With a third of the season almost done, I thought I’d pop in to share my thoughts on how the mighty Victory are faring this year.

The Equilibrium Shattered: Danny Allsopp leaves, Billy Celeski injured

Melbourne came into this season with a stable squad, with just one new face. For a side that normally signs at least 3 or 4 a season, this was quite remarkable. Keeping a stable lineup has its advantages of course, but it can also make a team predictable. Whether that was part of the reason for Melbourne’s sluggish start to the season, I’m not sure. What’s clear is that Kevin Muscat’s injury earlier this season, Danny Allsopp’s departure and the season-ending injury to Billy Celeski has shattered that stability and forced the club to turn to the players market.

So far, the signings have paid off. Bringing back Adrian Leijer was a brilliant and timely coup. The purchase of Robbie Kruse had me buzzing for days, though last weekend was the most we’ve seen of the youngster so far — and even then he seemed to be struggling with the dust quite a bit. Mate Dugandzic impressed against the Gold Coast with a remarkably self-assured performance. With Costa Rican international Marvin Angulo set to join the club this week, and Thai international Sutee Suksomkit also due to arrive soon, Ernie Merrick looks to have plenty of talent at his disposal. Finding a structure that works cohesively will be his biggest challenge in the coming weeks.

The Return of Kevin Muscat

It has surprised me how much Kevin Muscat’s return has impacted the team. I for one thought Muscat had a poor season last year and expected him to hang up the boots, but it was painfully clear in his absence how leaderless and frail Melbourne looked. Granted, we’d also just lost Allsopp and Celeski, so everything was a bit topsy-turvy anyway, but Muscat’s return played no small part in our wins against Adelaide and Gold Coast. How we cope when he does decide to retire is going to be a very big challenge.

Carlos Hernández: Our greatest import ever?

Do you think he’s the best player we’ve ever had? If it came down to it, who would you rather field: Carlos Hernández or Fred?

With the way Hernández is playing right now, I think he’s the best player we’ve ever seen in Victory colours. Four goals in eight matches, every one of them a beauty. If he gets through this season un-injured, I have no doubt that we’ll finish in the top 3.

Here’s some news items you may have missed during the week:

• Kaz Patafta: Released by Benfica, under-utilised by the Melbourne Victory, young Kaz runs to the wide open arms of Gary Van Egmond.
• Mark Byrnes: The former Victory player has signed a short-term deal with Apia Leichardt in the NSW Premier League. He’s hoping to make his way back into the A-League.
• A-League expansion: There are plenty of people jostling for a piece of the pie, with no less than three Melbourne teams hoping to become the second Melbourne club. Meanwhile, billionaire Clive Palmer has thwarted the Gold Coast Galaxy franchise, wooing the FFA with his own – more lucrative – club, Gold Coast United, which he hopes will become the new Bling FC.
• Carlos Hernández: The injury he picked up against Juventus has forced him to forego a spot in the Costa Rican World Cup qualifying squad.

For all the latest news, you can follow two other feeds I’m updating simultaneously throughout the week. If you’re on Twitter, follow my profile. Otherwise, this page is updating regularly and has an RSS feed.

Ernie Merrick said:

“It was just one of those training incidents with no one near him. He turned and his foot got stuck and twisted his knee.”

Six weeks means that the Costa Rican will miss Melbourne’s first three matches in the Asian Champions League.

Hernández’ absence will be sorely felt. His form at the end of the season was excellent, earning him a call-up to the Costa Rican national team. Suddenly, this injury throws a proverbial spanner into the works. Even if he recovers sufficiently to play in the latter half of the group stage, it will undoubtedly take him a few extra weeks to regain form.

Meanwhile, it appears to be confirmed that Grant Brebner will not be getting a game in the ACL group stage. This means that both Tom Pondeljak and Joe Keenan will be able to be drafted into the squad as injury replacements.

Voting is now closed. In two of the categories, clear winners emerged, but in the third, it was a very tight race.

Without further ado, here’s who you voted the best Melbourne Victory players in 2007/08:

Best Melbourne Victory Player 2007/08: Michael Theoklitos

Percentage of votes: 22.1%
Runners-up: Sebastian Ryall (19.6%), Rodrigo Vargas (19%), Archie Thompson (16%)
Total votes: 163

While the other two categories both had clear favourites, the award for Best Player proved a much tighter affair. In the end, it was the Victory #1 who earned the most votes, narrowly outclassing Sebastian Ryall, Rodrigo Vargas and Archie Thompson.

With Adrian Leijer gone and Daniel Piorkowski injured for most of the season, Michael Theoklitos certainly didn’t enjoy as strong a defensive cover as last year. But while the team around him was struggling, Theoklitos was in fine form and unlucky not to be picked for any of Pim Verbeek’s Socceroos training camps.

