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Melbourne Victory's coach Ernie Merrick barks out orders to his players. AAP Image/Joe Castro
Dismal, outmanoeuvred and outclassed, Melbourne Victory has been a salient image of impotency in this year’s Asian Champions League.
With three loses from their first three games, and only one goal to their name in all five fixtures, the Victory have only marginally bettered the Central Coast Mariners’ pathetic two points in the 2009 ACL group stage.
Melbournians were given false hope of qualifying for the knockout stage a fortnight ago when the Victory narrowly defeated Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 at home, but Wednesday night’s nil-all draw against Beijing Guoan put paid to such ideas.
This failure, following on from Melbourne’s equally anti-climatic 2008 Asian Champions League campaign, means the A-League’s most decorated club is also its worst performing in Asia.
While I imagine most Victory fans are feeling a fair bit of disappointment at their side’s Asian failure I’m wondering if anyone is really surprised?
Two years ago the Victory looked naïve in Asia and were tactically exposed and it should hardly have been unexpected that history would repeating itself this time around.
Melbourne’s success in the A-League hasn’t come from developing the way the team plays, Merrick’s tactics are as stoic as his touchline facial expression, but from improved recruiting.
In the more competitive ACL, good recruitment alone doesn’t cut it.
Asian football has never really taken off in Melbourne like it has in Adelaide, but I suspect it’s because the Victory have failed to find any real continental success.
We might be nearly 12 months out from Melbourne’s next ACL campaign but history would imply that without any significant changes within the club, little will change.
A messy end to Melbourne’s Asian campaign, coupled with a trophy less season, means 2009/10, while not a failure, has definitely been a disappointment for the two times Australian champions.
If such frustration isn’t reason enough, the inclusion of expansion side Melbourne Heart into the A-League next season, will give the Victory added impetus to improve next time around.
If the Heart’s John van ‘t Schip proves to be as exciting a coaching prospect as many hope then the Victory could find themselves in a real fight on their own turf.
I don’t expect the Victory’s support to be cannibalised by the A-League’s newest club but there are certainly those who are up for the taking within Melbourne.
From the “in-house” approach to the Mich Langerak saga through to the poor performances on the field, this Asian campaign has again shown why many Melbournians are still disenchanted with the Victory.
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