In typical Melbourne weather – a bright summer day followed by heavy rain – and with the AAMI Park floodlights focusing on the two sides, Melbourne Victory opened their season against Warren Moon’s Brisbane Roar.
Stand By Me echoed around the hallowed Victory home turf for the first time in nearly ten months as the two new-look sides fronted the half-capacity crowd. British import Callum McManaman impressed for the home side and Dylan Wenzel-Halls led the way for the visitors, with Brisbane Roar surprising the Vuck faithful with a 3-1 win.
Melbourne Victory
Goalkeeper
Max Crocombe: 5.5
Max failed to live up to the expectations he set following his outstanding ACL performances, conceding multiple goals, of which the second should have been scraped away.
Defenders
Adama Traore: 6.5
Adama showed his vast European experience and his composure on the ball. He looked like he had an ankle injury late in the first half yet strung back up, placing numerous balls into the box that fell slightly short.
Nick Ansell: 6
He had a strong header off a crossbar in the eighth minute. Ansell played Dylan Wenzel-Halls onside, leading to Brisbane Roar’s opener, but he began to look slightly nervy in the second half, with Brisbane’s dependency on counterattacking football startling both Aaron Anderson and Ansell.
Aaron Anderson: 6.5
Anderson looked slightly nervy, with some launching through balls failing to meet Marco Rojas on the left. He was unfortunate for his fiery header to not find the back of the net in the 34th minute.
Storm Roux: 6.5
Storm, like much of the Victory back line, proved confident in defence, illustrating his dedication in multitudes of situations. He played an outstanding cross to Jake Brimmer in the 41st minute that was unfortunately not capitalised on.
Midfielders
Leigh Broxham: 6.5
The veteran looked strong in most facets of the game, controlling the midfield and making his captaincy felt in the middle of the park.
Jacob Butterfield: 6.5
Another one of the British imports, Butterfield displayed plenty of tenacity in midfield, showing composure and moving the ball with assurance.
Jake Brimmer: 7
He looked comfortable in front of his Victory brethren. He and Callum McManaman formed an elite partnership, trading balls with ease. His 23rd-minute set piece was driven too low, yet as the game progressed his set pieces gradually improved. His glaring chance in the 41st minute led to a perceived goal lost for the Victory as they had the opportunity to go 2-1 up. As with much of the Victory contingent, he failed to deliver in the second half.
Attackers
Callum McManaman: 7.5
He scored one of the greatest debut goals in recent A-League memory. Top left corner. Sublime. However, McManaman’s A-League debut for the Vuck began with him earning a set piece in the second minute, with the FA Cup hero impressing with his dazzling footwork on the right side of the pitch. He went down for a penalty shout in the ninth minute as his footwork and experience proved lethal in the opening stages. He was effective in reading Brisbane’s midfield play, intercepting the ball in many instances. However, he dropped off in the second half, struggling to penetrate the Brisbane defence.
Marco Rojas: 6.5
Marco is believed to have succumbed a hamstring niggle early in the contest, entering the fray again only late in the first half. He held up play effectively, displaying his vision. Despite glimpses of quality, he went down in the 71st minute, leading to his substitution.
Ben Folami: 5.5
On his A-League debut Folami struggled to latch onto the midfield balls early in the first half, albeit earning a corner in the 20th minute.
Substitutes
Rudy Gestede: 5.5
Jay Barnett: 5.5
Elvis Kamsoba: 6
Brisbane Roar
Goalkeeper
Jamie Young: 6
Young demonstrated his veteran status with plenty of moments when he was under pressure. Excepting an unsavable strike for McManaman in the 25th minute, he showed his composure and was largely untroubled in the second half.
Defenders
Jack Hingert: 6.5
Like much of the Brisbane defence, he effectively pushed away the Victory attacks. He played a strong sliding tackle in the 52nd minute. Collectively, the defensive line Brisbane held in the second half was outstanding.
Tom Aldred: 7
He was able to effectively lead from the back with an abundance of headed clearances. He contributed to an immensely strong and impenetrable defence in the second half.
Macaulay Gillesphey: 6.5
Gillesphey possessed a commanding presence in the opening stages, playing several thorough balls to the right side of the pitch. Gillesphey scored the third goal, with a well-timed header beating Max Crocombe in the second half.
Corey Brown: 6.5
Facing his old side, Corey’s nerves showed as he failed to latch onto a ball in the third minute. He was lucky for a 16th-minute cross to be called as onside against the general run of play, with VAR overturning the linesman’s initial call. However, he contributed to the positive instances of play in the second half, leading to Brisbane’s victory.
Midfielders
Riku Danzaki: 7
The Japanese midfielder was excellent in transition, moving the ball with ease. He played a delightful ball to Joey Champness on the right side in the 42nd minute, showing his skills despite his innumerable amount of senior football.
Jay O’Shea: 6.5
In a game of European experience, his high ball failed to reach Wenzel-Halls in the 11th minute. He looked tenacious in the middle of the park, delivering during the second half.
Rahmat Akbari: 7
The Olyroos aspirant and former Victory loanee flushed a shot high in the sixth minute and looked slightly nervy in the orange of the Roar. He was unlucky to slot it in the bottom right corner in the 74th minute but impressed in the midfield.
Joey Champness: 6
It was Joey’s plan to perform off the back of the loss midweek to Melbourne City by providing plenty of width to play with. Champness attempted to utilise his trickery in the midst of a through ball played to him by Danzaki in the 42nd minute, where several step-overs eventuated in a scuffed shot for the former Newcastle attacker.
