Melbourne Victory lost 2-0 last night to seven-time Korean Champions Seongnam Ilhwa leaving Ernie Merrick's side's chances of progressing out of the Asian Champions League Group E hanging by a thread.
For the most part Melbourne were outplayed and outsmarted by their more experienced opponents while the Victory were themselves unable to create any meaningful scoring chances, with a lack of fluidity and imagination highlighting an overly uninspiring display. The poor result further compounded by the other Group E result which saw Beijing Guoan once again victorious, this time in Japan and against Kawasaki Frontale, thanks in large part to another two goals to Australian striker and legitimate World Cup hopeful Joel Griffiths.
And so after two games Melbourne finds their second ACL campaign in serious peril, already six points adrift of the second qualifying spot in their group, with their next game to be played in Japan only three days after the Victory contest their third A-League Grand Final. In addition it will be against the pre-tournament group favourites Kawaskai Frontale, themselves desperate to get their own stuttering ACL campaign back on track.
It all makes for great disappointment as the Victory have yet to replicate their dominance of the domestic game, categorised by a trophy cabinet more cluttered than any of the other Australian clubs and a game style widely considered to be the most attractive and adaptable in the land. One that has this season yielded more than 50 goals, and a season which has already produced Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors and quite possibly its third A-League Championship. In Asia however they've for the most part been stifled and frustrated by teams who have employed games styles much more conducive to group stage, high intensity international football, punctuated by a patience that Melbourne has more often than not lacked. Sydney FC have employed a similar style to great effect in the bulk of their encounters this season against Melbourne, so successfully in fact that it kept Melbourne from this year claiming their third premier's plate and automatic qualification to next year's ACL.
Perhaps Melbourne need only to recall that this season's A-League campaign also started with some significant hiccups when they were mired toward the bottom of the ladder, dealing with an array of injuries, losing at home and routinely conceding the same type of goals they let slip last night against their Korean opponents last night. However back then Merrick was able to change things around, starting with a vigorous reshuffling of his formation which only six months earlier had helped his team claim their second Premiership-Championship double.
The concern however is that the Asian Champions League, unlike the A-League, doesn't afford the luxury of a 27 game fixture to experiment, and in Melbourne's case, set things right. What it means is that for their next ACL game, both itself and Kawaski will be playing an elimination game of sorts.
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The patience bit is exactly right. Victory's poor ACL results clearly demonstrate the gulf in organisational structure between the A-League and ACL. Victory's 'smash and grab' style might have to be fine tuned...
ReplyDeleteI don't completely agree with the comment about Victory's 'smash and grab' style. Rather I think their recent displays indicate their continued over reliance on the creativity of Carlos and Archie. When good teams (e.g. Sydney and Seongnam) can negate their influence - Melbourne more than often struggle. For a team with an attacking mentality you rarely see the wing backs getting forward into attacking positions or the midfielders such as Ward and Angulo getting in behind defences or anything other than speculative shooting positions. Maybe there is a lack of cohesiveness due to the lineup constantly being in a state of flux given the injuries, suspensions and scheduling. Or maybe you are right we lack the skill and patience - especially in midfield - to retain possession and bring everyone into the game. I’m not really sure. What I do know is that their ability to conjure a goal from another avenue, say a corner, is far below expectation given the quality in the team.
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