Melbourne Victory’s dismantling of Sydney FC in last season’s grand final was confirmation that Kevin Muscat’s side are way ahead of the A-League pack.
This team oozes quality, and Muscat has proved a more-than-worthy successor to Ange Postecoglou. A dynasty awaits this talented side and this season could see the A-League’s first treble completed, perhaps even a quadruple.
Four trophies are still on offer for Melbourne Victory – three domestically and one in Asia – and the ambitious club will be targeting all of them. The A-League premiership should be a given, yet their gruelling schedule may even the playing field.
Strengths
Where do you start? Up front is stacked with talent – Fahid Ben Khalfallah, Besart Berisha and Kosta Barbarouses make a frightening combination, and they are ably supported by Connor Pain and Archie Thompson (when he returns from injury).
The midfield looks strong and the defence has also been improved with the addition of Danny Vukovic and a fully fit Matthieu Delpierre. It is hard to find a weakness in this squad.
Weaknesses
Fighting on three fronts. Aiming to claim the premiership-championship double, the FFA Cup, and the Asian Champions League, the squad will be stretched. Injuries to Nick Ansell and Thompson have already depleted the stocks, one or two more and this squad could struggle with a heavy workload.
With a bright, quality manager and a mixture of grit and guile on the pitch, it is the only thing that may hurt their hopes of breaking records.
Big question: Can Victory finally progress in the Asian Champions League?
He infamously derided the competition as a player, but as a manager Muscat has undoubtedly matured and will be aiming to conquer Asia.
Victory have underperformed in the competition, only grabbing six wins from 24 games and failing to progress past the group stages on four occasions. This year, however, their first team should be able to navigate through to the knockouts.
A deep run from Victory to emulate Western Sydney or Adelaide United would be great for the club and Australian football, and would be well received by the more than 24,000 members.
Unfortunately, Muscat’s toughest decision will be choosing the right squad – one of Guilherme Finkler, Khalfallah, Berisha or Barbarouses will have to be omitted due to foreign quotas.
Key man: Oliver Bozanic
Mark Milligan’s departure is a big blow to Victory and Muscat, yet the club have found a like-for-like replacement in Bozanic. The 26-year-old will slot in seamlessly next to Carl Valeri and could even eclipse the exploits of Milligan.
Possessing superior attacking qualities, Bozanic will likely add even more goals to this side, especially through his assists column. The midfielder will be eager to return to the Socceroos fold and playing for Muscat’s Victory will definitely catch Postecolou’s attention. He also adds vital ACL experience to the team.
Youngster to watch: Giancarlo Gallifuoco
It may be a while before we see Gallifuoco crack the first team, with the 21-year-old currently on Olyroos duty. However, the versatile centre back could find himself partnering Matthieu Delpierre in defence if Ansell’s injury woes continue.
Gallifuoco captained Swansea City’s Under-21 Premier League side last season following an apprenticeship at Tottenham Hotspur. Definitely one to watch domestically and internationally.
Position last season: First
Victory finished top of the table and then swept all aside in the finals to take out the premiership-championship double. They were easily the best team in the competition.
Prediction: Top three
Kevin Muscat possesses the best XI in the league, no argument. It would be hard to bet against them claiming the double again. Yet with ACL duties their squad will be stretched, and top place could be out of reach if they make a deep run in Asia.
First five fixtures
Adelaide United (A), Melbourne City (H), Newcastle United (A), Wellington Phoenix (H), Perth Glory (A).
Possible line-up
Khalfallah, Berisha, Barbarouses
Finkler
Valeri, Bozanic
Georgievski, Broxham, Delpierre, Geria
Vukovic
Ins
Danny Vukovic (Perth Glory), Oliver Bozanic (free agent), Giancarlo Gallifuoco (free agent).
Outs
Mark Milligan (Baniyas), Andrew Nabbout (released), Nathan Coe (released), Jordan Brown (released).
AR
Guest
The ALeague hath no better media friend than SEN. During the first 3 seasons SEN broadcast live ALeague games for free. Theres always dedicated shows and segments. Even the 4 Diegos is still going strong with Carlos at the helm.
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
Big year Let's make a good start by winning the FFA Cup The close will be a test that is a step up from the challenges of last season, got to juggle title defence with finally getting through the ACL group stages Think ACL progression will be a good sign of us finally getting breakthrough as a club
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
Yeah that was a brilliant first half display, really quite a commanding performance Bodes well for Bozanic slotting in and hopefully an effective campaign Have to really give it to Muscat, he knows how to manage the psychology of the players quite brilliantly and gets them fantastically well focused
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Muskie is a much respected and revered figure in Melbourne, especially in the Western Suburbs from where he hails, and where you find more Maltese than actually live in Malta.
