“Socca? Are you serious? That’s not a real sport.”

Yahda yahda yahda. In the end, I managed to catch the first 60 minutes of the game before the pub closed up. By then, Melbourne were down 2-0 and looked hopeless. Gamba Osaka controlled the game and the Victory rarely looked threatening. It’s disappointing to see Melbourne crash out of the ACL with two rounds of the group stage left to go, but I have to admit that Gamba Osaka deserve their lead.

While I was gone, here’s some news I missed:

• 2nd Melbourne team may join A-League in 2009-2010 season
• Carlos Hernandez to be ready for Chunnam game?
• FourFourTwo also posted a great round-up of next season’s A-League squads, as they now stand.

ps. Thanks to Peter, who wrote the preview of last week’s game. Too bad his hopeful tip for the game didn’t eventuate!

Still no Archie Thompson or Carlos Hernandez in the squad (although there is talk that Archie could be back sooner rather than later), but we may finally see a match debut for new recruit Tom Pondeljak. Making way for him is Daniel Vasilevski, who has picked up an injury.

Merrick has also flagged some changes up front and in the midfield, with Nick Ward likely dropping back into a more central midfield role, replacing Steven Pace, who failed to impress in the previous match. The question then is, who will fill the void in the attacking midfield? An interesting possibility is Leandro Love. Merrick now appears to believe he would be more suited to a hard-working midfield role; “He’s physically very strong, he’s fast, he’s a good tackler and he’s good in the air. An attacking midfielder would, I think, be a more suitable position for him”. I can see how this mightn’t be a bad idea. Although Love has yet to score a goal for us, he has always worked hard, dropping back to provide extra cover when needed. I also wonder if the less physical nature of the ACL would work better for Leandro.

The other option for that spot is of course fan-favourite Kaz Patafta and this is certainly an option I am fond of. Even so, I suspect Merrick will give both players a fairly even amount of playing time. Who gets the starting spot remains to be seen.

On the Osaka side, an injury cloud hangs over first-choice keeper Yosuke Fujigaya. The stand-in goalkeeper, 34 year-old Naoki Matsuyo, came off the bench in the last J-League match when Fujigaya hurt a shoulder and could very well be the primary shot-stopper in this match.

With little to lose and plenty to prove, Melbourne can be expected to come out all guns blazing in this match. Let’s hope they don’t run out of steam in the final stages like they did a fortnight ago.

Ever hopeful, I’m predicting a 1-2 result in favour of the Victory.

The match screens at 10:00* 8:00 PM on Fox Sports 3 (Viewer’s Choice)

*darn Fox Sports website got me confused. Hope no one’s based their evening on this. The match should still screen again at 10 is my understanding.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPBNV4D-deE[/youtube]

The answer, irrefutably, is yes.

Two goals from Danny Allsopp and another from Rodrigo Vargas, on most days, should have been enough to wrap this one up.

But three wasn’t enough to beat Gamba, nor to get a draw.

The J-League side, playing their fourth match in nine days, looked shaky at the start. For once, our long balls were paying off, due more to poor Osaka defending than Danny Allsopp’s prowess. Melbourne could have been two up within five minutes.

At one – nil, Melbourne was surging, and Gamba’s backline was betraying them. But this was an open, free-scoring match. A delicious long-range goal from Takahiro Futagawa put Osaka back on level terms in the 32nd minute.

The first surprising choice – surprised me, at least – was Ernie Merrick’s decision to replace Steven Pace with Steve Pantelidis. Pace had been slow on the ball and appeared to be playing too far forward too often, but to replace him with the lumbering Pantelidis seemed illogical, especially with Melbourne a goal down. Why not inject an energetic, creative player like Kaz Patafta into the mix?

But maybe Pantelidis’ introduction paid off, as the Victory levelled shortly after, going into the break 2-2.

Gamba seemed to settle in during the second half, cutting down on defensive errors. Consequently, the Victory long-ball approach to attacking football proved futile, as Danny Allsopp would be nullified by two defenders. You can’t blame Allsopp – not much he can do with it – but I had to wonder why none of our midfielders were pushing up behind him, ready to pounce on loose balls. As it were, there was little pressure on Gamba’s centre backs.

