A-League preview: Melbourne Heart need a kickstart
Columnist By Adrian Musolino, 5 Oct 2012 Adrian Musolino is a Roar Expert
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- A-League, football, John Aloisi, melbourne heart
Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi poses for a photo at the launch of the 2012-3 season. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
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Stability has been the buzzword at Melbourne Heart – solid if unspectacular performances, signings, crowds, and so on. Can they bounce upwards on their consistent but unspectacular base?
The recap:
2011/12: Nine wins, 10 draws, eight losses – sixth place.
Living in the shadow of the more established Victory, Heart have been a consistent performers in their brief time in the A-League. Last season they scraped into the finals with sixth place, although they went out in straight sets against eventual grand finalists, Perth Glory.
But now inaugural coach John van ‘t Schip is gone, replaced by first-time senior coach John Aloisi, and young stars have been sold off to European clubs. The latter may help with the bottom-line, at a time when the club continues to try and establish itself in the Melbourne market, but where does that leave the Heart for the 2012/13 season?
Much depends on the fitness of players who suffered from persistent injuries last season. Brazilian playmaker Fred, for example, was sorely missed when he wasn’t on the pitch last season, and at 33 years of age he could be missing in action more often. While the club is known for its youth policy, regulars such as Matt Thompson, Simon Colosimo and Clint Bolton and new signing Richard Garcia are in their 30s.
Youngsters Curtis Good (Newcastle United), Brendan Hamill (Seongnam Ilhwa), Eli Babalj (Red Star Belgrade) and Adrian Zahra (Perth Glory) will be sorely missed and their absence ages the squad. Meanwhile, the departures of regulars Rutger Worm, Alex Terra, Kristian Sarkies and Wayne Srhoj highlight the wholesale changes to the squad.
Golgol Mebrahtu, signed from Gold Coast United, has a lot of promise at 21 years of age, while the experience of Garcia will come in handy. But overall it’s a weaker squad than last season, missing a key marksman up front with, the pre-season also exposing some defensive frailties, most notably in the 5-0 loss to the Glory.
Aloisi is promoted from the Heart youth team but faces the difficult task of replicating his predecessor’s achievement of making the finals with a new-look squad missing its most exciting young talent.
Heart faces a challenging start to the season (a new coach’s worst nightmare) with the Melbourne derby and matches against last season’s top four (Central Coast Mariners, Brisbane Roar, Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix) in the first six rounds.
Heart, as Melbourne’s ‘second team’, has the advantage of flying under the radar relative to the Victory, especially with the high expectations on the ‘blue side’ of Melbourne with the arrival of new coach Ange Postecoglou.
But unless they’re competitive in the derby and manage to squeeze a few points from their tough start, the club could be left at the bottom-end of the ladder early on with mounting pressure, particularly if Postecoglou revitalises the Victory.
A strong season for the Victory puts the pressure on the Heart with off-field implications, so results are vital. But it’s difficult to see how the rookie coach and his squad can push for a finals spot.
Prediction: Ninth.
Ins: Ben Garuccio (AIS), Richard Garcia (Hull City, UK), David Vrankovic (Sydney FC NYL), Dylan Macallister, Josip Tadic (Lechia Gdansk), Golgol Mebrahtu, Steven Gray, Patrick Gerhardt (FK Zeljeznicar), Andrew Redmayne (Brisbane Roar).
Outs: Curtis Good (Newcastle United), Brendan Hamill (Seongnam Ilhwa), Eli Babalj (Red Star Belgrade), Adrian Zahra (Perth Glory), Rutger Worm (released), Alex Terra (released), Kristian Sarkies (released), Kamal Ibrahim (released), Kliment Taseski (released), Maycon (released), Nikola Roganovic (released), Craig Goodwin (Newcastle Jets), Wayne Srhoj (released).
Adrian Musolino is editor of V8X Magazine, and has written as an expert on The Roar since 2008, cementing himself as a key writer who can see the big picture in sport. He freelances on other forms of motorsport, football, cycling and more.
October 5th 2012 @ 5:51am
Stevo said | October 5th 2012 @ 5:51am | Report comment
In JA we trust! Check out the video he’s looking cool and confident and if the players respond to him we’ll gel and have a good season.
Can’t wait for tonight.
http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/news-display/Preview-Melbourne-Heart-v-Melbourne-Victory/49596
Of course I’d like to have kept players like Babalj but change happens and it’s how you cope that counts. With Garcia coming in and a new lease of life for Tadic we can surprise. I hope that GolGol scores some GoalGoals and Williams finally, yes finally, turns random energy and enthusiasm into purposeful and direct action and scores some goals
October 5th 2012 @ 1:21pm
Ballymore said | October 5th 2012 @ 1:21pm | Report comment
I have soft spot for MHT – their playing style is fluent and their derby win last Dec was spectacular.
However, they seem to be the only club whose player list looks weaker than last season. With a rookie manager, I’m expecting they’ll struggle.
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October 5th 2012 @ 5:40pm
fadida said | October 5th 2012 @ 5:40pm | Report comment
Agree. I really like the Heart (an underdog thing I think), but their squad does look weaker. However if Aloisi runs out to be a talented coach he may scrape them into 6th. They are my prediction for last though!
October 6th 2012 @ 2:47am
Ballymore said | October 6th 2012 @ 2:47am | Report comment
Where is my humble pie?
PS.- Still the biggest club though, as their fans often remind us.
October 5th 2012 @ 11:19pm
clayts said | October 5th 2012 @ 11:19pm | Report comment
Certainly didn’t look like a last placed team tonight. Victory, however..
October 6th 2012 @ 12:30am
fadida said | October 6th 2012 @ 12:30am | Report comment
They did well the Heart, and congrats to them. Wouldn’t write MV off based on a derby though. Work to do for them but plenty of time
October 6th 2012 @ 12:22am
Nathan of Perth said | October 6th 2012 @ 12:22am | Report comment
Very strong performance from the Heart but that high-pressing style is going to take a lot to maintain through the year. Will have to be careful not to run out of legs in the final stretch of the season.