Entries from March 2008 ↓

It was a defenders’ night, with Kevin Muscat and Rodrigo Vargas scoring a goal apiece to give Melbourne Victory a 2-0 win over the Chunnam Dragons. And a third defender, Matthew Kemp, won the penalty that would lead to the opening goal. With defenders like these, who needs strikers?

It looked like it could have been a long night for the Victory defense when Chunnam’s Ronaldo-lookalike, Victor Simoes, came dangerously close to getting in behind Muscat and Vargas in the first few minutes. But that did not prove to be indicative of what was to come, as Chunnam’s attackers rarely penetrated the Victory backline. A half-dozen shots from outside the penalty area constituted the bulk of the Dragons’ chances, while Michael Theoklitos made two critical saves to keep a clean sheet. Continue reading →

Melbourne Victory embarks on its maiden voyage into the realm of Asian competition tonight, hosting Korean FA Cup winners the Chunnam Dragons.

With 20,000 tickets sold and a relaxing of Telstra Dome rules for supporters, this should be a dramatic and memorable night.

There’s a whiff of confidence in the air. Ernie Merrick indicated earlier this week that he expects success in the Asian Champions League. For a coach fond of understatement, that’s a very bold proclamation. Continue reading →

How hopeful are you?

For my part, I think Melbourne can top their group. After that, the competition gets increasingly tough – especially once the A-League season kicks back into gear and the Victory has two games a week to deal with. But that’s if they get that far.

How far do you think the Melbourne Victory can go in the Asian Champions League?

Vote in the sidebar and leave your comments below.

This post on Gamba Osaka wraps up our series of Asian Champions League team profiles. Check out previous posts on Chonburi FC, Chunnam Dragons and Melbourne Victory.

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. Continue reading →

Archie Thompson and Rodrigo Vargas were announced as co-winners of the Victory Medal last night.

Kevin Muscat and Michael Theoklitos were joint runners-up, with Carlos Hernández trailing a point behind.

Both Thompson and Vargas picked up other awards as well, with Thompson receiving the SEN Player of the Year award and Vargas voted Players’ Player of the Year. Leigh Broxham also won multiple awards, scoring both the Clubman of the Year and the Age Young Player of the Year awards.

None of the results particularly surprise me, even though they are quite different from the Fans’ Choice Melbourne Victory Awards we hosted on MVFC Blog a month ago. Fans picked Michael Theoklitos for Best Player and Sebastian Ryall for Best Young Player (Leigh Broxham was a very distant third in that contest).

What do you think of the results of the Victory Awards?

The A-League National Youth League was announced on Wednesday and already the Melbourne Victory are making headlines with the news that they plan to have an 11-year old in their squad.

Trey O’Sullivan is the kid, and if he does indeed become a member of the Victory’s youth team, he will certainly be the youngest player in the league. The bulk of the players for each youth team are to be aged between 16 and 21, with four older players allowed. The seven Australian A-League clubs will participate.

Games for the Youth League may be played before or after A-League matches, or at separate locations. There are no plans to broadcast the matches.

For a deeper insight into the Youth League, check out The Football Tragic posts on the subject here and here.

ps. The Melbourne Victory website has a video of Trey, which you can download.

Eamonn from Football in the Capital yesterday posted an interview with Clive MacKillop, an A-League referees’ assessor. Clive talks about the Grand Final, A-League refereeing standards and pay rates, and his own journey as a ref.

What interested me most was Clive’s thoughts on the level of refereeing in Australia:

“We should be employing Refs on the same basis as they do in Europe. You can make a pretty handsome living over there.

“In the case of the group we have in Australia, they go to Asia, make trips midweek, they have to make peace with their employer, come back to families they haven’t seen, and then perform in the A-League on the weekend.

“It’s now a 12 month job and even at the A-League level it’s still part-time.

“In the A-League Ref’s get about $1,000 per game which is a long way behind AFL who are quite handsomely paid.”

Read the full interview here.

Tom Pondeljak’s move to the Melbourne Victory has invited considerable criticism. The former Socceroo’s age – he turned 32 in January – was the main cause for skepticism. After seeing older players like Juninho signed on lucrative deals and spend much of the season on the bench thanks to injury, it’s understandable to be doubtful about the value of signing older players. Pondeljak’s run with injuries over the past few years only deepens the concern.

But signed up he is, and with Carlos Hernández picking up an injury at training last week, we will see Pondeljak in Victory colours sooner rather than later. Grant Brebner’s groin injury means that the club can bring in two injury replacements. As it stands, the only two players available are Joe Keenan and Pondeljak.

So So with Pondeljak likely to debut for the Victory in the next month, I decided to take a closer look at the Melbourne-born footballer. Continue reading →

How’s this for advance notice? The Herald Sun today suggests that the Melbourne Victory’s maiden game at the new stadium (currently being built) will be a friendly against a Greek team, most likely AEK Athens. 

There have also been talks with Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. 

As the piece points out, the Socceroos friendly with Greece prior to the World Cup attracted over 95,000 spectators. A match between the Victory and a Greek club will undoubtedly sell out the 31,000-capacity stadium. 

Melbourne Victory drew its second friendly with Adelaide United yesterday, after beating the South Australians last week with a 2-1 win. 

A goal for Danny Allsopp and a penalty converted by Adelaide’s Cassio left the teams at 1-1. 

With Leigh Broxham away with the Olyroos, and Nick Ward and Carlos Hernandez injured, Ernie Merrick opted for a creative midfield line-up featuring Steve Pantelidis, Kaz Patafta and Leandro Love. 

The Herald Sun reveals that Tom Pondeljak will not be available for the Victory’s match against the Chunnam Dragons next week. The midfielder hasn’t moved to Melbourne yet. I suppose he didn’t expect to be needed. 

His absence, as well as the injuries to Hernandez and Grant Brebner, means that Kaz Patafta and Billy Celeski will be clamouring for game time, especially if Nick Ward does not recover from his groin injury in time.