The Victory did manage to go ahead, a little too early according to some pundits. The second Melbourne goal from a spot-kick, tucked away by Allsopp. But with 20 minutes left on the clock, Melbourne were looking tired. This was a game in which Gamba were supposed to be the ones tiring, not us. The introduction of Kaz Patafta and Daniel Vasilevski in the final ten minutes came too late.

In the end, 3-4 was a bitter result. Besides almost killing our chances of making it past the group stage (although the Chunnam Dragons’ win over Chonburi FC certainly gives us a little more hope), it was disappointing to see the Victory leak so many goals. How many times has Theoklitos let through four in 90 minutes?

Even more frustrating was Melbourne’s continued use of long-balls. The futility of these was summed up most poignantly when Steve Pantelidis, coming into possession after a Gamba corner, decided to send a long-ball forward – despite the fact that all his team mates were with him in the Melbourne box.

‘Nuff said.

Allsopp isn’t the only one with a fair weight on his shoulders. Rodrigo Vargas, given the job of marking Brazilian striker Bare, has an equally critical role to play, while Leigh Broxham is set to take on Bare’s countryman, playmaker Lucas. And Ernie Merrick is looking to Kevin Muscat to provide a strong attacking thrust.

The match has been fairly described as a “must-win” affair. With away matches in Japan and Korea yet to come, anything short of a victory will render the Victory’s chances of progressing past the group stage very difficult indeed.

Gamba, meanwhile, have had a hectic schedule leading up to this match, playing three J-League matches in six days before flying out to Melbourne early this week. The fact that they won all three of those matches will bolster their confidence; but the heavy schedule may take its toll against Melbourne, especially in the latter stages of the match.

With Archie absent, Adrian Caceres is likely to push up alongside Allsopp, with Nick Ward filling the hole behind them. Archie’s absence also means a promotion for someone else: fans may cry for Kaz Patafta, but my guess is that Merrick will instead bring on Steven Pace to provide extra muscle in the midfield and close down Gamba’s Yasuhito Endo.

Archie and Hernández accounted for over a third of Melbourne’s goals last season, so they will be sorely missed. But there is some hope, as our J.League Correspondent revealed last month: Gamba has major weakness in defence. It may also be encouraging to note that the Victory’s three goals in the ACL so far did not involve Archie at all. Let it be known, we can score goals without Archie.

My tip (hoping to be proved wrong): Melbourne Victory 2, Gamba Osaka 2

Your tip?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8×8Eb3l4Pzg[/youtube]

Chunnam Dragons 3, Gamba Osaka 4

Part 1/5

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CVKwpP-w9Y[/youtube]

Part 2/5

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cpXG_JQt34[/youtube]

Part 3/5

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k-ScgRGDY4[/youtube]

Part 4/5

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVed07kt-eU[/youtube]

Part 5/5

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdVTuf6MgXk[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APZrK2BDRvA[/youtube]

Gamba Osaka vs. Chonburi FC, 1 – 1

Part 1: First half

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwcjoV9xpi0[/youtube]

Part 2: Start of 2nd half, Chonburi FC goal

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APM2CzOc5VY[/youtube]

Part 3: Remainder of 2nd half except final minute

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myI2wxiEfZQ[/youtube]

Part 4: Gamba Osaka goal & post-match interviews (in Japanese)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeA33ty-PIo[/youtube]

City: Osaka, Japan
Stadium: Osaka Expo ‘70 Stadium (capacity 21,000)
Coach: Akira Nishino

While the Melbourne Victory kicks off its Asian Champions League campaign tomorrow against Korean FA Cup winners Chunnam Dragons, I decided to get a detailed look at our third opponent, Gamba Osaka.

For an insider’s perspective, I enlisted the aid of Soccerphile’s J. League Correspondent, who was happy to answer some questions about last year’s Emperor’s Cup runners-up.