Due to some technological mishaps over at the site that’s hosting the poll, the results for Best Melbourne Victory Player are currently unavailable.

Best Young Melbourne Victory Player 2007/08: Sebastian Ryall

Percentage of votes: 56%
Runner-up: Kaz Patafta (27.3%)
Total votes: 150

Melbourne signed Sebastian Ryall early on in the season to cover the loss of Adrian Leijer and Ljubo Milicevic. In his short time with the Victory, the Under 20s captain has emerged as one of the club’s most exciting young prospects – and, according to you, Melbourne’s best young player.

For a player of his age, Ryall has a remarkable ability to keep his cool in tight places. A solid defender with a capacity to push forward and boost the attack, Ryall also has valuable experience playing in Asia with the Under 20s, experience which is sure to make him better prepared for the Asian Champions League.

Click for the full results.

Best New Recruit 2007/08: Carlos Hernández

Percentage of votes: 48.1%
Runner-up: Sebastian Ryall (27.5%)
Total votes: 131

Carlos Hernández came to the Victory with a bucket-load of expectations awaiting him. He was to be the replacement for Fred, a driving influence behind the twin strike-force of Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp. But Hernández turned out to be no Fred, many fans disappointed by the Costa Rican’s lack of fitness at the start of the season.

In the latter half of the season, however, Hernández started to come into his own. Never the fastest player on the pitch, Hernández is able to engineer attacks through pin-point passes. In his most emphatic performance of the season, Hernández subbed on during Melbourne’s New Year’s Eve match against the Central Coast Mariners, promptly setting up two goals. Concerns about fitness and weight are gone now as fans look forward to Hernández dominating the Asian Champions League.

Click here for the full results.

Without further ado, here are the winners:

Best Player of 2007/2008: Joel Griffiths

Percentage of votes: 59.2%
Runner up: Shane Smeltz (18%)
Total votes: 534

For an attacking midfielder, Joel Griffiths has done an incredible job for the Newcastle Jets. With 12 goals for the season, he is this season’s Golden Boot winner – and he holds the record for number of goals scored during any A-League season. His prime form has caught the eye of national coach Pim Verbeek, suggesting that Griffiths may be able to build on his two caps for the Socceroos.

Click for the full results.

Best Young Player (U. 23) of 2007/08: James Holland

Percentage of votes: 17.7%
Runners up: Danny Vukovic (15.8%), Robbie Kruse (15.4%), Michael Zullo (12.8%)
Total votes: 531

The Awards’ tightest race was for the best player under 23. In the end, it was 18-year old James Holland who edged ahead. He may have only played a total of 7 games, but Holland has been suitably impressive, scoring 3 and bolstering a Newcastle Jets side which won 4 of its last 5 regular season matches to finish 2nd. Like Joel Griffiths, Holland’s form has attracted the attention of Pim Verbeek, who has added the youngster to his 39-man squad ahead of the match against Qatar on Wednesday.

Click for the full results.

Best Foreign Player of 2007/08: Carlos Hernández

Percentage of votes: 31%
Runners up: Daniel (23.9%), Felipe (14.7%), Juninho (10.1%)
Total votes: 552

After being derided for his weight early on in the season, Carlos Hernández gradually rose into form and began making his mark late in the season. The Costa Rican national scored 4 times and set up several goals – most of which happened in the final month of the season. Hernández came with a reputation for being a dead-ball specialist – a specialisation we’re yet to see come to fruition in the A-League – but it is his passing game which has been most impressive.

Click for the full results.

Most Sorely Missed Player in 2007/08: Fred

Percentage of votes: 60.8%
Runner up: Nicky Carle (24.5%)
Total votes: 497

No Fred, no Victory. Or so it seemed in the third season of the A-League, as the Melbourne Victory that took the title the previous year re-appeared as a shadow of itself. Many reasons were given for the champions’ failure to reproduce last year’s form, but the most common was Fred’s absence. Without the Brazilian playmaker creating space and opportunities for twin strikers Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp, the Victory were missing a key ingredient.

Click for the full results.

A-League Awards

Costa Rica will be playing Iran on January 30 and Jamaica on February 6.

With the Victory out of the finals, it’s a great opportunity for Hernández to make an impression on national coach Hernan Medford. Costa Rica’s World Cup qualification campaign kicks off in June.

Coaches have to get their 30-player squad lists in by the 11th of February. One of the stipulations is that each team can only have three foreign players.

This means that one of Melbourne’s four internationals is going to miss out on the Champions League.

Our international players are:

• Carlos Hernandez
• Grant Brebner
• Joe Keenan
• Leandro Love

Who should Merrick leave out?

Vote in the sidebar and leave your comments below.

At the time, it was a common sentiment, obviously fed by early reports in the media that Carlos Hernandez, arguably the Melbourne Victory’s most exciting new prospect, was overweight when he arrived from the Costa Rica. Nevermind the fact that he was one of Costa Rica’s leading scorers in the build-up to the World Cup in Germany. Nevermind that he could pull off long-range strikes like this. Such feats are easily forgotten when you can reduce a player down to one simple phrase: “He’s fat.”

