Entries from May 2008 ↓

The Melbourne Victory lost 4-1 to Juventus last night. Two late goals left Melbourne with a disappointing scoreline, despite the Victory managing to contain the Italians for most of 90 minutes.

In truth, it was a rather pedestrian performance by both sides. Juventus, consisting largely of B-team players, did not appear particularly driven, although it still kept Melbourne on the back foot for most of the match. The Victory did enjoy a fair share of possession, but struggled to convert possession to chances.

Juventus’ goals were clinical and opportunistic.

Compare that with Carlos Hernández’ equaliser, a beautiful strike from outside the penalty area, the kind of shot we dreamed of when the Costa Rican was first signed. The goal, his second in two matches, is an encouraging sign that Hernández is rapidly returning to form.

I went prepared to see Melbourne lose (I said as much yesterday), but I wasn’t prepared for the level of hostility directed towards the Victory from spectators around me. Several people around me were clearly not just there to witness one of the world’s legendary clubs in action; they were also there to ridicule the Victory. There’s something very odd about being in your home stadium listening to people take pleasure in everything your side’s players do wrong.

Kevin, an MVFC Blog reader, wrote me earlier today commenting on the lack of atmosphere at the game. He asked: “Where were the Blue & White Brigade and their flags and drums or the Juve army with theirs?”

I agree with Kevin. It was an odd affair last night. I was glad – as I always am – to see some of the youngsters given a good run (Nathan Elasi had a good half, I thought), but the game didn’t really come to life until Hernández fired in Melbourne’s equaliser. That broke things open for a while, but injuries to Hernández, Thompson, and the penalty for Juventus again stole the game’s spirit.

Anyway, enough of me being pessimistic. Anyone got something positive to say?

My wife thinks it’s a bit silly to dish out $60 for a friendly in which we’re bound to get pummelled.

But for me and the 50,000+ spectators at Telstra Dome tonight, Melbourne vs. Juventus offers a chance to watch one of the world’s greatest teams in action against our little club.

Ernie Merrick said earlier this week that he would be happy if Melbourne could come out of tonight’s clash with Juventus with a goal or two. A goal or two would be impressive indeed, even if Juventus are missing many of their best players.

Frankly, I’m not too fussed about the result. Just show me some good football and a courageous effort by the Victory lot, and I’ll be happy.

ps. Ernie, please, please give the youngsters a go. Evan Berger, Kaz Patafta, Nathan Elasi. There’s nothing to play for tonight, give them more than 3 minutes to play against a world-class team.

pps. Credit to my wife. Not only did she let me dish out $60 for the game, she’s coming along.

Ney Fabiano spent the early part of his career playing in the lower rungs of Brazilian club football, before moving to Austria for a spell. In 2007, he signed with Thailand Tobacco Monopoly FC and went on to become the Thai Premier League’s top scorer, despite his team’s 6th-placed finish. Chonburi FC snatched him up prior to the start of the current Thai season.

And now the Melbourne Victory has him on a two-year deal.

Fabiano’s arrival spells the end for fellow Brazilian Leandro Love, whose one-year loan will not be extended. Fabiano’s signing also shows that the club has learned lessons from last year’s poor recruitment strategy.

Leandro Love was the best example of Melbourne’s ill-conceived recruitment last year. Signed on the basis of a DVD, he came to Melbourne touted as a “back-up striker”. For most of the season, he wasn’t even that.

The club seems to have learned its lesson. It brought in Stefan Moore for a trial; Ernie Merrick flew to Costa Rica on a scouting mission; and it signed Ney Fabiano after witnessing the Brazilian’s talents first-hand.

With Fabiano, there’s no talk of him being a “back-up striker”. Fabiano is here to compete for a spot in the starting lineup, alongside, or in place of, Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp. While our midfielders and defenders have had to fight for selection, Allsopp and Thompson have had little competition over the past three seasons. Fabiano changes that.

Here we have an attacker that can score goals and line them up for others. Here we have a player who was the driving force behind Chonburi FC’s 3-1 defeat of Melbourne during the Asian Champions League. Yes, Stephane Baga scored the winning goals; but Fabiano was there creating trouble for our defence for 90 minutes.

One worrying comment regarding Fabiano came from Thai football fan Druryfire, whose blog about Thai football is the best English source of information I’ve found on the Thai Premier League. According to Druryfire, Fabiano’s form in the Thai Premier League never really took off this year, despite his impressive performances in the ACL. It seems the expectations placed on him after finishing as top scorer in 2007 may have undermined Fabiano’s performances.

