On the eve of their season defining home games against the two heavyweight teams of the A-League, Melbourne Heart has become a team in search of some midfield steel.
It was only in December that they had gone five for five and sent their growing band of supporters into rapture.
This run included becoming the first team in two seasons to defeat the Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium, overcoming their bitter rivals in the Melbourne derby and humiliating Sydney FC on their own ground.
The young pretenders had become championship contenders as they rocketed up the A-League chart.
Three games into the New Year and last month now looks like a figment of our collective imaginations.
Heart lacked urgency as they succumbed to Adelaide United, they escaped with a lucky draw away to a fast finishing Gold Coast and were as timid as church mice when losing their second successive home game to Perth Glory last Sunday.
Explaining Heart’s reversal can be seen as pretty straightforward case of losing critical players.
During Heart’s purple patch there was only one change in the starting line-up with Wayne Shroj coming in for the injured Jonatan Germano. Stability was the key to their success.
Unfortunately, with the recent absences of Fred, Shroj and Germano they have also lost the steel in their midfield.
Just before last Sunday’s match against Perth Glory, Heart Football Manager John Didulica tweeted , “The average age of our outfield starting team this afternoon is 22. Very exciting.” However what the crowd watched wasn’t very exciting at all as the contest pitted what looked like men against boys.
Perth Glory pushed up and turned the match into a midfield battle. A battle where there could have been only one winner as the experienced midfield of Jacob Burns, Laim Miller and Steven McGarry squeezed the life out of the Heart.
John Van’t Schip’s puzzling decision to persist with Kristian Sarkies as a deep lying midfielder backfired badly. He spent the match trying to be Pirlo on P-Plates when the game desperately needed him to be more like a Gattuso and help screen Heart’s two young central defenders. If a player is not prepared to make hard tackles, why play him there?
Jason Hoffman, looked all but lost in midfield next to Sarkies and was subbed off on the hour mark. His departure marked the welcome return to the pitch of Germano.
The Argentinian’s introduction changed the tempo of the game and unsettled Perth Glory. Finally, there was someone who was comfortable doing battle in close quarters, demanded the ball, used it quickly and was willing in the tackle. It is the football of the streets and a joy to watch.
Unfortunately for Heart, Bolton’s blooper settled the match in Glory’s favour.
“Even if we lose the coming two games, which I am not expecting, we are still in a good spot to go into the finals.” John Van’t Schip said yesterday.
But, to make it worse, the club is also resigned to losing three of its best young players for a month to the Olyroos on the eve of the Melbourne derby.
They have already put contingencies in place with the imminent arrival of experienced midfielder Paul Reid; an acknowledgement of the need to add some steel and maturity for the battles ahead.
The big question is what shape Heart will be in at the end of February.
A finals run is paramount for the Red and White as they battle to win the hearts and minds of the Melbourne sporting public.
Athas Zafiris is on Twitter @ArtSapphire
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