Justin Thighm
Roar Guru
They certainly still are the benchmark for promotion and memberships, already setting another membership record: http://www.a-league.com.au/article/melbourne-victory-break-all-time-a-league-membership-record/mzv6ehjegjbwzgxl2sm738y9 On paper they certainly appear to be the favourites, but they were favourites two seasons ago and didn't win anything. In fact, they have been the favourites just about every year. A few team changes, injuries, a tough ACL campaign, who knows?
JR Salazar
Guest
This year will be the moment of truth for the Big V. At last, they have a schedule that will test their mettle. Let's see how they do.
AVictory
Guest
Salty Sydneysider! :D
The artist formerly known as Punter
Guest
This is the mystery of sport, only time will tell, my gut feel is the Sydney radio Station 2UE was predicting SFC will win the double this year is correct. However time does tell us the English media predicting England holding up 'Bill' at the end of the Rugby WC got it all wrong. Good luck with SEN's prediction, shame they didn't break Muskie leg when they interview him.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
My gut feel is that SEN is more likely to be closer to the mark than that Welsh (on this occasion).
The artist formerly known as Punter
Guest
I have no idea, but I have a seeking suspicion that SEN is a Melbourne radio station. I hear Welsh Radio national are tipping Wales to win the Rugby world cup. Strange world we live in.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
SEN soccer experts are going with the Victory to retain the double, unsurprisingly, and they also rate City, to finish at least 3rd and even make it an all Melbourne grand final. The only two teams they view as coming close are the two Sydney teams.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Expecting big things of both Vuka and Ollie.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Muskie is being interviewed on SEN radio right now.
AVictory
Guest
Agree with Milligan, He was one of our most important players and can't be replaced, We will miss his positive team influence, leadership and his instictive forward passing and runs, however it seemed like we were missing him for nearly half of last season and we had the depth to perform without him. The mystery for me is Broxham, his natural position is defensive midfielder and played there in Milligans absence and in 2013/14 before Valeri arrived. However Broxham has also played as Right Back and Central Defender. Personally I think Geria is better than Broxham at Right Back and think that Broxham should be used as a central defender as a last resort. With Bozanic in the team to "replace Milligan", it will be interesting to see how Broxham is used. Broxham/Valeria Defensive midfield combination is more than competent in my opinion.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Milligan was a key player, for sure. But, the reality is Milligan was missing due to suspension, or international duties, for 9 (of 29) matches last season - nearly 1/3 of the season - and MVFC functioned beautifully without him. The player whose absence MVFC struggled to cover was the big Frenchman. Pretty sure when DelPierre started a match MVFC never lost in the ALeague. I went to watch MVFC in the FFA Cup against AUFC. Whilst it could be argued it was 'pre-season', the truth is AUFC take the FFA Cup very seriously. The 1st half display by MVFC (no Milligan) was close the the most perfect football I've ever seen MVFC play.
Philip Coates
Roar Guru
Gallifuoco isn't in the starting line up because he's away at the moment, but I have no problem with that back four. Right back isn't a problem while Geria is there or if Broxham can step in, but I agree that the back-ups for full back spots - Galloway and Murnane - haven't yet been convincing as permanent options.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Interesting that in the body of the article, Janek mentions Gallifuoco as partnering Delpierre in central defence in the absence of Ansell, but in the suggested line-up at the very end, he has Broxham partnering Delpierre. There's a bit of a clue to a possible weakness right there. Victory has managed to put an impressive line-up together because it has followed the classic guns and rookies guide book. When a couple of guns are missing, they will need to rely on youngsters, who are talented enough, but who may struggle to achieve consistency on all fronts if the schedule gets a bit too heavy. Furthermore, the Milligan/Valeri partnership was a rock solid central/defensive midfield pairing - Bozanic is a good young player, no doubt, but it remains to be seen whether he slots in seamlessly to the very flexible role Milligan had in midfield where he was equally good at both ends of the ground. People should not underestimate just how important Milligan was to the Victory's structure last season. A player with such attributes is not easily replaced. Right-back remains so-so.
Philip
Guest
With Victory this year we all know what we have got in terms of strength and playing style and all the players are now familiar names to A-League followers. It is a great starting 11 – usually with a solid bench. With Muscat’s addition of a hard press as seen in the grand final and the FFA match against Adelaide (especially first half), Victory seem to have lifted their game another notch and if they are fit enough to maintain it they will be hard to beat. The chasing pack – Sydney, Adelaide, Western Sydney, Melbourne City and maybe Perth – have all added new faces that come with sound reputations. What we don’t know is how well any of these sides will jell over the course of the coming year. They all have the potential to be right up there but potential can be a heavy burden for some. The first 5 or 6 rounds will be fascinating and I can’t wait for it to unfold.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
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