I just hope pressure won’t be a problem for Fabiano as he joins a new club in a new league. He is a promising talent, and one that fills a hole in the Victory squad. Here’s hoping he adds potency to Melbourne’s final third.

More on Ney Fabiano:

• Profile on Melbourne Victory website
• Some Fabiano videos on YouTube

The Newcastle Jets have turned their eyes to Melbourne in search of new players to add to their title-defending squad.

Joe Keenan is on a three-day trial with the Newcastle Jets, according to The Herald:

The 25-year-old has a season to run on a two-year deal in the Victorian capital, but coach Ernie Merrick has opened the way for him to move on.

Keenan’s departure will pave the way for Melbourne to sign another foreign player, likely to be Costa Rican defender José Luis López.

Antun Kovacic is also on trial with the Jets. Some Victory fans may remember the Richmond defender for his brief addition to the squad in season 1 as an injury replacement.

Newcastle have also been touted as a possible destination for Kaz Patafta, who has severed ties with Benfica FC.

And just to round things off, another former Victory player has been talking with Jets coach Gary Van Egmond. Ljubo Milicevic, it appears, has not been able to find a new club since he parted ways with the Victory in February.

Hey Gary, you want to check out Leandro Love as well?

This is bad. Really, really bad.

A post on the Melbourne Victory forum over the weekend explained the FFA’s plans for seating arrangements during Season 4. It’s not pretty:

With all the debate over Home End Membership and posts that have appeared on Ultras Tifo, the Sydney FC forum and on this forum, I.T.A. wishes to clarify what the arrangements that are being put in place by the FFA are for Season 4. These changes will have significant implications for active and non-active support. It must also be stressed that the following directives are applicable for all active support areas across the A-League.

Following advice from a corporate risk management “business resilience” consultancy firm, the FFA have dictated that all active support areas and many non-active support areas will be reserved seating. To access these areas, a person is obliged to purchase a ticket in this particular area, as opposed to the dynamic General Admission system that is about to be phased out. Although not finalised, club members will be required to follow a similar system, where a seat is likely to be attached to their membership. These arrangements are still to be finalised completely, but from all reports, there is very little scope for flexibility on the key aspects of this directive. It must also be stressed that this was not a decision made by the clubs or the various stadia and we understand that significant resistance to the proposal did exist, but was to no avail.

Both the South and the North Ends will be fully ticketed and this clearly has massive implications for the growth and artistic quality of active support and the independence and freedom of every club supporter in the country. I.T.A. believe that these two things are absolutely fundamental to the on-going success of football in this country and in order for our football communities and culture to continue to flourish. We also believe that this move undermines the FFA’s own edict, duties and obligations towards “building a very inclusive, mutually valuable relationship between FFA and the Australian Football Community”

In time, the North Terrace as a whole will define their position on this, but it is fair to say that there is genuine concern about the implications of such a directive. Especially considering it appears to contravene a healthy and effective working agreement and system that the club and the North Terrace had in place.

This isn’t just bad for active supporters, although it’s as good as a nail in the coffin for them. It’s also bad news for the average member who won’t be able to sit with mates he or she invites along to games.

Very few things would make me consider not getting a membership, but if these plans are enacted, I will have to think long and hard before giving the club my support and money for another season.

Guido has more about the issue on his blog, The Accidental Australian.

It’s about time.

The Melbourne Victory today announced that Ney Fabiano has signed. According to Gary Cole, it’s been a long time coming:

“We’ve been through quite a long negotiation with Chonburi, who have been absolutely fantastic in the process.”

“Fabiano stayed over after Wednesday’s game to go through our normal screening processes and he’s come up very well.

“We’re excited about the fact that we can add another big, strong, high quality striker to our squad.

”It gives us a lot more depth and a lot more options and means we go into next season satisfied now with our strike force.”

With Fabiano joining, the writing’s on the wall for Leandro Love, who’s one-year loan deal from Vissel Kobe will not be extended. One Brazilian leaves, another one arrives.

Stay posted for an in-depth profile of Fabiano soon.

For a game with nothing at stake, last night’s Melbourne Victory game was one of the most enjoyable Victory matches I’ve seen in a while.

Maybe it’s because there was nothing to play for (except pride of course). This was free-flowing football, with plenty of chances at both ends and nice saves from both ‘keepers. A pleasure to watch, all the more so because of the final score line.

But sadly, there weren’t many people there to enjoy the spectacle, the prospect of a meaningless Wednesday night clash a week not proving tantalising enough for many Victory fans.

