The Melbourne Victory have dropped to third after losing 2-0 at home to Sydney FC on Saturday night. Adelaide United scored a 2-1 win over the Perth Glory to take the lead at the top of the table, two points above Sydney and three above Melbourne.
It was another poor performance from Melbourne. The short passes weren’t coming off, while the long balls were too predictable and seldom gave rise to genuine opportunities. In one word: stale.
The absence of Archie Thompson certainly played a part. Archie and Carlos Hernández combine effectively up front, helping to solidify the connection between midfield and attack. With Archie suspended and Hernández shifted into a striking role, that link in the chain was broken. Merrick has been keen to use the 4-3-3 this season, but in this case a 4-4-2 – with Hernández sitting behind Tom Pondeljak and Danny Allsopp – may have been more effective.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ZOb50PaEU[/youtube]
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On Friday night, the Central Coast Mariners pulled off a 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets, while the Queensland Roar picked up a 1-0 win on the road over the Wellington Phoenix.
1 comment so far ↓
A very short review Eric that tells us little … hmmm … much like Melbourne’s perfomance that gave the supporters little to get excited about. Hardly a serious shot on goal. No linking between midfield and attack. Poor decision making on through balls and in the last 20 minutes, as you say, just predictable long balls. Yes, not much to write about.
Hernandez is stale and looks like he has been carrying an injury the past two weeks. Ward wouldnt get a kick in a suburban school team. Pondeljak seems determined to kick a goal himself when other options are better – Look up Tom! Check your options!
The whole team looked tired and a BIG thumbs down to the ground staff for the shit condition of the surface. It should be getting better another two weeks post AFL season and it was worse than it was 2 weeks ago.
Three losses in four weeks! We need a win next week against Adelaide to get some momentum back into the season.
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