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Surprise, surprise, the two coaches – Melbourne Victory’s Kevin Muscat and Sydney FC’s Graham Arnold – had very different takes on last night’s ‘Big Blue’.
We are left to decide which coach is right – or at least closer to the truth – and there will be support for both men.
Many of the fans would vote along club lines without even giving it a second thought. The more analytical among them might not feel so comfortable backing their own team’s coach.
The neutrals would enjoy the debate the most, because they come unfettered.
(Except those who intensely dislike Muscat or Arnold.)
The game itself, which resulted in a 1-0 win to Victory through an own goal from Sydney defender Matt Jurman, was closer to a big bore than a Big Blue when compared to what a game between these two teams is usually like.
The bar has been set very high over the years when it comes to the level of skill, drama, intensity and excitement.
And the main debate to come out of the game centres on which coach was more on the money with his post-match comments about what transpired over the 90 minutes.
Arnold made a number of interesting statements. Here are some of the more relevant:
“At the end of the day it was two very, very good teams that went at each other.”
“Overall it went very well (for Sydney), but unfortunately we lost on the day.”
“Probably the most dangerous strike-force in the country (Victory) nullified to not much at all.”
“I thought we controlled most of the game. They wait for mistakes and when you make mistakes in your own half that’s when they punish you.”
“Victory are a very good counter-attack team. They don’t build up anymore. Their front four are waiting and waiting for a mistake from the opposition – like the own goal they got.”
“Once they scored the goal they had a bit more (of the game), but I changed the system – we had to go for it.”
“I’ve been coaching in the A-League for four years – three grand finals, premiership, championship, so it’s working.”
Similar to the previous week, when his team won the Sydney derby 2-1 over Western Sydney Wanderers, Arnold made no apologies for setting up defensively to try to nullify Victory’s attack as the first course of action.
Here are some of the main points from Muscat:
“We were trying our hardest to make it exciting and entertaining. You can’t put any blame (for the game not being a great spectacle) at our feet.”
“I thought the three points without doubt should have been ours.”
“There was one team trying to win and one team trying not to lose and that’s no disrespect – it’s a clear fact. In the end, of course it (the result) was justice.”
“We got in behind them and had a number of chances. Don’t be fooled by the number of shots on target and that sort of stuff, it’s difficult to break a team down when there are a lot of bodies behind the ball.”
“We created enough chances to win the game and I don’t think we were threatened going the other way, apart from having to roll our sleeves up because there were a lot of balls played into our box to a contest.”
“We had to defend a hell of a lot of long throws, free kicks. We had to fight and match them in those contests. It’s difficult to break a team down when there are a lot of bodies behind the ball.”
Personally, I think Muscat is on the money. Victory looked like they were genuinely trying to win as a priority and Sydney looked like they were trying to make sure they at least got out of Etihad Stadium with a draw, and that a win would be a bonus.
Arnold is yet to record a win over Victory as Sydney coach. They drew each of the first three clashes and Victory have won each of the three games since – including last season’s grand final.
I can’t see how playing the way they did last night is going to be the answer for Sydney the next time the two teams play, or the time after that.
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