Melbourne City has always been the ‘other’ Melbourne A-League club.
Standing behind the mighty throne of Melbourne Victory, City (nee Heart) have been the underwhelming ones, a team that never fails to disappoint.
While Victory has been winning trophies, City has made multiple attempts to rebuild their team, with little to no success.
Five seasons of City football has resulted in five seasons of frustration, playing second fiddle to their cross-town rivals. In fact, to say that they were second to Victory would be a false assignment; City has been miles behind the A-League powerhouse, and four weeks into the 2015-16 A-League season, it seemed that would again be the case.
They had already been beaten by Victory in Round 2, and after a Friday night collapse at home to the lowly Newcastle Jets, letting a 2-0 lead slip away for a 3-2 loss, the tension around the club was at an all-time high.
Fans were calling for coach John van’t Schip to be sacked, and the players’ heart and effort were being questioned. Despite the sky-blue colours, the new signings, and the presence of superstar Aaron Mooy, City continued to be a letdown and the ugly ghost of the failures of Melbourne Heart still lingered.
Now, just seven weeks after that disastrous night against the Jets, City is sitting second on the A-League ladder, while Victory have stumbled down to fifth.
City have proven themselves as legitimate championship contenders, in a turnaround few saw coming.
After their thrilling 2-1 win over the Victory, City has now won four straight games, scoring 16 goals while only allowing three goals to their opposition in that same timespan. Victory, on the other hand, have only scored once in their previous four outings.
The derby win showed a new City; a team that isn’t brought down by the disappointments of their predecessors, a group of footballers with actual passion for the club and a want to be out on the pitch representing the City logo.
One of the main issues with City in the past has been the club culture. Players lacked the passion and heart necessary to have success in any sport. A losing culture floated around the club, and it showed on the pitch. Brain fades, poor play and bad results were all a by-product of a culture that no one wanted to be part of.
That culture has slowly but steadily changed since the City buyout, and this season it has completely turned around. The likes of Thomas Sorenson, Ivan Franjic and Harry Novillo have brought a sense of pride and passion to the club that has never been seen before. That nature in which the trio fire up City fans before the game, and then go out and show that same passion throughout the game, is needed to be a legitimate football club.
In order to be successful, you need players who are committed to success, and Sorenson, Franjic and Novillo have been this season.
Along with the transformed culture and passion, City have undertaken a metamorphosis on the pitch. They now possess multiple goal-scoring threats, and the back four, which has been constantly makeshift due to injury issues, have slowly but surely improved.
City’s attacking front of Novillo, Mooy, Bruno Fornaroli and Stefan Mauk have moulded together wonderfully to form an electric attacking front-line. Mooy has solidified himself as the A-League’s best player, combining world-class ball control, a football IQ unseen from others, and a booming shot off either boot. Fornaroli’s ability to use physical contact in his favour and finish with finesse in front of goals has given City a reliable front man. Novillo and Mauk control the wings, both using bursts of speed to kickstart City’s attacks.
City’s defence has featured numerous players this season; Franijc, Patrick Kisnorbo, Jack Clisby, Ben Garuccio, Jacob Melling, Aaron Hughes, Connor Chapman, Paulo Retre, Erik Paartalu and Michael Zullo have all had stints at the back.
While injuries haven’t allowed van’t Schip to settle on a consistent back four, the players who have lined up have done a tremendous job. During Saturday night’s derby win, City had multiple goal-line saves, holding off a vicious Victory onslaught. In previous seasons, Victory probably would have put at least four goals past City, but a sense of pride and determination allowed them to withstand the unlucky injury situation.
With Sorenson, who leads the A-League with 44 saves this season, in goals, City’s defence can only get better.
A power shift is occurring in Melbourne football, as City have become legitimate A-League contenders. There is no longer ‘one team in Melbourne’. Victory now need to make room for the noisy neighbours.
Savvas Jonis
Guest
So this site shouldn't post such negative views? You could address what I have said.
Bondy
Guest
Gee , that's a miserably pessimistic post, you're surprised that your comments weren't allowed last time .
