Doomed - the title defence is over
Sunday, 02 December 07, 04:13 AM · Comments(0)
Melbourne Victory will not lift the A-League title this season. The Victory suffered a disastrous 3-1 loss to Perth Glory tonight and without some first-half heroics from Michael Theoklitos it could easily have been more.
To the untrained eye the team is six points adrift of a finals berth with six games to go and a crack at every remaining top four team in the run home.
However, the team's form is telling everyone that Melbourne is not even close to the team it once was and astoundingly in a season where the standard has dropped in this competition Melbourne has been the worst offender.
It's hard not to have seen this coming. The bottom line is most fans - myself included - simply assumed Carlos Hernandez would replace Fred and our strikers would remain prolific. Manager Ernie Merrick was largely forgiven for our loose tactics and team selections not supported by fans because the team was winning. However now it's just a complete mess with the fans eating their own and the club in constant damage control.
The solution? To avoid humiliation in the Asian Champions League the Victory must appoint a new manager. Will this happen? Of course not (or at least I am 99% sure it won't) because sticking with Merrick through the hard times has rewarded the club once before. Another problem is there is no obvious successor for Merrick. Throughout season one it was Frank Farina who was dubbed as the man-in-waiting. Now names like Graham Arnold - the failed Australia Asian Cup manager - and "old football" Ange Postecoglu are the best fans can offer.
However our Asian preparations will be severely compromised by missing the A-League finals and an additional month of no competitive football.
The fans are understandably furious with just about everything. Team selections are the biggest area of concern. What of the "injured" Ljubo Milicevic? Will Kaz "the next Harry Kewell" Patafta ever get decent game time? How on earth is Matthew Kemp getting a game given he is at fault for goals or near-misses week-in week-out?
Until next time, try to enjoy your football.
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AusTeo
Melbourne, AU
This is the regular column for the Melbourne Victory of Australia. The Victory is currently defending the A-League title and will play Asian Champions League at the end of the domestic campaign. There will also be the odd comment about the fortunes of the Australian national team.
