Melbourne Victory will claim their third A-League Premiers Plate on the coming weekend, excluding a major catastrophe.
The Victory can be seen as deserved winners in a season which will forever be splattered with controversy due to the Perth Glory salary cap scandal. Melbourne Victory have done what they had to do – out score opponents and gain the most points.
As result of this they now claim a piece of silverware, qualify for the Asian Champions League, receive a bye for the first week of the finals and as a result of the first position are now seeded first for the upcoming finals series.
How has the championship been won? Well, this has been done in a multitude of ways, but most importantly it has been won through the recruitment of new players and the performances of all the playing staff.
Firstly, the management of the team got the recruitment exactly spot on, the addition of seasoned A-League goal machine Besart Berisha as marquee was a no brainer that any fantasy A-League coach would understand. Then there were the not so well known players that came and made a massive impact.
Matthieu Delpierre was the rock at the back for Victory and has impressed with his expert timing for tackles and his impeccable attributes for heading the ball. Delpierre has won Victory games by himself and kept them in games. The Victory who have only lost one game in which he has started – against Newcastle in Round 25. The injury he sustained early on in the season could have been fatal to Melbourne’s chances, but as the competition became more congested Delpierre returned to bring solidity to the Victory’s defence.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah has become firmly a fan favourite in the league. While rumours have been churning around about his future, this season he has been a revelation on the left wing for the Victory. With five goals and nine assists for the season so far Khalfallah has been good, especially in a team where the goals are shared around. His general link-up play has been solid, as so have been his runs from wide left which allows him to cut in onto his more favoured right foot and create havoc.
The return of experienced nomad Australian players also helped in the form of Carl Valeri and Daniel Georgievski. Valeri – who has spent most of his career making his way through Italy’s Serie B and Serie A – has shown why he made a career in Europe for so long and why he has 52 Socceroos caps.
His expertise in running the midfield, breaking up the oppositions transitions and distributing the ball has been a key success for the Victory. Georgievski, Australian by birth but plays for FYR Macedonia, found himself in and out of the team during the middle of the season but has played himself into a starting berth at left back. His goal against Perth in Round 20 to gain his team a draw was one memorable highlight.
Secondly the management has gotten the best out the existing players who were already on the Victory playing list. The evergreen Archie Thompson continues to contribute with a total of nine goals this season in both starting and cameo roles. Kosta Barbarouses has played his part in the goal scoring with four goals and seven assists. Mark Milligan, Leigh Broxham and Nathan Coe have all played their parts with their experience in big games making a telling difference.
However the one existing player who has knitted this all together has been Gui Finkler the number seven for Victory. Finkler leads the league in assists with eleven and has also scored vital goals in the season at seven. Finkler is second in the league for balls into the box with 152. He also is third in the league for crosses with 144.
His two superb goals to win the game 2-1 against Central Coast in Round 23 were a standout, so was his double assist contribution in Round 21 against Adelaide United which ended 2-2. All these results ended up being vital to Melbourne’s assault on first place.
So Melbourne Victory enter the finals series looking for their third championship and with the squad that has been assembled the chances of them winning are real. The forward line of Berisha, Ben Khalfallah, Barbarouses/Thompson and Finkler, will strike fear into the hearts of opposition defenders. Coupled with the solid pair of Milligan and Valeri in the middle. With the powerful experience of Delpierre in defence, Melbourne Victory should be on song for the grand final.
Horto Magiko
Guest
Bfc Connecting the dots from Khalfallah to berisha to ange to the salary cap to policing the salary cap.. Jeez... http://m.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/melbourne-victory-signs-fahid-ben-khalfallah-for-two-more-years-20150424-1mrpx0.html Kalfallah states: "It's not just about the money. Maybe I can raise more money in other place or other country ...(but here) I have everything" In another interview he made reference to how happy his family is living here and joked that his daughter put more pressure on him to stay at victory/in Melbourne than the club did.. I also read another interview on a French website in which he stated that the facilities at victory are better than Bordeaux. It's hilarious that his decision to stay at MV equates to cap rorting for you. IMO the salary cap is a joke anyway. You should think so too, seeing that u can't seem to let the berisha thing go. The sooner we get rid of the cap (and FFA create an A2 league w pro/rel) the better. Cut the shackles, raise the quality of football, the teams that can't compete financially or otherwise will be replaced by ones that can. Let the big clubs drag up the little clubs..not the other way around. But I guess in the meantime we can all play cops and robbers if that's what floats your boat.