Gamba have just won the Pan Pacific Championship in very impressive fashion, with an impressive 6-1 win over Houston Dynamo. How scared should Melbourne Victory fans be?

Not very. The crucial thing to consider from that tournament is that both of Gamba’s victories came against MLS sides. I mean no disrespect to the MLS when I say this, but I think Gamba Osaka will be far more concerned by the prospect of playing against a physically-aggressive Australian side.

With that said, obviously the 6-1 win over a Houston side that easily beat Sydney FC will make plenty of Australians sit up and take notice. Ironically Gamba were missing around six or seven of their starting eleven through international duty, so it was very much a second-string Gamba side that travelled to Hawaii.

Nevertheless I think Gamba are no doubt the weakest of the three Japanese sides in this season’s AFC Champions League. The last time Gamba played in the Champions League they finished third in their group behind Jeonbuk Motors FC and Dalian Shide, and they traditionally struggle away from home, both domestically and internationally.

So I don’t think that Melbourne Victory fans should be scared of Gamba Osaka – if anything the two sides are quite evenly matched. What will hinder Melbourne’s chances is a lack of match sharpness. That’s especially the case given that I think, technically-speaking, Gamba might still be a class above Melbourne.

Who do you think are Gamba’s key players?

Their key players are midfielder Yasuhito Endo and striker Bare.

Endo is the fulcrum of the side. He’s involved in practically every attacking move, and if Melbourne can close down his distribution then they’ll go a long way to winning the two fixtures. He’s also a dead-ball expert and he scored from a trademark free-kick in Japan’s recent World Cup win over Thailand. He takes most of the team’s corners and has one of the best passing ranges of any player in Japan.

There other key player is Bare, although that should be obvious given his four goal haul against Houston. He’s been scoring goals in Japan for a few years now – he single-handedly kept Ventforet Kofu in the top flight in 2006 before joining Gamba to become their top scorer in 2007. He’s not a particularly skillful player and he struggles when he’s man-marked, but when he has time and space he’s a difficult striker to contend with.

There are plenty of weaknesses in the Gamba side though. Full-back Akira Kaji loves to maraude forward and is susceptible to balls played in behind him, while teenager and fellow full-back Michihiro Yasuda is prone to defensive errors – so much so that Gamba recently signed Hiroki Mizumoto as potential cover. Central defender Satoshi Yamaguchi is slow to turn and could struggle with the pace of Archie Thompson, and his former defensive partner Sidiclei has just joined Kyoto Sanga FC. So Gamba also have several weaknesses.

How impressive is Gamba’s support?

Again, not very. Urawa Reds’ participation in last season’s AFC Champions League gave Australians a severely distorted view of just how enthusiastically the Japanese support this tournament. For further proof, see Kawasaki Frontale’s crowds last year. Their largest attendance for a Champions League fixture at their 25,000 capacity Todoroki Stadium was 13,507 for the second-leg of their quarter-final fixture with Sepahan, yet they averaged crowds of 17,338 in the league. That’s not an isolated case.

Two seasons ago Gamba drew 12,470 fans to their 21,000 capacity Expo ‘70 Stadium for the visit of eventual champions Jeonbuk Motors FC, but only 5,555 showed up for the match with Dalian Shide, and far fewer turned out to see them hammer Da Nang 15-0.

That’s not to say that Gamba fans won’t turn out for the visit of Melbourne Victory. But it bears remembering that Osaka is a baseball town, and that the Hanshin Tigers are one of the most popular teams in Japan. Osaka lies a long way away from the Kanto plain – where football is popular, and the new baseball season will be in its infancy when Melbourne Victory come to town.

Plenty of Gamba fans will be gearing up to travel to the regional derby with Vissel Kobe on April 26 as well, but the one thing in Victory’s favour is hosting Gamba at the Telstra Dome just prior to travelling to Japan. If Melbourne can draw upwards of 30,000 for that fixture, then you might see Gamba fans reciprocate the favour, although even then there are several J. League teams with far more vociferous supporters.

Be sure to check out the Soccerphile blog for regular reporting into all things J. League.