enemies Melbourne Victory, scoring the winner for his Chinese club Beijing Guoan in a 1-0 Asian Champions League triumph.
Griffiths netted a superb 50th minute winner at the Beijing Workers Stadium to get the Victory’s ACL campaign off to a rocky start.
The former Newcastle Jets striker took a sublime first touch in the penalty box, ghosted through Victory defenders Kevin Muscat and Rodrigo Vargas and slotted home for the winner.
Griffiths, who boasted a goal every two games record against Melbourne while playing for the Jets, was outstanding for the home side as Beijing Guoan dominated for long periods.
Melbourne lifted in the final 20 minutes to create several good chances – the best squandered by striker Nik Mrdja two minutes from time as he was unable to control a ball which found him just metres from goal.
The Victory started promisingly and could have had an early lead with the busy Tom Pondeljak’s long-range shot well stopped by Beijing goalkeeper Yang Zhi on 27 minutes.
But that signalled the start of a long patch of dominance by the home side – Griffiths instrumental as his off-the-ball work combined with some deft touches had the visitors backpedalling from midway through the first half.
Griffiths had a 34th minute shot headed off the line by Victory defender Surat Sukha, with Pondeljak seconds later having to throw his body in the way of the rebound attempt by Brazilian striker Otto.
Beijing striker Zhu Yifan shot wide when he should have done better in the 38th minute, while Victory goalkeeper Mitch Langerak made an important save just prior to the break to deny Otto.
After Griffiths struck early in the second half, the former A-League player of the year could have had a second in the 68th minute but for Langerak’s intervention as the ex-Socceroo striker bore down on his goal.
In the other Group E match to open the competition on Tuesday night, Korea’s Seongnam Ilhwa beat Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale 2-0.
The Victory, who are currently involved in the A-League finals, play their next ACL fixture against Seongnam Ilhwa in Melbourne on March 9.
That will be played just two days after Melbourne’s A-League major semi-final second leg against Sydney FC which will decide who makes the grand final.
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Smokygrayson said | February 24th 2010 @ 9:45am | Report comment
Victory looked very second rate. Is it only playing against other A-League teams that makes them look good? I thought they played possession football but Beijing gave them a football lesson last night……
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 9:52am | Report comment
And not only that – Beijing is effectively in its pre-season, so that makes MV look even more deplorable.
Mrdja was hopeless; Carlos was closed down and stripped all too often, and too easily; and Broxham??!! did any of his passes actually hit the mark?? He was terrible.
Berger was very lucky not to be red carded – he stuck a leg in half an hour after the ball had gone.
Beijing’s front two and mid field made MV look second rate – not just the quality of their passing – but they worked harder than MV as well.
The pitch looked like Etihad!!
Towser said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:20am | Report comment
This is why the ACL is so important to football in Australia.
Short term pain for long term gain.
Reminds me of how some British clubs struggle in the ECL against technically superior Continental teams.
The balance is for us to find the style of football that suits the Australian market,yet can compete & be succesful in the ACL.
As we have seen since we took part ,not an easy task.
I believe the drop in crowds in Newcastle & the Central Coast this season are partly due to these 2 clubs being exposed as inferior to the clubs in other top Asian nations.
In reverse I believe AU’s good run in the ACL is the reason they have maintained a good crowd average,despite being rock bottom in the A-League.
Bit of pride for the city on a bigger stage.
Still the KCJ leagues etc are more developed than ours & are more cashed up so it can be rectified long term.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:27am | Report comment
Towser
that’s a good point about AU, the Jets and CCM – it hadn’t occurred to me before, but there’s a certain logic there – helps explain AU’s excellent crowds over the course of what was a below par season on the field.
James said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:35am | Report comment
It’s more than that too. Adelaide United are on the frontpage of today’s paper – the lead story. See the pic of the frontpage here – http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ (scroll down, it’s in the righthand column).
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:40am | Report comment
Interestingly, with MV also focussing on finals (and really want to do well there after surrendering the premier’s plate in the final game in what was essentially the grand final Mk I), one gets the feeling that AU has far, far more to play for in the ACL and has the incentive, motivation and focus to do better than MV.
AndyRoo said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:53am | Report comment
Reminds me of how some British clubs struggle in the ECL against technically superior Continental teams.
It does feel a bit like that. And probably more like in those early days when they re joined the competition after the ban because their is also the travel factor for A league teams. We even saw that with the national team which is why I respect Pim for the difference he has made in how the Roos handled the World Cup qualifiers when compared to the Asian Cup in 07.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 11:04am | Report comment
I’m not an expert in this area – but I thought some of the British clubs had a bit of success in the early days of European competition.
AndyRoo said | February 24th 2010 @ 3:17pm | Report comment
I know Fergies Man Utd struggled a bit with the difference.