Attackers:
Dylan Wenzel-Halls: 8
Wenzel-Halls, like most of the Brisbane attacking contingent, proved comfortable across the front line yet were unable to penetrate the area despite the early goal in the first half. Gliding brilliantly into the box in the 62nd minute, he was unfortunate not to finish in the bottom-left corner. His composure improved into the second half, and he was extremely comfortable on the ball. He slid past the Victory defenders with ease and proved lethal with a strike in the 79th minute to kill Victory’s hopes of an opening win.
Scott McDonald: 6.5
McDonald looked tidy in the middle of the park, playing deeper than Wenzel-Halls in many instances as his minor headers assisted Wenzel-Halls in his striking abilities.
Substitutes:
Jesse Daley: N/A
The former USL and NPL Victoria product looked comfortable in his A-League return, playing numerous reliable balls in the attacking areas of the pitch.
Jai Ingham and Alexander Parsons: N/A
jbinnie
Guest
No mates - There is a problem in our game at the top level and it has little to do with what you describe as "long ball". (I take it you are referring to the hefty punt that set up DWH for his well taken goal against 3 defenders.) The flaw I am referring to in our game is the amount of no doubt well intentioned passes that never do reach a teammate. The percentage of these misdirected passes is still far too high in our game and this in itself leads to more than normal midfield action, hardly what one could describe as "attacking" or ' entertaining" football. Watch the game minutely and you may get a surprise at the amount of "turnover". Cheers jb
NoMates
Guest
Look Roar are still playing longball and its boring but it was good to see them smash Victory on the road and its always awesome to see DWH net some individual brilliance goal.
jbinnie
Guest
Lionheart -Having always been an admirer of Brattan I did not select him in my "team" simply due to the nature of his leaving the club (money) and the amount of "travel" he has since incurred, those things not affecting my opinion of him as a player.(I thought he was outstanding in the game against Wellington). By the way I did include Kruse in that selection and de Vere also starred in that game so no argument from me there. It was your "shown the door" remark that I was chasing. Who actually assesses the players, for to compare say Franic and Zullo with Hingert and Brown as attacking fullbacks is a "no brainer" and yet we are to believe that both these players were not even approached when they returned from overseas. Why not????? Makes one wonder who makes these decisions. Re Warren Moon. I keep my thoughts to myself re his performance. He has not been long enough in the job to gain the necessary experience in assessing the huge difference in standard between NPL and A-League. Lets give the lad some time and hope his decision making remains upbeat as his experience grows. Cheers jb.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Cheers JB, and you left out the Rochedale kid Brattan, the Mitchelton lad Kruse, and DeVere. I believe that apart from a couple, like Berisha and Brats, the majority of those players were shown the door JB. Aloisi rather strangely released a whole generation of youngsters, and Fowler released even more. I don't know why, because the replacements they recruited were definitely a step down, or just didn't work under their system (Mauk for example, who is a class player and gave his best, and Tongyik). Moon has faith in local talent, he said that and his selections show that, and that has to be a good thing for football in QLD. I think the answer to the question you ask lies largely with our choice of coach in the post-Postecoglou era, and I'm thinking we've taken a positive step with our current choice. Let's hope there's no one working in the background to sack him.
jbinnie
Guest
Lionheart - Have you ever stopped and asked the question "why are so many ex-Roar players playing against their old club with other A-League teams?". Without too much trouble I could pick a very workmanlike team out of my memory Goal Redmayne (Sydney) Franjic, Tongyic, Jackson,Zullo, O'Neil, Mauk, Caletti, Barbarouses, Berisha, and Kruse. Reserves could have come from O'Donovan, Taggart, Halloran, Yeboah, Petratos and youngsters, Nigro, Barnett, McGing, and O'Toole filling any gaps I'm quite sure you could add a few more but the question remains, why did Roar not either keep these players or conversely manage to lure them back???? Answer that and you may get an answer to your observation. Cheers jb. .
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
agree. Lots of bias, even this article spells out player z former MV, player B former NPLV and et al, no mention they are all now back home in Brisbane, where they started. They get up my nose, but then I guess, many of us (me definitely) can be biased and I do love to see AAMI Stadium alive and packing them in. Only MV can do that, I wish them well (but not that well).
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
True and I was expecting a lot more from them TBH. I don't mind the Victory struggling, and do not believe what the East Coast media try and spin, that the league needs a strong Melbourne Victory. Would love to see them struggle all season long, nothing gives me greater pleasure than hearing the excuses they 'spew' out when things don't go to plan.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
it is two games, but three clubs, MV included, have the ACL group matches behind them. They should be attuned by now.
Neal Symons
Roar Rookie
Adelaide's performance yesterday was outstanding and I for one cannot wait to see how the season transpires for them. Thank you for the advice, it is highly and much appreciated. This will help myself improve in the future!
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
Having watched the game on the ‘box’ I thought the author has been very generous towards some of the Victory playing staff. Where did this VUCK come from? To be fair it is only two games in for most players and I’m certain many will improve over the coming months. Victory’s visit to Hindmarsh in a couple of weeks time will be a match much anticipated by many and we hope the Victory supporters turn up like their cousins from City did yesterday. Hopefully by then their team will have improved somewhat.
jbinnie
Guest
Warren Moon is correct in singling out the introduction of Daley as the big difference between first half and second halves but his reasoning is a bit hard to follow. Daley, with his hard running , hard tackling style, added something to Roar's performance that has been absent since the days of Murdocca. Why it had such an impact is easy to work out. Yes it took some pressure off Roar's playmaker O'Neal but it also has to be noted that in using Daley in that role he had replaced, not another midfielder, but a conventional type winger in Champness. Thus the impact should be measured in how Daley's inclusion changed the Roar's dynamic, not in up front terms but in midfield control. The writer of this article noticed how McManaman faded in the second half after (in his words) dominating Roar's midfield in the first half, I think Daley's inclusion went a long way towards making that happen. Cheers jb