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Do you have to have Besart Berisha in your team to win the A-League championship? No, but in the past it has helped a lot and already this season it is again clear that if you don’t have him your chances will be significantly diminished.
Overall, there has been no more influential player in the A-League than Berisha during his four-and-a-bit seasons.
His ability to influence the result in big matches is tremendous and he again had a huge say in the outcome of the latest ‘Big Blue’.
Berisha scored the first and last of Melbourne Victory’s goals in their 4-2 win over Sydney FC and that sort of meaningful contribution is what we’ve come to routinely expect from him.
He gave Sydney central defender Jacques Faty an awful time, getting away from him on both occasions to score. Faty and any other player who marks Berisha knows what he is going to do, but stopping him remains one of the hardest tasks in the A-League.
Berisha’s grand final record is brilliant and is the ultimate testimony to his ability to come up with the biggest blows on the biggest occasions.
In the 2011-2012 season decider, Brisbane Roar were 1-0 down against Perth Glory, but then Berisha levelled the scores in the 84th minute and converted from the penalty spot in added time to complete a 2-1 win.
Brisbane finished one win short of the 2012-2013 grand final, but in season 2013-14 Berisha was back on the biggest stage. And, again, it was the late, late show from him, almost as if to prove that the more intense the situation gets, the greater the pressure and the taller he stands.
Brisbane trailed Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 until Berisha scored in the 86th minute, and the Roar went on to win in extra-time.
Last season, Berisha did it at the other end of a grand final, scoring the first goal for Victory in their 3-0 win over Sydney.
But it’s not just Berisha’s goalscoring ability that endears him to Victory fans. Although his natural inclination is to set up for his own shot when the ball reaches him in a dangerous position, he has the skill to create opportunities for teammates. And he does a lot of work in defence.
Berisha automatically comes back to defend on corners and free kicks and shows great composure at that end of the field. He is not a frantic clearer of the ball if it falls to him, but will instead calmly try to connect with a teammate down the field.
The double he scored on the weekend took Berisha to joint top of the competition goalscoring list with five, alongside Melbourne City’s Bruno Fornaroli.
And it is interesting to compare what Berisha has been able to do for Victory so far this season to what Sydney haven’t been able to do.
Sydney went into the game against Victory as competition leaders, but they had only scored six goals in five games and were top of the table based largely on the fact they had kept the opposition to just two goals during that time.
It was a different challenge against Victory and one Sydney handled pretty well for a large part of the match, but they ended up paying the price for not taking advantage of goalscoring opportunities between the time Victory drew level at 2-2 in the 28th minute and took the lead in the 68th.
Personnel changes have meant Sydney are setting up differently in the front third to last season and they are yet to find one dominant goalscorer. It is still only early days, but they could live to regret no longer having Marc Janko in the team.
Victory, meanwhile, are clicking into gear with the same starters from last season in the front third and with Archie Thompson still to return from injury and provide added spark off the bench.
And in the heart of all of that Berisha looks at least as good as ever.
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