Shame, cause there was plenty of drama in this game:

• Kevin Muscat, screwing up to give Ney Fabiano an easy chance to put Chonburi FC ahead, then redeeming himself by scoring the equaliser a couple minutes later.
• Ney Fabiano, scoring a goal and later picking up a yellow card, giving rise to a chorus of cheers and jeers from the crowd. If the rumours are true and he does sign for us, he’s certainly started off on the wrong foot with the local support.
• Archie Thompson, replacing Tom Pondeljak with half an hour left to go, promptly putting Melbourne ahead and then sealing the deal by laying up for Carlos Hernández’ goal.
• Rodrigo Vargas’ goal, disallowed. Why exactly?

For those of you who missed the game, here’s the highlights:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_-4BUxCAPw[/youtube]

Meanwhile, congratulations to Adelaide United who tonight managed to qualify for the next stage of the Asian Champions League.

The Melbourne Victory finishes off its first Asian Champions League campaign with nothing to play for but pride, up against an opponent with just as little to play for. Melbourne could finish second in the group if it beats Chonburi FC tomorrow – a small consolation to cap off a frustrating ACL debut.

But does anyone really care?

Ernie Merrick has been in Central America on a scouting mission, returning today to coach his team tomorrow. Gary Cole may argue that Merrick’s trip would have gone ahead if Melbourne had had anything at stake in its final ACL match, but I find that very hard to believe. Tomorrow is effectively a friendly, and the club is treating it as such.

Except, of course, that they weren’t keen to release Leigh Broxham, Billy Celeski and Nick Ward to play for Graham Arnold in the Olyroos’ Intercontinental Cup campaign. Michael Lynch wrote a rather condemning piece about that issue earlier this week. But before you string up Victory management, consider Arnold’s lack of effort at getting the trio. He could have had them if he’d wanted.

Anyway, all that aside…

Archie Thompson may return tomorrow, his first appearance since picking up an injury in the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifier against China in March. Thompson has plenty of motivation to accelerate his recovery, as he faces the prospect of lining up against Juventus next week, and the possibility of more World Cup qualifiers in a couple weeks.

Carlos Hernández shone in his short stint against the Chunnam Dragons, and this game gives him another chance to get up his match fitness. Leigh Broxham’s back after serving his one-match suspension. And Mitchell Langerak will have his second start in a competitive (sort of) match for the Victory.

This will be the last competitive (sort of) match in Victory colours for Adrian Caceres and Daniel Piorkowski. It may also be the final game for Chonburi’s Ney Fabiano, who is set to sign with Melbourne after the match, according to the latest reports from Thailand.

This dead rubber match on a Wednesday night in the middle of AFL season will be an interesting gauge of football’s popularity in Melbourne. A sizeable dip in crowd numbers is to be expected, and 20,000 would be tough to crack. But this will provide a good indication of the resilience of Victory supporters.

For what it’s worth, here’s my tip: Melbourne 3, Chonburi 2

Your tip?

This news came out before the weekend, but I never got time to post about it. Nick Ward has been named as Melbourne Victory’s Youth Marquee.

Under the youth marquee system, every A-League club is allowed to pay one local player under the age of 24 up to $150,000 outside the salary cap. 23-year old Ward, who came to Melbourne on a six-month contract back in December, extended his contract to run till the end of April 2009.

Ernie Merrick is somewhere looking for players, but Gary Cole says the club’s “not at liberty” to discuss the coach’s whereabouts:

“He’s going to various places over the course of the next seven days to look at a few different players. We’re not going to discuss where he is, that just complicates things.”

Cole can retain his silence, but it seems likely that Merrick’s sojourn is to Central America – with a particular emphasis on Costa Rica (update: Costa Rican press confirms this). Both Windell Gabriel and José Luis López have been rumoured to be in negotiations with the Victory, with Carlos Hernández putting in a good word for his countrymen. Seven days should be more than enough for Merrick to check out some of the other talent pools around Central America. I’ve heard particularly good reports about Honduras, and Mexico seems like another place worth scouting out.

One thing Cole is willing to confirm is that the club only has one available visa spot “at the moment.” So if Merrick is indeed in the Americas looking for talent, what of the Ney Fabiano rumour? Or perhaps the club intends to bid farewell to one of its current crop of international players?

In other coaching news, former Socceroo Mehmet Durakovic has been made coach of the Victory’s inaugural Youth League team. As Assistant Coach will be Steve Mautone, the current goalkeeping coach and third ‘keeper for the ACL campaign, who will be Assistant Coach.