Damien Vella
Guest
Definitely agree with your comments.Would like to see Muscat coach outside the 18 yard box more often.this would open up Victory's game.well done Victory.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Your response sort of underscores why it was worth pointing out that in strict terms, and by that I mean how the FFA itself has defined the silverware it hands out, presumably with the concurrence of all clubs participating in the A-League, that the Victory has won the Premiership and is yet to win the Championship.
Bfc
Guest
Khafallah is the best player in the MVFC ranks. Berisha is (rightly so considering his goal scoring exploits...) the foreign marquee player, but Khalfallah is the standout. MVFC has just announced he has extended his contract for two years....they must be cutting some players to make room for him under the salary cap as he deserves decent money... As Ange noted...the reason why Berisha is playing in blue is because of the salary cap...the Roar could keep him while Broich was the foreign marquee player. And despite the obvious difficulties of maintaining a salary cap it should be retained to maintain parity in the HAL otherwise clubs with rich foreign owners (eg Roar, Mel City) could simply swamp other clubs. After the recent Perth Glory 'salary cap' imbroglio, the FFA should make it a policy to audit every club every season. It is not that hard or expensive as there are only 10 clubs...most major auditing firms could do the job will little effort if the FFA gave them the authority to access all HAL club's financial documents, tax returns etc.
Horto Magiko
Guest
NUFCMVFC "that’s probably what has set this season apart from the others," Exactly. Btw great news that FBK has signed a 2 year extension! Now all we have to do is lock down Delpierre.. Have you heard any rumors on the big French guy? We've also signed Michael Turnbull as injury replacement for Coe. Good to have someone of his experience just incase.. I can't say I've been overawed with young Thomas.. A bit nervy the other night v roar.. Could just be finding his rhythm..
Horto Magiko
Guest
Woohoo! Khalfallah signs a 2 year contract extension! http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/victory-re-signs-fbk/y33tegu1rzf01fat029wgxg0y
Ian
Guest
I think Batou is taking the mickey. ;-)
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
Yeah there's a saying that the attack wins games but the defence wins the league, that's probably what has set this season apart from the others, I recall there was a season where we finished third, had the highest amount of goals but also the leakiest defence and it made the difference This is what has helped Arnolds teams do well, and Popovich. As for Ansell, he is looking like becoming a quite steady squad player, doing quite well for a young player And Broxham has been an excellent utility over the years
Thom Davies
Roar Rookie
Yeah id say so, thats how teams normally win the league.
Batou
Guest
So they (all but) won the premiership by recruiting good players and because the players played well?
Horto Magiko
Guest
It was clearly a typo.. U could just point out the typo and save yourself some energy. It's obvious the author has slipped up, I mean the title of the article points to the premiers plate..as does the content of the article. And since you quibble over semantics..well therein lies the problem and unnecessary confusion caused by the finals and calling the winner of a 2 game tournament a champion. It's actually more than semantics at work here. God I can't wait until the 2nd direct qualifying ACL spot is awarded to the winner of the FFA Cup. Then it's as easy as calling them 'the cup winner' and we can then do away with this whole silly arf-finals business. In fact in the meantime I think the winner of the current finals setup should be called the "minor champion".. Since they only won a 2 game tourney..
Ian
Guest
I'm a monogamist and don't love multiple clubs. MV don't need to be loved by me or any other fan of a different club. You said yourself you want to shove it up fans of other clubs- the feeling is mutual towards Victory. This is normal. I'm happy you want to shove it up Brisbane. Comments on here lately by some MV fans towards Brisbane Roar fans is hardly a description of some sort of love-in. It's a two way street. And the playing list I'm sure you can figure out a couple more that have moved. It's also the size of the signings. Arguably best coach and striker in the A-League. Solorzano (at the time was our equal or so highest goal scorer in 2011) went overseas after Victory so it's not a player from Victory - and he came from Brisbane to begin with. Ferriera was a sub at best who went to Perth from Brisbane. So I think the comparison is pointless. If you use Solorzano I may as well say Kosta is from Brisbane - except he went overseas after Brisbane before going to MV. You should feel satisfaction in seeing your team win. It's been 6 years.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
"How has the championship been won? " Officially, the Victory is about to win the Premiership, the championship will only be won after the finals are played. I know people have different views on whether that should or should not be the case. But officially, and as far as the record books go, at the end of this week, Melbourne will have won the Premiership. The Championship must wait another 3 or so weeks.