I argued at the time that Hernandez had become a scapegoat, much like Daniel Allsopp was deemed the source of all Melbourne’s troubles in the first season. To be sure, Hernandez was taking time to settle in. But I believed that he would settle in – and when he did, the critics would be silenced.

And they were:

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

Over the past several weeks, Hernandez has moved beyond the “flashes of brilliance” he tantalised us with in the early rounds. His pace has picked up, though he’s still nowhere near being the fastest kid on the field. He has started to combine dangerously with Allsopp and Thompson. In short, his performances have been solid and far more indicative of the top-class footballer we were hoping for when Melbourne first signed him.

After the Newcastle game, I commented that Melbourne failed to convert possession into solid attacking play. In my opinion, we desperately struggled to penetrate a resolute Newcastle who were happy to sit back and “grind out” the result.

Part of the problem seems to lie in the Melbourne midfield, which consists of three defensive players: Kevin Muscat, Grant Brebner and Leigh Broxham. It’s not hard to see why a player like Hernandez is so critical to Melbourne’s fortunes. He is one of our key playmakers. And even though he wasn’t able to help Melbourne to a goal on Friday night, he is most certainly starting to come into his own. Something tells me the best is yet to come.

Read more about Carlos Hernandez:

• Carlos Hernandez on Wikipedia
• Hernandez profile on Melbourne Victory website

Quite the obvious statement really.

But such was the impression Fred made on the A-League last season that commentators are looking at the Melbourne Victory’s struggle to get its first win of the season and pointing the fingers at Hernandez: “He’s not Fred!”

How insightful.

The Central Coast’s Tony Vidmar pointed at the absence of Fred to explain why Melbourne seems to be a shadow of its former self. Jesse Fink from Half Time Orange agrees that Melbourne without Fred is “a totally different proposition”.

Agreed, to an extent. The Victory are a revamped squad (besides Fred, another 7 players from last year’s squad aren’t around any more); and so far, they really don’t look as good as they did last year.

But I think we are over emphasising Fred’s contribution to last year’s team. And I definitely think that Victory supporters are being too harsh to Carlos Hernandez, who has been wrongly cast into Fred’s shoes.

The bloke behind me at the game last Sunday spent much of the match screaming his scorn for a number of players, especially Hernandez. Deriding the Costa Rican for being “fat” (his words, not mine), I wondered whether this was the characteristic sentiment around Victory supporters. Is Hernandez on a fast-track to becoming the proverbial Melbourne scapegoat (a la Danny Allsopp, season 1)?

Unfortunately, Hernandez seems to be judged on the extent to which he can emulate Fred. But let’s get back to the basics: Hernandez is not Fred. Where Fred would run and run and run, Hernandez takes a decidedly different approach. He’s a classy midfielder with a deft touch. We’ve already seen flashes of his brilliance. Sure, he’s not at top-flight. But neither was Fred at this time of the season last year, as Ernie Merrick is keen to point out.

I was very disappointed to see Fred leave. He was, without a doubt, one of the highlight’s of the Melbourne Victory show in 2006-07.

I don’t expect Hernandez to be the new Fred. But I do look forward to watching him come into his own: in short, to play his game, not Fred’s.

The Fox (as he is known in Costa Rica) will be filling the void left by Fred’s departure. He has big shoes to fill, but it sounds like he has the feet to fill them. Ernie Merrick says he’s “a player of enormous pedigree who is still yet to reach his prime.” And hey, if Merrick says it, I’m going to believe him.

Unfortunately, Hernandez won’t be joining the Victory squad in time for next month’s fixtures against the Chinese national team (July 4) and Tianjin Teda F.C. (July 7). Tianjin Teda consistently finishes in the top half of the Chinese Super League, looking to do one better this year under the coaching of experienced Czech coach Jozef Jarabinsky: suffice it to say that they will be fierce competitors.

Fiercer still will be the Chinese national team, for whom the game against Melbourne Victory will be their final preparation for the Asian Cup. Pitted against a Chinese side trying to instill its millions of fans with steadfast belief on the eve of Asia’s premier football competition… Merrick must be licking his chops.

The China tour is going to be valuable experience for the Victory squad. Last year’s near-perfect A-League campaign was preceded by a series of friendlies against local Victorian teams, as well as the North Queensland Cup and the regular pre-season cup. It stands to reason that two games against such high calibre competitors will provide for an even more thorough testing of Melbourne’s capabilities. Not only that, but the opportunity to play in China prior to 2008’s Asian Champions League campaign offers the team a chance to prepare itself for the dynamics of international competition.

But that’s a long way off. For now, let’s make life hard for China’s finest.