Axel V said | February 24th 2010 @ 11:12am | Report comment
Did you see how open the game was and how quick the Beijing players were at regaining possession? this never happens in the A-League, and the surface was very slow, Beijing playing at home, it looked as if Victory were improving as the game went on, especially when they had some urgency, I think with a few more first team players, mainly Archie Thompson, we could have at least got a draw. And I was surprised by the performance of Joel Griffiths, he looked like a world class player! What’s with that?
Art Sapphire said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:12am | Report comment
There is no way that Victory can hope to do well in the ACL with limited players like Ward and Broxham in the team.
Clueless Merrick puts Angulo on the park in the 83rd minute and only then did we look like creating stuff in midfield.
Griffiths played well and should have been picked in the squad to play Indonesia next week.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:19am | Report comment
Art
Marvin has shown glimpses – but surely you are honest enough to admit that he’s really not a stand out A-League player – he’s caught with the ball far too often – his first touch is average (at best), and his dribbling is average – shows way, way too much of it – sometimes his dribbling is so bad he literally hands it over to his opposite number!
There’s a very good reason why Marvin is with the Victory and not playing in Europe.
Art Sapphire said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:43am | Report comment
Carlos was not playing in Europe either Dogz. I don’t get your point. Europe is not the be all and end all for every football player. Angulo provided the best through ball of the whole A-League season a few weeks back. Not many A-League players would have even thought of it let alone execute it.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Yes – I know the ball – and he has dined off that one ball ever since – he really hasn’t shown much since.
Did that happen when MV were in the process of trouncing some hapless opponent 4-0 or 6-2 at Etihad? They were in complete control and cruising.
But can Angulo shine when the heat is on? To date, he just hasn’t shown that capacity to step up to the plate when the pressure is on.
What’s more – he looks a long way off having it.
Axel V said | February 24th 2010 @ 11:15am | Report comment
Better to have a player on the park that shows glimpses of potential rather than 2 players who consistantly stuff it up everytime they are near the ball. All it takes is 1 glimpse and you have 1 goal!
Art Sapphire said | February 24th 2010 @ 11:17am | Report comment
Dogz – it a game of opinions but how can you be so sure about Marvin when has only played 6 hours of football in the A-League (only twice started a game). He is still coming to grips with the physicality of the game in the A-League but in terms of passing ability he leaves most Victory players in the shade.
mahony said | February 24th 2010 @ 1:05pm | Report comment
Actualy I think the first touch / dribling of young Angulo is bettered only by Carlos Hernandez and maybe Robbie Fowler on ocassion – very, very good in my opinion. I agree with your other observations though.
AndyRoo said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:14am | Report comment
Very hard for Ernie, his squad is quite threadbare at the moment, Mrdja is his only striker. Beijing are flooding the midfield but what could he do, he doesn’t have any players he could move forward and wide to stretch them. Add 2 out of Thompson, Kruse or Dugandzic and Merrick could have made a game of it.
The Jets made it through despite losing to Beijing in their first game but MV are really up against it this time. The Jets got through because Beijing were overwhelmed by the other teams in the league (since then they have become CSL champions which should shake the inferiority complex) and the Korean team was half hearted about their campaign (the K league side in MV’s group beat the J league club last night so they are up for it).
Art Sapphire said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:31am | Report comment
Andyroo – Merrick’s squad might be threadbare but he had a jewel in Angulo sitting on the bench for 83 minutes.
Considering Victory went a goal down early in the 2nd half, Angulo had to at least come on much earlier.
He played fantastic for the 10 minutes that he was on. The Chinese manager must have been laughing to himself at how Merrick left the player that could have done them the most damage on the bench for almost the whole game.
AndyRoo said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:36am | Report comment
Maybe Merrick was blinded by a laser pointer so couldn’t see Angulo and forgot about him.
Towser said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:38am | Report comment
Whats needed in these sort of games & is often overlooked, is its not just about having players with great technique,fast strong,great stamina etc or brilliant tactics. Its also about having players with the speed of thought to use these skills to spot an opening.execute a move, make that tiny bit of space to have a shot.
The likes of Mrdja & maybe Angulo are fine for the A-League(for different reasons) but does either have the “Football nous” to give the edge at the next level?
That as a general observation is whats lacking in the A-League.
Too many players still take too many poor options.
But it takes money to get the players that give you the edge,so until there is more dough,we will struggle in Asia.
Or our youth players are more developed in future due to the National curriculm that started last year.
It works this way for Asian teams when they step up.
I remember Gamba in the WCC against ManU.
Gamba more than matched ManU in many areas, particularly technique even outright speed.
Yet when it came to speed of decision making ManU were well ahead.
That is to me a major area our clubs need to improve on.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 10:45am | Report comment
Towser
interesting thoughts – I agree with your “quickness of mind” observation.