Luke Sicari
Roar Guru
While I completely understand your point of view, I believe that one of the main reasons why City hasn't developed into a real competitor to Victory off the field is due to what has been happening on the field. City/Heart have always been a losing team, while Victory have always been a winning team. Thus, there is no surprise that Victory have larger crowd and membership numbers. Winning attracts people and it is hard for a new club to come into a city where there is already an established club with trophies. I believe on the field the gap has closed considerably, as City and Victory are both legitimate title contenders. With the form City are in and with the talent on their list, it is pretty hard to argue that fact. Off the field, Victory is still miles ahead of City and probably will always be ahead due to being a more established club and having those championships already in the cabinet. City will eventually get to that point but it won't happen overnight. In response to your “A turn around few saw coming”? paragraph, I don't think many were predicting that City would be third on the table and on a four game winning streak after that disaster against the Jets back in round four. The club seemed to be in shambles (again) but this turnaround has been pretty sensational. Still lots of room for improvement for the Citizens though, no doubt about it.
Karl
Guest
Doesnt help that City jack up the prices by as much as $35 compared to normal AAMI Park games and Docklands derbies. Victory fans are getting tired of being ripped off. Attendances have shown that with this derby and FFA Cup.
Savvas Jonis
Guest
My comment yesterday was banned, even though I didn't swear. Let me re-post it in a less 'inflammatory way'. I believe Melbourne City are the most illegitimate team in the world. They represent no real demographic. They have already changed ownership once in their short history. They have already changed their name in their short history Being privately owned means members have no real say in anything. They are owned by a foreign entity (or to be less 'racist', lets call them multi-national). Their owners have two other clubs that are far more important. The colours are completely based on the colours of another foreign club
AR
Guest
Interesting to see the Women's BBL has just kicked off with some impressive numbers. The opening women's game between Adelaide and Brisbane drew an average of 250k on Ten's secondary channel, ONE HD...and the average for all games is sitting at 216.5k nationally. Not bad.
Fiat_Lux
Guest
The thing I find with Heart/City/Derby articles is that they always seek to serve a narrative that a particular writer intends or wants to see materialise: and that is that a genuine second Melbourne powerhouse arises in the A-league. We've seen it happen in Sydney/West Sydney (for reasons more authentic and easily explained) and people want it replicated. I think it also comes from the tall poppy syndrome that MVFC elicits. That Heart/City have thus far not delivered on this, is a source of frustration to many journos and bloggers. It often clouds their writing IMHO. City could have so easily drawn or lost this derby. It's almost as if the divine intervention that kept the scoresheet at 2-1 has been taken as a sign that the football Gods now wish City to succeed. Perhaps this, rather than the match itself, is driving the narrative. There have been other City derby victories that have been far more deserving of a "game changing" status, but which never got it. "Powershift / make room for noisy neighbours" was bandied about ad nauseum after the innagural derby. We now know how the Heart story finished. Certainly now the feeling is different, but you could also argue we've heart it all before. "A turn around few saw coming"? Melb City is by lightyears the richest A-league club. The powershift has already happened. It is nigh impossible that this season or in the next couple, that they won't win silverware. And if they don't, they are bigger failure than heart. I have a problem with this type of ownership structure in the A-league and globally, but the FFA were desperate to see the second Melbourne team succeed. But ultimately that powershift has to translate to bums on seats and pub conversations. As it is, MCFC still have a mountain to climb. For all but their loyal followers, they are not (yet) part of the Melbourne vernacular. Will that come with more victories, and silverware? In some part. But other challenges lay ahead. When heart launched they were (in a press release kind of way) the "pure football" club that played "beautiful football". Which of course was absurd. Then it was about youth and homegrown talent. Which was not only unsuccessful, but discredited by their penchant for washed up near-retirees. Then Muscat came along and did the winning trophies thing with some of the most attractive football the league has seen, second only behind Brisbane Roar. The beautiful football (which never eventuated) gave way to "effective football" which was rather inneffective, the Heart finally stopped beating, and finally become another brand asset in the City Football Group's global brand portfolio. Is this enough to propel and sustain a powershift? On the field it should, because their advantage is considerable. But I question how sympathetic the Melbourne public is to this. If anything it has solidified MVFC as a more local and authentically Melbourne club - even though both are franchises. City may be winning on the pitch, but they are still way behind where journlists and bloggers so desperately want them to be.
