No goals again for the Melbourne Victory. I’m not sure whether to be happy or concerned. Melbourne’s defense seems to have sorted itself out, and we hope it continues that way, although it appears the Victory’s attack force is firing one week and non-evident the next.
There is one reason why I believe we can’t find the net with such a consistency this season, that is, we don’t have a physically imposing forward.
Allsopp was our go-to man for seasons, and helped us to premierships. When he departed early last season it was evident where we were missing him. I believe we still do. Too often we rely on Hernandez to rip apart defenses, which although we all know he can do, can be difficult at some times even for him.
Obviously we are missing Thompson at the moment, even when he’s not scoring goals; he is attracting the crowds and firing up the team. Do not underestimate the importance of a tall forward though.
Ricardinho, the man who has been given our number 9 shirt, so much has been promised, and although it’s early days, we are struggling to see him make an impact. I know that personally, I have the utmost faith in him to start performing brilliantly and consistently very soon and am looking forward to see a lot more of him.
Although, there is one thing I’m not too sure on. When the ball is hoisted downfield from our defense, Ricardinho is made to jump to challenge for the ball in the air, and to his credit, he usually gets a head on it. The problem is, the ball often skids off his head and goes straight to the opposition’s defense and we are back to where we started.
Someone tell me, why a player like him, who we have been told is fast and resembles the play of Archie, is challenging for these headers when someone else could easily be doing this which would let Ricardinho be there to receive the knock on? Or if it’s so essential that he’s the one doing it, why aren’t we seeing our other players get in behind him to receive that through ball? Back in the day, Allsopp would jump for these and attempt to get his head on it, and when he did, Thompson was running off him to collect it.
Looking through the other A-League clubs, we see that almost every club has a forward with a strong physical presence. Melbourne Heart has John Aloisi and co. Adelaide has their Sergio. The Roar has their Reinaldo. And even the name Robbie Fowler is something all of Perth’s opponents fear. Then look at the Victory, sure we have some serious pace going forward, but what do we do when the defense outmuscles us?
Basically what I’m trying to say, we need to show the A-League that not only our defense is physically present. Sure we have our Muscat and Leijer who are constantly giving attacks a hard time, but where’s our argy-bargy up forward?
Our attack needs to be harder to the ball, hungrier for goals, and more ruthless.
Just like against the Roar where we managed to slam three goals past them. Ricardinho’s goal was nothing more than determination and hard work, and it showed that it prevails. Brebner’s was pure force, thumping it into the back of the net.
There’s nothing better than seeing an attacker legitimately knock a defender to the ground out of pure strength.
And there’s nothing worse than seeing your forward fall over in an attempt to receive a free kick and be booked for simulation.
Melbourne is sitting well at the moment though, and what I’ve said is only some points to think about. We aren’t losing, which is a positive, and we still have Thompson and Kemp in the stands hungry for action. When our entire squad is fit, I believe we will be a force to be reckoned with.
Hernandez, Thompson, Kruse, Ricardinho, Grant Brebner, Kellway and Mate, all in the line-up at the same time, we are bound to have a landslide of goals and we’ll all be on the edge of our seats. Hopefully.
mahony
Guest
Apparently he is fitter than ever - but something is not right. Probably between the ears me thinks.
mahony
Guest
I am a silver member - never, ever missed a game. The atmosphere has dropped off somewhat and the FFA have a bit to answer for, but to be fair, so do many fans who, despite their talk - are just soft.