Horto Magiko
Guest
Tom jones "On injuries there are a few teams that have had multiple injuries that would have finished higher on the table" Not necessarily..and although there's some truth in that statement the point here is that other teams haven't finished where MV have finished. Anyway we're not talking about other teams... This is an article about MV. We handled our business. It's not an injury contest but we did have more than our fair share of defensive obstacles to overcome.. And credit where credit is due.
Mazzalenko
Guest
Postecoglou and Trimboli are originally from Melbourne so naturally they would want to come back to work in their state of origin so you had them first good luck to you but at the end of the day they are Victorian thru and thru. By the way with the 'awesome' comment I was just saying how awesome it was to have some satisfaction in seeing my team win after putting up with the ribbing over the last 6 years. A period of time during which you guys have had most of that success but hey we have success again and along comes your mate Roary to imply to all and sundry that 'something smells here' naturally meaning MV and this seasons success. So Ian please enlighten me on why you hate MV so much and other than Berisha and Solarzano (yes he did go back to Brisbane and he and Feriera were the only ones who went to you guys from us off the top of my head) who else have we got player wise from Brisbane that constitutes your long list?
Bart
Guest
@Ian +1
Ian
Guest
And it begins. Here we go from MV with the hypocrisy and entitlement. A Brisbane fan mentions them and they erupt. Is this your real username or an alias as it sounds awfully familiar in your tirade. 'Fans of other clubs have been awesome towards you' what?.......Adelaide hates you ...which SFC fans are sending you thank you cards? Your derby mates at City are hugging you in the street? If you are feeling bad for having success that is your own doing. You don't need Brisbane to tell you you're brilliant. Audit every club.......yep - good suggestion. Including MV. Including Brisbane. Every club. It's been written about by more seasoned reporters also. Stop thinking it's a conspiracy against the 'Manchester United of Australia'. MV were not flash against a Roar youth team. Fact. You scored from a non penalty. Fact. MV will win the Premiers Plate and have 5 trophies. Fact. I'm sure there was a truckload of MV fans lining up to thank Brisbane whenever we achieved something. They were lining up to try and sign Brisbane players and staff. Solo and Ferriera......haha.......You are kidding. Solo came from Brisbane in 2011. Ferrierra is a fringe player. The list of acquisitions from Brisbane to Victory is astounding.....including Postecoglou and manager Trimboli. Berisha went because of 750k a year. Good on him. That's football. It's good MV fans like you want to shove it up us. I didn't think the 'biggest club in Australia' worried about little old Brisbane. I was wrong. You may become what you want eventually...................Melbourne Roar. Best of luck.
Justin Mahon
Guest
I think Kevin is playing slightly less direct than Ange (or at least he mixes it up a bit more) and he certainly out-recruited the Socceroo's boss. Fair minded people were always able to recognise through the red mist, Muscat was a terrific player, had a wonderful football brain and is a leader of men. I, for one, am not surprised by his transition to coaching. As a MVFC fan I am delighted a foundation player has been able to transition in this way. For a club of only 10 years we have a very sure sense of who we are and what we are about. This culture cannot be underestimated. It doesn't guarantee success by any means, but it is a great feeling and something that future generations of players and supporters will also benefit from.
JohnL
Guest
You gave Brisbane Solarzano? Umm... where was he playing before he joined Victory?
Mazzalenko
Guest
Here we go another sore loser Brisbane supporter.....just when Victory are about to gain another piece of silverware and challenge Brisbane for the most amount of silverware won, out they come with their bagging of our team and with wild conspiracy theories. Are we rorting the cap too are we? Upset that we took Berisha from your mob and we are having success compared to the 3rd place finish we got when we took Postecoglou for the 2012/2013 season? Apparently our team likes poaching everyone from the Roar too which is another conspiracy aimed at us from your mob. Sorry we only gave you Ferriera & Solarzano. The satisfaction as a MVFC fan in seeing my team do well and win silverware to shove it up Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and City fans has been awesome. Over having to feel bad just because we are having success. The joke that we have not done anything since 2009 needs to be re-written haters oh and Roary very soon the '36 game unbeaten run' will be the only thing you can hang your hat on