Mind you, with MV last night, it was as much about execution as quick thinking – Broxham’s passing was just plain terrible.
However, I can recall a couple of times after MV went down, and they started to quicken the pace a bit, and you’d see someone with the ball in the middle or just outside the D, and you could see a player making position out wide, and I’m thinking to myself: Now, now, spot him up now you dill!!! Don’t take an extra touch!!!
But no, they would wait that half-sec – and the moment is gone.
Art Sapphire said | February 24th 2010 @ 11:21am | Report comment
Dogz- MV hardly ever pass to wide positions. Merrick has always played narrow. What you saw last night was how MV have always played. They always try and play the ball thru the middle.
Merrick once famously said the “width was overrated”
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
Art – I didn’t know that about MV – thanks!
Interestingly – their golden opportunity to equalise came the one time they hit the byline and cut the ball back in.
mahony said | February 24th 2010 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
Nail – Head!
MV Dave said | February 24th 2010 @ 3:07pm | Report comment
With the goal open and all around ready to cheer for the equaliser…twas a great clearance by…N Mrdja.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 3:12pm | Report comment
Yeh – it wasn’t his finest moment.
I read a funny post somewhere, can’t remember where, concluding that Lawrie gave MV Mrdja so that MV would perform every bit as poorly as CCM did last year.
Towser said | February 24th 2010 @ 11:26am | Report comment
Dogz R Barkn
It is indeed frustrating.
Its what I call the “Expectation + Deliverance equation.
What you called “The moment”
Having been brought up on professional football in England,I put this equation as the single biggest reason for the failure of football in Australia apart from the last 5 years.
Behind that of course is a myriad of other reasons which I now see unfolding & taking shape& being rectified.
This will deliver the equation in the not too distant future.
When I watched Wednesday as a youth/young man I went there expecting to see a professional footballer deliver.
Do things I couldnt do in my park football games.
In other words Professional Football=Expectation + Deliverance.
Having watched the Roar for 5 seasons the algebra never added up. I persevered many havent
Until we see more Expectation + deliverance & less Expectation + moment is gone We will struggle in Asia.
whiskeymac said | February 24th 2010 @ 12:59pm | Report comment
“I went there expecting to see a professional footballer deliver.
Do things I couldnt do in my park football games.
In other words Professional Football=Expectation + Deliverance.”
very good!
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 1:11pm | Report comment
Is that “deliverance” as in, pin point delivery of the ball; or “deliverance” as in eternal salvation – or a bit of both!!
Towser said | February 24th 2010 @ 3:12pm | Report comment
Sometimes a bit of both.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 24th 2010 @ 3:15pm | Report comment
Unless you support Real or Barca – I don’t thing there’s such a thing as eternal salvation as a football fan.
dasilva said | February 24th 2010 @ 9:47pm | Report comment
Adelaide on the other hand shows Melbourne how it should be done
1-0 victory over the Asian champions. woo hoo
Midfielder said | February 24th 2010 @ 9:50pm | Report comment
Das
You must be happy 1-0 … good result
jimbo said | February 24th 2010 @ 9:52pm | Report comment
Well done Adelaide – Australia’s most successful and experienced ACL campaigners.
Still 5 more games for Victory to redeem themselves in the first round.
Rob said | February 25th 2010 @ 10:07am | Report comment
One of the things that really stood out for me during the Beijing – MV game was not just the technical quality of the Chinese side (they were streets ahead of all MV players except Hernandez), but, as Towser has stated, execution (or deliverance, to continue that eternal salvation theme). The execution of passes and the vision to see and hit the excellent runs of players in the front third was spectacular compared to Melbourne, who simply looked like they had no idea how to cope, or how to play against a superior team. Melbourne relied on hoofing the ball up to Mrdja, who is out of his depth, and hoping he could hold onto it or give it quickly to Hernandez. The fact that Merrick talked about playing “longer balls” against Beijing just shows he doesn’t have the nouse at this level. Sure, the long ball game (and yes, that is how Melbourne score many a goal in the A-League, despite protestations to the contrary from MV supporters), which works in the A-League, against slower, less tactically proficient teams (i.e. all the teams in the A-League), but in Asia, where players are better, coaches are better, you need a bit of a more sophisticated game plan. For a start, as Art stated, Melbourne needs width. Then they need to start players with actual technical ability, who can hit passes accurately 90% or more of the time. That would help. And get over this long ball obsession.
In short, I was disappointed with Melbourne’s performance. And I honestly want Melbourne to do well, despite being a Roar supporter. The better our clubs do in Asia, the better the A-League begins to be viewed by both Asian nations and the Australian media, which in turn has the potential to flow on to the Australian public. As Towser pointed out, Adelaide’s good performances in 2008 may well be responsible for the excellent crowd figures, despite their annus Horribulis this time round.