Entries from June 2007 ↓

Five of Melbourne’s professional sporting teams have joined forces to create TEAMelbourne, which is kind of like Team America, except not. The Melbourne Victory have not signed up. Why not?

According to TEAMelbourne’s website, the group aims “to create valued benefits for member clubs and stakeholders by strengthening business, membership, partnerships and community relationships.” Seamus Pike, director of the NBL’s Melbourne Tigers, appears quite over-the-moon about the whole prospect: “I’ve been a believer in TEAMelbourne since day one, I think it’s an innovative concept and it’s great to see it finally coming to fruition… The teaming up of Melbourne ’s iconic sporting clubs is a bold and visionary move.”

Innovative concept? Bold and visionary move? Iconic sporting clubs? Why isn’t the Melbourne Victory part of this group?

Geoff Miles says that Melbourne Victory is “a very young club, only two years old and we’re still endeavouring to establish our identity in our own right in a very competitive market.” And as the Herald Sun pointed out yesterday, the Victory is doing quite well on its own at the moment, considering last year’s stadium busting crowds and A-League triumph. The Sun also suggested that the Melbourne Victory might be trying to avoid alienating certain fans based on their allegiance in the other football:

“Nor does it make sense to be getting into bed with one AFL club when one of the key elements of its box-office success has been — to the surprise of many — its popularity with footy fans from all clubs.”

Has the Victory missed a valuable opportunity, or is it a better idea to go it alone?

It’s official: Carlos Hernandez is coming to Melbourne

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.

A little digging on YouTube and I found a collection of videos of Carlos Hernández, Melbourne’s latest recruit (at least that’s what Costa Rican press is reporting). Amongst them is this rather worrying video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvRnY9UjVi8[/youtube]

I guess Hernández won’t be replacing Muscat as penalty-taker any time soon.

It’s not all bad though. Check out the following video, demonstrating exactly why Hernández is the kind of recruit that would very easily slot into the Melbourne squad.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfpPlLm6XOA[/youtube]

Can you imagine the Telstra Dome after a strike like that?

One of the Victory’s new signings, Joe Keenan endeared himself to fans this week by praising their support during the first official match of the pre-season against the Oakleigh Cannons. “The fans seem very knowledgeable and passionate, and I hope I can become a favourite with them”; talk like that is a good start and of course it helped that he had a decent game as well.

Keenan, a 24 year old from Southampton, England, is usually hyped as a former Chelsea player, although he only really made three appearances in their shirt. He was then loaned to KVC Westerlo in Belgium where he eventually rejected an offer, preferring to return to England and play for Brentford for a month, still on loan from Chelsea. His life as a loanee continued in the Netherlands with Eredivisie side Willem II. He spent the past season there, mostly in a fringe role. He has 1 goal on record for Willem II, against FC Zwolle.

It is clear from his history that he has largely filled a midfielder’s role throughout his career, not that of a leftback, which is what he has been recruited for at Melbourne. This would lead me to believe that he is likely to push forward regularly, in much the same way that Alessandro did last season.

Keenan is currently enjoying a honeymoon period with the Victory fans. Hopefully, the honeymoon translates into a fruitful career in Melbourne.

There is growing speculation that Costa Rican international Carlos Hernández will be making a move to the Victory. But who is he and should we be excited by this new prospect?

The original article to start this rumour was published in Nacion, a Costa Rican newspaper. The article claims that Hernández is in talks to join the Victory on a 2 year loan deal from Alajuelense, with an option to purchase. The translated version of that article is an entertaining, read, riddled with inaccuracies. It goes so far as to claim that the Victory has two foreign players, one Danish and the other Swedish. The latest article from Nacion, published yesterday, confirms the two year transfer deal. But still, there has been no mention of the deal from Melbourne Victory.

LD Alajuelense, the club that Hernández currently plays for, is one of the most successful teams in Costa Rica, winning the Primera División 5 out of the last 8 seasons. They have won the CONCACEF Champions’ Cup twice, most recently in 2004 and have finished runner’s up 3 times. Hernández, a 25 year old central midfielder, is a starting player for Alajuelense, reputedly with a reputation for scoring from long distance. In the past season he scored 3 times for his club. He has 19 caps for the Costa Rican national team, and was their second-highest goal scorer in the World Cup 2006 qualifiers behind Paulo Wanchope. He played in the World Cup matches against Ecuador and Poland, coming on as a substitute in both matches. In recent times, he has had to miss the Costa Rican squad for the CONCACEF Gold Cup, due to what seems to be a minor injury.

On ESPN’s Soccernet, Hernandez is described as “A diminutive central midfielder destined for a brilliant career, he is just as happy spraying around passes as striking wickedly swerving right-footed shots from open or set play.”

From the sounds of it, providing his injury is indeed nothing serious, he would be a good addition to Melbourne’s midfield. Now we just need to wait for confirmation from the Victory.