I usually attack football’s penchant for dismissing coaches before they even get a chance to show their worth. Yet I woke up this morning and realised something that I could not bring myself to deny: Mehmet Durakovic must go.
I like him, I do. I admire the passion he speaks with and I laud the way he handled the team in the Asian Champions League. Based on that I expected him to do a great job with the A-League’s biggest club. Furthermore when seeing the players Melbourne signed, my expectations became greater.
Yet he has failed to mould the team into a force of any sort. You will hear it from every Victory fan; they play with no cohesion or structure. Obviously the team’s failing cannot be distilled to something so simple. Yet on a basic level the observation does ring true.
In vogue in the A-League, due to Brisbane’s dominance, the very thing Melbourne lacks is a visible, technical and successful game plan.
Mehmet’s move from two holding midfielders to one in recent weeks is a welcome one. Likewise is his addition of a second striker but still Archie Thompson carries too much of the load.
The elephant in the room of course is Harry Kewell. It must be stressed his addition to the team was a board driven one and not of Durakovic. Therefore discussion of his poor form cannot be had when analysing Mehmet.
Whilst in an attacking sense Melbourne at least can rely on big names to play with individual brilliance, defensively there must be, from the coach, a tight formation. The simple fact is there isn’t.
Apart from rookie Matthew Foschini’s decent performances and Adrian Leijer’s one standout game against Brisbane, the back four which also includes Vargas and Fabio leave a lot to be desired.
Cohesion, style and discipline come from the coach. At the moment Melbourne lack all of this when they go out to play.
Mehmet, I am sorry. Melbourne fans will be cursing the boards decision to overlook Gary Van Egmond in favour of you – especially after what the Jets did to the you this week.
Mehmet, it is time to go.
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