Victory thrash Phoenix in A-League

Fair enough futbanous. I don't know the answer, I only mentioned it originally because it's unusual to see a dangerous player like Carlos with 12 m of space in front of him to line up a goal. Generally speaking, he's got someone on his hammer any time he is anywhere near the D.

The Cattery There is a reason for the adage "seeing is believing". I would be willing to say that every week I've seen Carlos Hernandez playing in Melbourne for the past 4 years (his 1st year wasn't the best) he has created space for himself as he did against Nix and taken a shot from outside the box - as he did against the Nix. It's not always 12m of space - as you have estimated - perhaps, it's 9m or 8m. But, with the swivel of his hips he can wrong-foot the nearest opponent and set himself up for the bullet shot. It happens at least once every week that I've watched Carlos playing for MVFC.

The Cattery Not sure your question is directed at me, but will assume it is. Put up the video initially to illustrate the awareness & clever usage of space. However it does raise the question was the space allowed Carlos due to tactical error/slack marking or awareness & clever usage of space. Watch top strikers warm up before a match & they can do some brilliant strikes. IMO I go for the former.

That's because the tactic of man-marking is far more sophisticated than what it was 20 years ago. These days you are expected to both mark space, and watch out for different opponents in different positions, i.e. a singl player doesn't necessarily take responsibility for one player for the whole 90 minutes, but he does take responsibility for a certain player within certain scenarios - and I can promise you, one of those scenarios would be Carlos collecting the ball 5m outside the D - and I can also promise you that that never happens with him having 12 m of space in front of him - so there has been a definite failing somewhere with the NIx - but if you honestly believe that's a normal occrurrence (Carlos having so much space in sight of goal), well, what can I say - good luck to you.

I guess you don't watch enough MVFC live at the stadium to see that Carlos creates space for himself numerous times every game. You'll never pick this up on TV. I don't think I've seen "man-marking" used as a tactic in the past 20 years (last i remember was Paul Wade chopping at Maradonna's ankles in 1993) - other than at set-pieces.

Are you trying to draw an analogy between that and Carlos being allowed 12 m to line up a shot at goal????

It's a long, long time since I've seen Carlos given 12m of space to line up a shot at goal with no opposition player within coo-ee of him, either someone failed to follow instructions, or the manager had set up the back four far too deeply (or a bit of both, perhaps the holding mid was caught out of position as well, but the amount of space allowed was quite stark) If someone had been given the job of marking him, he's really not that difficult mark, he's very slow, and can't raise a gallop without losing his breath.

Fussball Messi & Co & space:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AiyUfxId90

Finding space is what tactically smart players do - it's what separates them from the lesser players. In the Europa League on Friday morning, whilst everyone else was jostling as a corner was about to be taken, little Sergio Agüero quietly, and without fuss, just took a few steps backwards and created 3-4m space between himself & the Sporting Lisbon defenders .... and, there he was - standing alone in the 6 yard box to put Man City 3-2 up!

Adam Griffiths training with the Victory in hope of securing a contract for next season.

The amount of space the Nix allowed Carlos for that opening goal was huge, more space than Carlos has seen for years, he had something like 12 metres of space to line it up and smack it.

Fuss, Victory in midfield were extremely good at winning back the ball, I was very impressed at how easy they made it look.

As I posted last night awesome display by MV... glad we don't have to face them in the finals .... the best I have seen MV in a long long time .... left the best to last ....

I too was on the couch on the Gold Coast waiting for him to come on, so much hype and so much of a story not to be excited about this moment. AND to come on at the expense of Harry it must have been a special moment for a lot of people. Boy we do have a lot of guys with potential coming through, even if only 20% make it we will still have a great socceroos squad in the next 10-15 years. Rogic, Davies and Tombides (get well soon), and Williams (Ryan) would make an awesome front attacking 4. Compund this with Antonis and Luongo as DM, boy oh boy, in 5 years we could be the envy of even Japan! Having said this, let us just enjoy the fact that we have a national league as options for these guys to play and develop (I know Luongo, Williams and Tombides ahve not played in the H-AL).

As a neutral fan Carlos Hernandez will be sorely missed if he goes. Carlos may not have been fit, fast, good at defending or always concentrating on the task at hand but I will long remember the name 'Carlos Hernandez' over the countless journeymen dotted throughout the midfield's of every A League club. I certainly hope the A League doesn't go the way of the NBL where the coaches gained full control of squads and started employing import players that fit their 'system' and filled a specific role rather than some showman that put bums on seats. There are such signs already... I watch every MVFC game because of H, Archie & Carlos - 3 players capable of the special moment. For exactly the opposite reason I find it very difficult to get interested in Sydney, Central Coast, Adelaide and Perth matches. Thank you Carlos for the memories. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.

The biggest change from last night to previous home games was the way our DMs won the 50/50 balls, pressed high up the park & were creative in their play. Every player did his job reasonably well & some - like Diogo, Jeggo, Carlos, Fabio - were exceptional. Only Foschini remained true to his form last night and played like a donkey - he can't pass, can't tackle, is never in the right spot, cannot cross the ball when he moves forward & his opponent gets in behind too easily. So much to excite the crowd last night: of course everyone will remember Carlos's bullet &, even if Carlos leaves, he's given me more fantastic moments over 5 years at MVFC than most players will provide in a lifetime. Anyway, who needs Carlos when you have Jeggo!! But, the thing that most excited me last night occurred in the 80' when a 17 year old kid, Julius Doe Davies took the pitch. Every time Julius touched the ball something happened. I know we put young kids up on pedestals too early but this kid has it all: technique, creative vision, strength on the ball & pace to burn and, given his background and what he's endured in his childhood, there will be no question about the kid's mental toughness. For those, who haven't heard the name Julius Doe Davies, I urge you to read this story and I guarantee you'll be hearing a lot more of this name over the next 15 years. Ref: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/julius-davies-the-boy-with-no-country/story-fn6bmf6t-1225943944046

Hard to believe that was the team I saw in Sydney just last week, they were truely terrible then, but quite a turn around.

3 goals from the top drawer from MV. Where has this type of performance been this season is the question...