A Melbourne derby will make for a fascinating marquee fixture to kick-off Round 1 of the A-League season, as well as an exciting launchpad for Victory and City.
Both teams come into this season with new coaches and perhaps new identities.
For Victory, this marks the first A-League season of the post-Kevin Muscat era. In Marco Kurz, they have a coach with a solid pedigree in the league.
An expectant fanbase will be desperate to see their team return to the top of the tree this season, and Kurz has strengthened the side to be in a position to do so.
The return of Adama Traore, Robbie Kruse and Andrew Nabbout, with the additional experience provided by Jakob Poulsen – who could prove one of the signings of the season – and Migjen Basha in midfield, plus Tim Hoogland in the heart of the defence makes Kurz’s first Victory team an impressive one.
Good enough to catch Perth Glory and Sydney FC? Not definitively, but they would have to be disappointed with anything less than a second-place finish.
But what about City? They have promised much since the transition from the red and white of Heart to their adopted City blue, but by and large been underwhelming.
Surely for City, this season-opening derby has to be about more than just getting one over their major rivals.
It needs to be the platform for a significant title challenge.
The switch from Heart to City cost the club its identity and arguably many fans, and their run to the FFA Cup final – while not the most challenging – offered glimpses of genuine quality under new coach Erick Mombaerts.
The Frenchman arrives with a reputation for being a bit eccentric, but with big promises to develop a much more potent football identity.
So far, from what we have seen in the FFA Cup, Mombaerts’ side will play an attacking brand, with creative duties handed to his compatriot Florin Berenguer, as well as Craig Noone and Jamie Maclaren.
(Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images)
Boasting a mix of youth and tried-and-tested experience, this squad has the potential to upset the established order.
One gets the feeling Mombaerts is still working out what his best team is and the absence of his two Uruguayan imports, Adrian Luna and Javier Cabrera, means there are plenty of unknown quantities – no mean feat in the A-League.
No doubt a major focus this season will be continuing to provide a sound pathway for emerging players.
With Maclaren unavailable for Round 1 due to Socceroos duty, Mombaerts has already hinted he could look to the club’s youth team to plug the gap, with 19-year-old Moudi Najjar and 16-year-old Raphael Rodrigues – son of former Adelaide United gun Cristiano – possible replacements.
Mombaerts would much rather have Maclaren available, but a willingness to play youth ahead of shoehorning a more experienced player into an unfamiliar position would be a welcome change.
Still, while the City faithful have become accustomed to seeing some of the country’s most promising players get regular minutes, it is silverware they truly crave.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
The additions of the aforementioned Uruguayans and Noone, plus Josh Brillante in midfield, and Scott Galloway and Richard Windbichler in defence means Moembarts has a team well equipped for the season ahead.
These two Melbourne rivals share similar ambitions but have taken different paths in the quest to achieve them.
Saturday night’s derby will provide a fitting opening to what we all hope will be one of the most entertaining A-League seasons yet.
fabian gulino
Roar Rookie
5pm timeslot is no good.8pm is more realistic
fabian gulino
Roar Rookie
it is a trophy that you play for,and the best in the world.
Nemesis
Guest
Nope. The 6-1 win was nothing to do with luck or misfortune. Yes, there was an own goal & a foul on the MV keeper, but they had no bearing on the result. The fact is, over 27 matches, Sydney FC ended 2 points ahead of MVFC with an inferior Goal Difference. And, another fact is Sydney FC beat MVFC with a shot in stoppage time that was going wide and deflected into the net.
Zaccy
Guest
In hindsight if Syd FC missed all those 6 shots that scored goals in that semi final MVFC would have be crowned champions. Hence your comments below; "The deflection doesn’t go in, the match ends in a draw & MVFC finishes 2nd." All goes well in hindsight doesn't it.
reuster75
Roar Rookie
The reason the bid changed from a Geelong based one to the west of Melbourne is the FFA strongly suggested they should change because they wanted to create more derbies. It was nothing to do with the Victorian government.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
He does look a very good signing.
