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The race for the Premiers Plate is likely over for the Melbourne Victory, with Sydney easing past Melbourne City last Friday.
The fact that standings at the very top of the table will probably remain unchanged by these last six fixtures casts a numbing fog over the tail-end of the Victory’s season. However, this should only remind the Kevin Muscat of how crucial it is that his team take advantage of their present situation; the weariness they may suffer in the wake of Sydney’s remarkable campaign must not hamper them in the finals.
The reasons for this urgency lie in the squad, specifically with regards to Marco Rojas, James Troisi, and then, for different reasons, Fahid Ben Khalfallah.
Rojas and Troisi were excellent against the Reds, with Troisi a snarling, penetrative presence, denied a goal only by the startlingly robust right paw of the Adelaide goalkeeper, 19-year-old Daniel Margush. He shot frequently, and mostly with accuracy, from outside the box, in the process proving why he has taken more shots of that kind than any other A-League player.
Although his performance was not rewarded with the kind of tangible product that has become commonplace for him over the last few matches, the fact that the Victory eventually bullied their way to all three points was in no small part due to him.
Rojas, in sparkling complement, was wonderful. How so many in this country must wish he were Australian, and how lucky the Kiwis are to have a player as poised and nimble as he. Rojas was a constant source of pleasing, bubbly moments against Adelaide, finding space and accepting the ball softly, using his body and low centre of gravity to shield it, and then toe-poking some subtle pass, or rolling a stud over the ball, caressing it in some unlikely direction, bamboozling his opponents and delighting the home support.
His crossing was expert, in particular one swooping example, struck on the counter to a haring Mitch Austin. It was from his own scampering run, feet barely imprinting the turf, that a foul was won, and it was he that curled the ball into the top corner from the resulting set piece, finally beating Margush, and yanking his team into the lead.
The whole sequence was emblematic of Rojas’s distilled prowess; a boyish assassin, with weapons more masterfully sharpened and wielded than almost anyone else in the country.
Ange Postecoglou was in the crowd, no doubt assessing Troisi and coveting Rojas. These two players have had exemplary seasons, and, with Troisi on an expiring contract, and Rojas now in his prime years, both are likely to once again attempt to ascend to richer pastures in world football.
Troisi and Rojas have suffered through odd, shambling journeys through Europe, Troisi via Atalanta and Belgium’s Zulte, Rojas via Stuttgart and Switzerland’s FC Thun. They both, eventually, have returned to the Victory unfulfilled, but neither have given up on a career outside Australia, and it can be safely assumed that teams all over the world are taking notice of their form this season.
Now, to Ben Khalfallah, and the curious case of his uncertain position in the Victory team. Robbie Slater, during the match call on Saturday, said he had spoken to the Tunisian, and had found out the reason he was in the stands while his team beat Adelaide was, in fact, due to the club not wanting to play him in a set amount of games this season that would ensure a contract clause is triggered, ensure an extension into 2017-18.
How reliable this information is is questionable – Slater admitted the conversation had been had in French – but one suspects Slater wouldn’t have mentioned it on air if he’d been unsure of its soundness.
Mootings of a falling out between Muscat and Ben Khalfallah were floating around before Slater shone further light on the situation. Muscat has been coy in the days since when asked about the issue, stating contract negotiations are always a private club matter.
The stalemate that has apparently festered here is just one example of how clubs – perhaps, to be more precise, fans of those clubs – tut-tut when disloyalty is shown by players to their employers, and yet respond with markedly less vigour when clubs behave in similar ways towards their players. Ben Khalfallah was a crucial piece in the Victory’s double-winning season in 2014-15, and has regained form this campaign.
Certainly, the eye-test alone puts him, in my mind, above the erratic and too-often wasteful Jai Ingham, who started against Adelaide, as his Tunisian teammate sat suited in the stands with his daughter. But no, it appears as though the club are willing to let him rot on the sidelines, to the detriment of the team, to avoid extending his contract.
It would be unwise for the Victory to assume that any of Rojas – who, it must be said, is contracted until 2018-19 – Troisi or Ben Khalfallah will be kitting up next season. Without these players, Victory’s attacking depth is gutted, and any potential replacements will be, as all new players are to some extent, gambles.
There is a clear window forming through the late-season fog, as we roll towards the finals, that a window exists for Kevin Muscat, one that will snap shut when this finals series concludes. Sydney have been the best team in the league this season, and even if they lose to the Victory in next week’s Big Blue, they will remain so.
But the nature of the finals means that the best teams in the competition are snatched up, scrunched up, and tossed into a fresh arena, where further – some would argue greater – glory can be had by any of them, regardless of where they finished on the table.
The Victory may well be a different team next season; all the more reason to strike while the iron is hot.