For the third time in four years Melbourne Victory will participate in the showpiece football tournament of our region – the AFC Champions League.
Expectations were high heading into the Victory’s first campaign, and the club approached the campaign with much excitement and expectation and the fans came out in force for their first taste of Champions League football.
On the whole, it was a respectable effort by the Victory, finishing second in Group G behind eventual champions Gamba Osaka. At that stage, AFC Champions League rules meant only the top team from each group advanced to the quarter finals.
The Victory may only have won the two games, but they showed respect for the competition and averaged a healthy crowd of 19,023 across their three home games.
The 2010 campaign could not have been any more different.
The Victory, unlike their 2008 campaign, were in the middle of a A-League finals campaign and faced a schedule that demanded a lot of the players.
But the attitude was different; this time around the club viewed the AFC Champions League almost as a distraction, and the excuses were rolled out from before the group stage even began. Victory admitted defeat before they even started.
And it showed in the results.
A 1-0 loss away to Beijing Guoan was by no means a horror start, and it could have been so much different had Victory converted one of numerous golden opportunities in the final few minutes.
A loss at home to Seongnam, who again like Gamba in 2008 went on to become eventual champions, was compounded by an embarrassing 0-4 loss away to Kawasaki.
The Victory’s only win of the campaign would come against Kawasaki in Melbourne, with Kevin Muscat converting a relatively soft penalty. But for large parts of the game the Victory were under attack and had Mitch Langerak to thank for keeping them in the game.
The club’s pathetic attitude rubbed off on the fans, with an average gate of only 6768. In fact the aggregate gate across all three games (20,304) is only just higher than the average of their 2008 campaign.
The attitude of the Victory was expressed by captain Kevin Muscat after the final home game against Beijing.
“To be honest, playing in Asia, is not all that enjoyable,” he told Fox Sports.
“People going down left, right and centre, stalling for time, it’s not that enjoyable playing in the Champions League,” he added.
“I think it’s evident for people to see. Being involved in it and watching it I can understand why people don’t come and watch. People going down… it just seems that authorities can’t take control.”
It was an embarrassing outburst and one not forgotten by most Victory fans who are now demanding that Muscat not take part in the upcoming campaign given his obvious dislike for the tournament. His shaky form and susceptibility to the quick, crisp movement of the east Asian teams is another factor.
That brings us to 2011.
The official draw for the 2011 AFC Champions League was conducted in Kuala Lumpur last night and the Victory, who qualified as runner-up of the A-League, will, in a strange twist, face the runner-up from the J.League, K-League and Chinese Super League – Gamba Osaka, Jeju United and Tianjin TEDA.
Victory and Gamba Osaka have history, dating back to the 2008 campaign. The two teams played out a thrilling contest at Docklands, with Lucas netting an 89th minute winner for the Osaka outfit.
The Brazilian won’t be back to trouble the Victory this time around, with Gamba confirming that the Brazilian will be cut loose at the end of their current campaign.
But in Takashi Usami and Shoki Hirai they have two young and dangerous strikers, and if a play for Deznan Radoncic, currently at this year’s ACL winners Seongnam, comes to fruition they’ll posses a strike force that strike fear into the Victory’s defence.
In another little quirk, two of Victory’s opponents (Gamba Osaka and Tianjin TEDA) are from cities that have a Sister City relationship with Melbourne.
The draw hasn’t been easy to Victory, but it hasn’t been bad to them either. They won’t face the champion team from Japan, Korea or China as they have in previous seasons.
But all that will be academic unless there is a drastic change in attitude.
Sure, the AFC Champions League may only be in its infancy is a truly professional competition, but to show the disrespect towards the competition that the Victory did last year sends a bad message to the rest of the Asian football fraternity.
With the first game, a tricky trip to Osaka, just over two months away it remains to be seen how Victory will approach this year’s competition.
Australian Football
Roar Guru
But they did have to choose and certainly a tough decision to have to make, but they chose the wrong one..
Andyroo
Guest
I don't think they should have had to choose. The FFA should have helped them out more with scheduling. They had a home grand final in front of 50K they had to try and win it.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
AndyRoo- That is excellent analysis and i totally agree with your MVFC structural & tactical changes ... now, next step .... getting Ernie to read this and then act on the recommendations ... :-)
Australian Football
Roar Guru
Robbie-----I think that the ACL spot was won last year as you were in the Grand Final. Win lose or draw you were there. At that point your club should have made the tough decision and benched your stars for the ACL preference, to try and regain the momentum for the more prestigious, more financial rewarding tournament, as far as Australian and confederation Football is concern.. The Premier's Plate was lost, but you made the Championship to secure the spot for the ACL. However, then suddenly the Championship became the priority over the ACL.. Couldn't imagine that happening in EPL with Chelsea.. Or I should say, I would hope not, as a Chelsea supporter, the UCL is always top priority..