Bruz
Roar Rookie
Craig Noone has been outstanding pre season, let’s hope he can back it up come the regular.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
G The starting date is fine its the ending date... its the length of the season... IMO starting after the AFL & NRL is smart... its just we should finish in late May / early June...
Nemesis
Guest
Agree. The table that matters 16/17 MVFC awful 17/18 MVFC awful 18/19 MVFC awful 2019/20: ? We'll find out in 7 months.
Punter
Roar Rookie
It's the table that matters 16/17 SFC ahead of MV by 17 pts 17/18 SFC ahead of MV by 23 pts 18/19 SFC had a dreadful year & was in transition & MV were much stronger with Honda & Ola were only ahead by 2pts.
Nemesis
Guest
How is that result relevant to the positions the teams finished on the Table?
Zaccy
Guest
remember that 6-1 in that semis ;-)
RF
Roar Rookie
The question I am sure I'm not alone in asking, Waz, is Why? As in travelling and scouting. In an official capacity for BR?
Nemesis
Guest
You live in Queensland and are travelling and scouting? Is this only for Melb Victory? Or are you also scouting the other 9 opposition teams across Australia plus New Zealand? Are you also watching Brisbane Roar's practice matches plus working a full-time job? Here we are all worried about how N2D will work with the extreme costs of travel, but we've got fans travelling to scout practice matches. Regardless, what opposition fans rate Melb Victory players is irrelevant. We've got 26 matches to perform, I'll use my own eyes to analyse the good, the bad, the ugly.
Waz
Roar Rookie
We’ve established I’ve been travelling and scouting, now we’re just trying to establish what you’re basing your opinion on lol?? ?
Griffo
Roar Guru
LH, I think the A-League could definitely start much earlier than now. I would go so far as to say that leading up to the NRL and AFL end rounds the A-League could kick-off, with as much fanfare as they like, be a few rounds in, have more access to certain grounds during the respective finals, and be well into the season with post finals 'clear air' as the A-League needs. Imagine The Roar in October then: articles on which teams have actually met expectations or not, new heroes being made ( :stoked: ), those that are struggling, and now talk of leading in to the next WCQ and which A-League players might make the cut with early season of match fitness in their boots. It can be done. It will require a readjustment of thinking about and deciding football first. Just do it.
Nemesis
Guest
And, Sydney finished 2 points above Melb Victory last season with a worse GD. The difference between to 2 teams was literally a deflected goal in stoppage time when the 2 teams met for the 3rd fixture. The deflection doesn't go in, the match ends in a draw & MVFC finishes 2nd. So, not hard to catch Sydney from last season. And, last season Perth easily won the League. They'd finished 32 points behind Sydney the previous season & cruised past them without problem with matches to spare.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Going on the comments, the sarcasm and some hidden pessimism, it's certainly time our season got underway. We really do need a longer season, say at least by four rounds. And remember, by the time we get a game in Queensland and Brisbane, Melbourne and NSW will each have hosted three games. That's rough, very rough imo.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
A bit early to be talking about catching Perth and Sydney isn't it, when everybody's on zero points? There's no guarantee they'll race away this year. My tip is they won't.
Nemesis
Guest
So you travelled to Melbourne to watch Melbourne Victory practice matches? I tip my hat to you. Let's know which practice matches you attended to understand your acument for defence scouting: Wed, 14 Aug 19: Dandenong City 0-4 MVFC Tue, 20 Aug 19: Oakleigh Cannons 0-3 MVFC Wed, 28 Aug 19: Pt Melb 1-5 MVFC (goal conceded was an own goal at 0-5 score) Fri, 6 Sep 19: Dandenong Thunder 1-6 MVFC Sun, 15 Sep 19: Western Utd 0-6 MVFC Sat, 21 Sep 19: MVFC 2-0 Perth Glory (played in Morwell, not Melb ... you made the trip to Morwell to scout?) Sun, 29 Sep 19: MVFC 1-1 NIX (played behind closed doors... did you manage to get in with a false moustache?) So, at the most, if you've attended all the open practice matches mainly played midweek in Melbourne winter, you'd have seen MVFC concede 2 goals in 6 matches. One of the conceded goals was scored by the MVFC defender from a bad back-pass.