Entries Tagged 'Wellington Phoenix' ↓

With the A-League starting its final 7 rounds this week, it’s a good time to take a look at how Melbourne’s fate is panning out alongside its competitors. I’ve heard plenty of pessimistic talk from Melbourne fans recently, but a cursory look at how other teams are performing should give Victory supporters plenty of cause for hope.

It’s a very tight league.

1. Central Coast Mariners
Four points separate Central Coast from the Queensland Roar. It’s a strong, but breakable, lead. From a strictly statistical point of view, the Mariners’ strength has been their defense, which has let through only 9 goals this season. But with strikers like John Aloisi and Sasho Petrovski, and scoring midfielders like Tom Pondeljak, Adam Kwasnik and John Hutchinson, opposition teams will have their work cut for them all across the park. The Mariners are a lethal team at the moment and I would not bet against them finishing top of the ladder. Continue reading →

Another week, another red card. It seems Melbourne struggles to get through a game without one these days and constantly pays the price.

A small crowd, by Melbourne standards, turned up to see Victory take on Wellington Phoenix at home for the first time. This was no great surprise based on Melbourne’s dismal season so far, but also because of a far greater contest reaching a conclusion at the same time – the federal election.

A good selection of players were available for this match, the most prominent exceptions Milicevic and Piorkowski, both players with long-term injuries and Joe Keenan, who served out his last week of suspension. So, at last Melbourne looked like having what could be described as a near-ideal line-up. Perhaps the greatest surprise was to see Ryall missing out on a squad spot, opting for Evan Berger instead. Interesting to say the least, because as Josh pointed out on his blog, Ryall was flown back with great urgency from his Australian under-20s duties several weeks ago. That said, I thoroughly understand including Vasilevski in the starting line-up, owing to excellent performances in the previous matches. I would however have much preferred to see him contribute in the midfield rather than in defence. His crosses have been the most dangerous component of his game and playing as a right back just doesn’t give him enough opportunity to provide those crosses. While I have great respect for Caceres’ talents, I rate Vasilevski higher. My preference would have been for Vasilevski to play in the midfield, Caceres to be on the bench and Ryall to be in defence. Unfortunately I don’t call the shots. Continue reading →

Melbourne Victory 1, Wellington Phoenix 1

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fA7XQpo1rc[/youtube]

The Melbourne Victory is down, but not out. Three points separate them from 3rd and 4th placed Adelaide United and Newcastle Jets. A stretch of wins can and will propel the Victory into serious final contention, with a decent shot at a top 2 position.

Over the past month, Melbourne could have won each of its games – if it had taken its chances. But alas, let’s leave that behind us. Continue reading →

Wellington Phoenix 2, Melbourne Victory 2 (our report)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRcm8i24c2k[/youtube]

It could have been three points. It should have been.

But a late surge from the Wellington Phoenix turned a two-goal advantage into a tight draw where the Victory struggled to defend against an onslaught of Phoenix attack.

It was a disappointing result, but Melbourne’s performance was far from disappointing. The three pronged attack of Hernandez, Allsopp and Archie finally seemed to click. Hernandez isn’t a runner like Fred, but his skilled passes can dissect defences in seconds – this was made abundantly clear yesterday. Melbourne could have had more than two goals. Then again, so could the Wellington Phoenix, who missed a penalty in the 1st half and came painfully close to scoring a winner in the last 10 minutes.

Continue reading →