Punter
Guest
Bringing in commonsense to this discussion is just not fair, you are playing unfairly.
FIUL
Guest
Not really, the Docklands Derby is MVFC's home game. This is an away match not covered by Season Tickets. Additionally, from where I was sitting the only vacant spots were in the South Stand which was only available to MelbCity members.
Ian
Guest
I didn't say obliged to. Whilst the atmosphere was a good one, considering derbies at Etihad get 40-45k, empty seats at a smaller venue I consider surprising.
Justin Thighm
Roar Guru
Foxtel ratings are on the slide for everything, no surprise. The bigger surprise is that the A-League ratings are higher than last season's derby, which is pretty good. There are a lot more ways to watch sport and entertainment these days, cheaper, more targeted and easier to connect to.
FIUL
Guest
Ditto.
Tyson Ho
Guest
Fuss may have re-branded, but the shtick hasn't changed...
Dean
Guest
Another factor to consider is the rest of the advertising dollars on offer for networks. How have other TV ratings been going for live viewing? With the existing and anticipated rise in on-demand and internet streaming, it's even more crucial that the FTA or subscription networks get something on the books that people have to tune in on time for. Sport is one of those things that you have to watch when it's on. Movies, drama, comedy, they can all wait. The pay deal for A-League should go up, probably more than viewership because there'll always be one network looking to fill that void. There's also a critical point where the sport can bump other prime time offerings. It's no point buying A-League if it will rate less than some reality show or panel show which is cheap and nasty. Ratings is important, but it's nothing like a linear relationship, much more complicated than that.
Kaks
Roar Guru
"As a market analyst, I find that to be fascinating." You're a pretty bad market analyst if you think like this "What has that got to do with the weekly hysteria over ALeague TV ratings?"
FIUL
Guest
@Kaks Yes, AFL and NRL already hold the Major share of TV ratings for sport in Australia & are market leaders. What has that got to do with the weekly hysteria over ALeague TV ratings? As I mentioned, for one major Tv sporting competition Foxtel TV ratings have been static during the current TV deal .. and fell 10% in 2015. How did Foxtel react? Foxtel just doubled the money it pays for that sporting competition. As a market analyst, I find that to be fascinating.
Bondy
Guest
The HAL needs Mlb Cty right in the firing line this season, I hope they do well picking more members up too. .
Luke Sicari
Roar Guru
I think it is more then just the derby mate, City have had a run of very impressive form over the last four weeks. 16 goals in 4 games is nothing not to be impressed by and the defence has held up in the face of multiple injuries. City still have a lot to improve on but when looking at the title contenders, between the Wanders, Roar, Sydney FC and Victory, I feel like City deserves to be in that group.
Luke Sicari
Roar Guru
Recruiting has definitely been better this year Steve. Bruno, keeping Novillo and Mooy, Franijc and then the rise of some of the youth you mentioned has been great. Mauk has really stood out for mine, I think his been awesome this season. And then City still have guys like Zullo who is yet to get filly fit. A big formula for winning, in any sport, is culture and a winning mindset. City have never had that but i think this trend over the last four weeks has been huge in transforming that culture. Big test for them with Brisbane like you said and then both Sydney clubs. Need to get at least two results out of three you feel.
Kaks
Roar Guru
AFL and NRL already hold the Major share of TV ratings for sport in Australia, they are the market leaders whether you like it or not, they get the big money for that reason. The A-league is trying to grow, and with that we need TV money. The more viewers, the more likely Fox will be willing to give us a piece of the pie. After they agreed to spend billions on two sports, there might not be much of the pie left. There is no direct correlation, between TV money and TV ratings, there is no ratio - but of course you already knew that. You are just doing your standard grumpy old hypocrite charade on here again - however statistics (which you love using for your own arguments, but claim any statistic going against your argument is wrong) play a major part in making a company decide on whether they want to invest or not.