Miki_MVFC
Guest
All valid points above. I am a PASSIONATE Victory supporter and in regards to the topic I think our attack will find its way just as it did last season with our mediocre games etc. As for the other topic discussed on this page, I honestly think that no matter what you should always be supporting your team no matter what restrictions they are or whatever is trying to interfere with that. Just look at Celtic v Rangers, one of their Scottish Premier League games had to be played behind closed doors at one stage and the supporters were so passionate that they went to a RESERVE LEAGUE GAME between the two because nothing would stop them from supporting their club and going to the derby! We as MVFC supporters should stop complaining about all of this crap and just follow the team ffs! Yes, I am as extremely pissed off as many of you are with the no general admission areas but we gotta live with it, maybe get a petition going or something? I think the ENTIRE south end (where my membership is) or half of it should be "active" and it should be a general admission area where you can get access to it ONLY IF YOU HAVE A SOUTH END ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP OR TICKET. end of
David Manuca
Roar Rookie
Brilliant article Agree 100%. Well done buudy. :)
Mister Football
Roar Guru
looks unfitter than usual? is that possible?
collin
Guest
no seriously it is. north terrace has been reduced to a tiny bay, why???? how can northern terrace sustain its numbers and grow when nobody new was allowed to come in. you wont just rock up to a game and say oh cool lets go get a membership there without ever trying it. and with member restrictions you cant ever try it. thats the problem. its solely the blame of HEM
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
I agree fauntleroy but it's important to have a hook at the start because the players are largely unknowns to anyone who doesn't have Fox 3. Also if I don't feel comfortable yelling something out and letting slip the odd profanity then there's not a lot of reason for me not to save my money and watch on TV. And this is coming from somone who doesn't sit in active support.
Fauntleroy
Guest
Guys I kind of disagree with this. Don't get me wrong, atmosphere is very, very important. But you talk about it like its the fulcrum of the game. By and large, it isn't. It is a key contruct of the game, a reciprocation between players and between fans that makes the game unique. But you seem to be relegating the actual quality of the football, or indeed the game of football itself, to a minor consideration. If it is atmosphere alone that is attracting the fans then its no surprise that they'll eventually get bored of it and that the product will struggle. I know people who had never experienced this type of atmosphere before. They went to a few games, said "wow that was awesome", but after experiencing it a few times it cannot be sustained as a spectacle in and of itself. The football must be engaging and worth watching. The millions of people who watch the Premier League or La Liga every week on their television sets don't do so because of the atmosphere - they're not even there! (now PLLEAASE...i'm not comparing us to the Premier League). That said, I agree with Collin and others re HEM. The concepts sucks and halted the energy and momentum of MV in its tracks. I too used to have a group of casuals that I would bring along, we would sit together, have a laugh and enjoy ourselves. They no longer come because its just a pain in the arse for us to sit together. But Collin it is passionate supporters like you that we need to stay in the ranks. The North Terrace is 1/3 of what it used to be. Surely this can't all be due to HEM and over-zealous security. What are some of the other reasons?
Phil H
Guest
Unless he improves significantly, Ricardhino's card will be filed under the long list of failed imports (Ney Fabiano, Leandro Love, Alessandro etc) rather than the smaller list of successes. I couldn't believe Merrick stating a couple of weeks back "What he's shown us is exceptional". Even allowing for Merrick's over-use of hyperbole (at most press conferences someone or other is usually "outstanding"), the only "exceptional" elements I've noted from Ricardhino's play so far are his laziness, his reluctance to pass the ball in favour of beating another defender, and the ease with which he's muscled off the ball. I'm scared of the burden that'll be on poor Archie's shoulders when he returns. He's not getting any younger and as much as we all love him, he is very capable of poor performances - when he's good, he's great, when he's bad, he's quite terrible.
Axel V
Guest
We got a our first clean sheet of the season with muscat... 3-0 against Brisbane.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I would agree that Muskie has probably gone on one season too many - but quite often, you can only know that for sure when you're in the middle of that extra season. I also agree that he has been such a towering figure at the Victory, a fact that is little appreciated by non-Victory fans, that there is likely to be a period of re-adjustment that could well go beyond this season.
David V.
Guest
No Muscat and a few clean sheets? Well I never... Let's face it. Melbourne Victory must start preparing for life without Muscat now, they should have before. Because while his leadership qualities are beyond reproach, he is clearly a liability in defence and may have played a season too long. Furthermore, Melbourne's attacking woes go back to last season when they jettisoned two experienced strikers, and then Archie would get injured. And you know that taking a few key players out of any A-League side means they struggle big time.