Andyroo
Guest
A quick counter attacking game (ADELAIDE) is an effective foil to a bunch of short guys playing a short passing possession game. Melbourne DO NOT PLAY a short passing possession game. Why would Adelaide set up to beat Pohang when they are playing MV who pose a totally different mix of threats? A fast counter attack running game is much less effective when your opponent does not commit it’s defence forward and actually revels in broken play and playingit direct to their strikers (MELBOURNE). Is that where the confusion lies in that you think Melbourne Victory play short passing possession football like they do in Korea, China and Japan? PS: You say AUFC are strong in Asia b/c of their aerial strength. But you also say MVFC has even stronger aerial strength … but are weaker in Asia! All very confusing to me. NO, it is ONE facet and it’s only a small part. Football involves a variety of different aspects and it’s not “team that handpasses good” vs “team that will never give up” that your used to :P Adelaide are pretty much impregnable to Asian sides in the air from set pieces, they give up a huge amount of indirect free kicks and corners but the % converted by the Asian teams is very small. MV on the other hand will eventually score if you give them these chances. It’s not Adelaide’s main weapon it’s just one of their advantages it has over most Asian opposition. MV have it too though but it’s negated by Ernie often playing Leijer (one of the best aerial players in the A league) wide rather than centrally and two of MV’s opponents had unusually good aerial players (Griffiths and Sasa). This advantage is proficiently negated in the A league. What I think MV need to do to be successful in Asia Get Kemp back on the field (they need the width) Play Leijer in the centre Play Muscatt as a defensive midfielder distributor or not at all. If they are still in the A league mix leave him on the bench he’s too old to play three high temp games in a week. Dugandzic, Kruse and Thompson can play together, embrace the speed (Cernak to come too). Obviously Ricardhino will start but give Matte plenty of minutes in the lead up as you will need the depth especially away from home. Pray Celeski stays healthy and gets back into form. Vargas looks too up and down this season, I would perhaps be making enquiries about Mark Hughes form the Fury.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
MV - strong aerial threat? You've got to be kidding. The majority of the goals we concede are from set-pieces - free kicks lofted into the box and corner kicks. In fact, the AUFC goal this season - in the opening 90 seconds - was from a header after a free kick was lofted into the box! All 3 goals Brisbane scored last w/e were a direct result of our shocking abilities in the air. Archie, Kruse & Carlos never win any balls in the air - every goal scored by Robbie K is with his feet. Carlos finally scored with his head earlier this season - but that's the only headed goal. So, I still don't understand ... if AUFC has a winning formula for Asia; and, MVFC has a losing formula in Asia. So, why doesn't AUFC use their Asian tactics in the A-League against MVFC? It seems like the easiest 9 points for AUFC every season? PS: You say AUFC are strong in Asia b/c of their aerial strength. But you also say MVFC has even stronger aerial strength ... but are weaker in Asia! All very confusing to me.
Andyroo
Guest
MV don't play a short passing possession game for which the counter is most effective and MV use 3 centre backs for most of the game. they also not only negate Adelaide’s aerial threat (which is poor by A league standards but strong in Asia) but pose their own (Leijer is a beast in the air) Short Possession game = scissors Adelaide’s quick counter attacking = rock MV Strong Aerial threat, a million defenders/defensive midfielders quick direct ball to fast guys up front* = paper
Robbie Di Fabio
Roar Guru
Australian Football, in saying that Victory's determination to win the Championship helped the club qualify for the ACL again this year, so it wasn't all doom and gloom. I don't think the scheduling helped, playing an ACL game against Seongnam two days after 120 minutes of football in Sydney and then travelling to Japan at the conclusion of the Grand Final definitely didn't help the club, especially with the injuries at the time. Hopefully the next ACL campaign can see more success.
Australian Football
Roar Guru
I haven't read the article----the headline was enough. Victory places far too much importance on the Championship then the ACL. You have to grow up, and realise the only two things that matter in Australian Football are, first past the post, (Premier's Plate) and the ACL. You blew it last year wanting the championship more then getting through the group stage of the ACL..
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
So, Andyroo are you suggesting that AUFC intentionally play some sort of "losing "style against MVFC, simply because it's the the A-League and not the ACL? Why not simply use that alleged "Asian style" - the quick counter attacking game - against MVFC in the A-leauge? I mean, if the Asian style is MVFC's weakness, then surely AUFC can exploit this weakness? If, indeed, the AUFC style is suited to Asia and the MVFC style is not suited to Asia, then AUFC should consistently be getting 3 points against MVFC.
Andyroo
Guest
I keep repeating – AUFC have performed exceptionally well in the ACL and MVFC have never had any difficulty beating AUFC, even when AUFC had the team that were runners up in the ACL. Adelaide's style (quick counter attacking) is more suited to Asia though. Melbournes lack of pace is what will hurt them in Asia (Muscatt especially), If Kemp comes back then that gives them the options to get around that and mix it up a bit.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Nice work, Dasher39. With the lack of depth in A-League squads, injury will - yet again - have a huge influence on the MVFC performance in the ACL. Last year we were without Archie, Kemp & Billy and Archie's replacemnt - Nick Mrdja - was useless. If we can get our best 1st team on the park - basically the squad from last w/e plus Cernak & Ricardinho - then I feel we can advance to the next level. I keep repeating - AUFC have performed exceptionally well in the ACL and MVFC have never had any difficulty beating AUFC, even when AUFC had the team that were runners up in the ACL.
Brendo51
Guest
Great work Dasher Agree 100%, presonally I love the ACL. Very happy to get Gamba, another thriller like the docklands match last time would be awesome (lets just hope we can reverse the result this time)
victoryblog
Guest
Nice article Dasher. I must say I totally agree. Asia is such an important part of Australia's football development and the ACL must be respected. I can understand Muscat's frustrations and in part he's right but he shouldn't have gone public with those opinions. As you say the competition must be respected and I think we all need to be a little more patient when it comes to Asian competitions. As frustrating as they can be at times it is the future for Australian football and can playback big part in helping the code to the next level in this country. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.