Melbourne Victory will host Jeju United at the Docklands Tuesday night looking to make a fresh start in the Asian Champions League after they were thrashed 5-1 by Japanese powerhouse club Gamba Osaka.
Melbourne’s 5-1 capitulation to Gamba in match-day one of the competition was the catalyst for Ernie Merrick being disposed as Victory coach last week, and the Melbournians will be hoping that a change in coach, as well as the return of first team regulars Grant Brebner and Surat Sukha, will be what they need to get their ACL campaign back on track.
In their only other ACL game this season, Melbourne was picked apart by a far superior opponent and they were made to look amateurish in defence and midfield. Tuesday’s game could be no different unless interim coach, and former Victory youth coach, Mehmet Durakovic can address these issues ahead of the side’s home game.
If Melbourne has one advantage going into the game it is that both South Korean and Japanese play a similar brand of football; they are both technically gifted with short and quick passes being a hallmark of their game and they both favour wing play. Having never met Jeju before in the ACL, Victory should know what to expect from their Korean opponents having already played against Gamba.
Melbourne will be aided by the return of Brebner, who will act as an anchor in midfield, and his experiences playing in the Scottish Premier League will play to Melbourne’s advantage as they look to curb Jeju’s creativeness through the midfield.
Brebner’s return will also allow Adrian Leijer to return to his usual position in defence, with the Melbourne captain being thrown into a defensive midfield role by ex-coach Merrick against Gamba, much to the detriment of the team with the skipper looking flat footed against the run of play.
The return of Sukha should also help shore Melbourne’s defence and the Thai international will bring much needed pace on the Melbourne wings.
It will be interesting to see whether Durakovic calls Carlos Hernandez into the starting 11 or whether he uses the Costa Rican off the bench, of course it will all depend on the Costa Ricans fitness going into the game.
With the loss of Robbie Kruse due to a hamstring injury, we could also see the debut of Isaka Cernak who recently switched to Melbourne from the now defunct North Queensland Fury.
Although Carlito is a player capable of turning a game on its head through sheer brilliance, it has to be said that his defensive play leaves a lot to be desired and against an organised side like Jeju who rely on a quick and mobile midfield, Carlos may be a liability in the midfield potentially giving Jeju an extra man up front.
Jeju will come into the game having lost 1-0 at home to Chinese club Tianjin Teda, and the Korean’s will be desperate to claim their first points of the campaign by defeating Melbourne. Jeju boasts an impressive attack headlined by Captain Kim Eun-Jung who was last seasons MVP in the K-League, as well as new signing Shin Young-Rok and Brazilian Santos.
If match-day one showed us anything about Melbourne it was that the Victorians lack the skill-set to able to compete with technically gifted clubs of the ilk of Gamba and so Melbourne needs to employ a physical style of play if they are to keep their opposition off the ball.
Melbourne also needs to use a far more realistic formation than the 3-3-4 that what employed against Gamba to little effect. Whilst Melbourne’s attacking trio of Kruse, Allsopp and Thompson showed glimpses of what they could do, the fact of the matter is that these Asian clubs are far too organised at the back to concede cheap goals against the run of play.
Allsopp and Thompson would suffice upfront as an attacking duo with Kruse possibly playing deep as an attacking midfielder with Angulo that way the midfield is able to at least be somewhat competitive.
As for predictions, after match-day one how could you justify tipping Melbourne? However, a 5-1 thrashing and a change in coach may be just the thing to galvanize a football club and inspire them to get a result.
Perhaps through love, ignorance or sheer stupidity I haven’t given up yet and so I’ll tip Melbourne to win 2-1, but perhaps a more realistic prediction would be a Jeju win 3-1, who knows?
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