MadeWT
Guest
Melbourne needs Archie. He's the spirit of the Victory.
collin
Guest
if they did do that then our attendances would be 30k each game and melbourne heart would be 15k each game. active areas do more for the game than the afl-folk at ffa would understand. look at the bundesliga, ga behind the goals, cheat seats. this caters for the younger demograpgic. atmosphere is amazing which draws more families to it. like what happened in season 2. amazing atmosphere=more families, more youth, more people taking an interest in the game. i am not melbourne heart, i am melbourne victory but sometimes i find it hard to justify why. its not the love i had when we won the championship. ie when we played out the 3-3 with ccm and came from behind against adelaide in the semi. i sat in north terrace with a bunch of friends i brought with me. the feeling was amazing, the atmosphere was comparable to boca juniors river plate (figuratively speaking) and i took up a love with the club. then hatamoto came......... i go nowadays and sit in sheer disappointment at what could have been if hatamoto never did what they did
FKCZ
Guest
Yep they got the reserved seating thing wrong. Was very surprised they don't just have a GA area, say the whole northern stand and south end active as GA. That's about 7K non reserved seating that could be allocated to GA members and the public. Easy to bring your mates along and sit/stand together.
FKCZ
Guest
I'm a Silver member mate. I understand where you're coming from and agree but it's not right to blame the club when it's an FFA edict.
collin
Guest
would you believe that melbourne victory actually defends this policy. i rang them up, spoke to a girl called monica (really nice girl by the way). i asked why on earth is this idiocy in place. basicly she told me, we care about our members not random people. we have 18k of them and just because some of them dont turn up on sundays its no reason to panic. we dont want to make the terraces general entry because we care about the members and consider their needs, for example 'how would you feel if you got there and somebody took your seat'. astonished at this i told her ' i dont care if someone takes my seat, im an active supporter, the majority of us dont even sit in our allocated seat, i dont even know where my seat is i just walk over to where i want aka like the majority if active fans'. we dont want allocated and designated seats, this is great if your a family on the wings, but not for the active people behind the goals. If the general public came along and the active area sold out and i could not get a seat, I would be delighted. i would be so happy we sold out that area, it would give me incentive to bring more mates with me to the game and for me to get my tickets earlier. as i said, for the fact they dont get this, just shows how much of a disaster non football administration is
Axel V
Guest
I use to go to all my games with 4-8 people. Usually the same, this year myself and my brother became members, we have our very own 2 seats, but we can no longer sit with our friends. you need to wait for about 20 minutes into the game before it's safe to decide that no-one will sit in an empty chair, but then you have to spend 5 minutes walking around the stadium, and when you get there there is a ticket inspector asking for your seat numbers, the other option to avoid a ticket inspection is wait until half time....but it's not just the same as it use to be....is it, being able to walk into the ground together, get the same seats and not frantically look around for empty chairs? it's a major pain in the arse.
collin
Guest
if i am so angry about it, then what do you think 'if i goto games'. ive been going most likely longer than you and to more games than you. unfortunately considering how season 2-3 was compared to the rubbish they impose on fans now, its hard not to be pessimistic. a-league used to be amazing. best atmosphere in australia. the north terrace of melbourne victory on any day had better atmosphere than an afl grand final on its best day. look at the atmosphere now......... this is football were talking about, a game about passion, devotion to ones team, exuberance by the fans, tifo, pull over banners, memorable noise, memorable atmosphere. a-league is not real football, as much as i would love it to be, its a league with potential run by non-football folk who dont understand the game, its passion, its tension, its drama. all they understand is frank lowy's wallet. this derby will not reach the heights it should. if hatamoto never ruined the league, this game would sell out etihad within 2 days. all it is, is a missed opportunity. looking forward to going there and being told i have to sit down and im not allowed to sing. great advert for the a-league right there.
FKCZ
Guest
Do you even go to the games? I've taken 4 of my mates to every home game so far and they are not members. Plenty of seats in south end. NT active have 3 bays allocated to them. Not the club's problem if they only fill one. I hope you're a Heart supporter now as they're the club for former MV whingers.