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?
jmac
Guest
well it was one massive step forward for the club on saturday, but a large one back last night. on that evidence, MV will have a hard time signing a decent manager. with all respect to what these players have achieved in the past, who worth their salt would want to inherit such a listless, disinterested (and aging) squad? it will take two seasons to turn it over and sign the players he wants, and then another to build that team into something worthwhile. on current form, there is literally only a couple of players in this squad who an ambitious manager would want to retain. I agree re: muscat. the guy appears to run the club, and perhaps mehmet was not up for upsetting the lord of the manner (which would be the complete opposite of what ange did when he arrived in brisbane). not even musky deserves a 'testimonial send-off' in the ACL if he is no longer the best man for the job. that one decision, if taken for that reason, would preclude mehmet from the full time manager shortlist. and yes the fans deserve much better, if nothing else just in terms of basic application to the task. from the looks of last night's attendance they appear to be voting with their feet. It is times like this though, that make the successes that much sweeter when they come - as they will, one day many years from now, in a future we will barely recognise...
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Yes, you are absolutely correct. I didn't expect miracles from Mehmet ... just a better structure and organisation. But, that performance left me totally unimpressed. Sure there was a bit more structure, but I couldn't discern even a remote semblance of a game-plan. I don't recall ever seeing this set of players play so poorly in Melbourne - sure, our defence has been rubbish for a couple of years but we've always had a swagger going forward and looked like creating scoring chances. Today it was a laboured approach going forward; whilst the Koreans were swift and decisive.
jamesb
Guest
When your in the A-League you play one style, in the ACL you need to play another style which is conservative because your not fimilar when you play opposition teams from other countries.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
May as well use the remaining games to work out who you want in your long term plans. But here's the rub - Mehmet is not guarnteed the job - so there can be no long term planning and experimentation.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
It's impossible for anyone to argue with - the record speaks for itself - nothing short of abysmal. One can rationalise it this way - much of the MV plan, post season one, was aimed at achieving an above average rate of goals scored, and going for the win (risking losses along the way). You can justify that approach over a full season, but once you get to something like the ACL, where you only have 6 games to do something, you need to have an attitude that allows for a draw, no matter how ugly, especially when playing away from home. MV has never quite had that state of mind to do that on a consistent basis. In other words, success at an ACL, in some future time, might necessitate a completely different approach to the game, one more akin to Lavicka's approach last season, where 1-0 victories are the order of the day.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Well that is 2 hours of my life that I wasted - absolute rubbish. Some brief good moments when Carlos came on, but the same old problems under Merrick persist. No one looked in the least bit interested - there was no desperation in defence, no creativity in midfield and strikers, who were looking for the cheap ball rather than working hard - even Danny, whose work ethic can never be questioned - looked lethargic. What would prompt Durakovic to start with Muscat instead of Franjic or Ferreira or, even, Vargas? Why play Pondeljak? Carlos & Foshini added spark and creativity and Celeski was as profligate with his passing as ever, but he was not alone. Surat, Kemp, Brebner, Cernak and, even, Marvin couldn't pass the ball and their control was shocking. By contrast, the Koreans were silky with their touches and creative with their movement. Muskie has done a lot for our club, but what is he doing on the pitch? What's he trying to prove? He doesn't even like playing ACL so why not retire and let the young lads play? Quite frankly, if the MVFC lads aren't going to show any interest in playing in this ACL, I'm not sure why fans - like I - should bother to turning up?
jamesb
Guest
I think Melbourne Victorys campaign was over before it started. Gee, Victory has a terrible record playing in the ACL. Adelaide progressed through past the group stages twice with one of them been a finalist. IF A-League clubs are going to succeed, have a look at Adelaide. The key is you have to adjust playing in asia. Once that happens then you can play normal game. My theory anyway.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
And that's the final score, I think MV's ACL campaign is now officially over.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Jeju scores, and leads 2-1, that's the end of the line for MV
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
81 min 1-1 Foschini just showed some good pace to win a corner Arch getting caught off side over and over, on some occasions, quite unnecessarily Players trying to put ball in front of Arch over the top, fair enough, but please guys, do you know the difference between a gentle chip and putting the slipper through the middle of the ball??? a tip: the latter will never work!!
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
76 min 1-1 couple minutes of good pressure from MV, couple of good corners, shot from edge of box just over
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Carlos making a bit of a difference since coming on
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
65 min 1-1
jmac
Guest
given mehmet as a player was a formidable midfield enforcer, I can't see anything other than an MV side with much improvement in this area of the pitch, in terms of both structure and application. as you say, the return of brebner will help no end. whether it's enough remains to be seen, but as a first step in MV's long and perhaps painful regeneration, I will be happy with a side that at least competes tonight and makes life difficult for the koreans.