Talk of the town is that Lucas Pantelis has been discussing his options with the Melbourne Victory recently.
The 25-year old midfielder, who has been with Adelaide United since the start of the A-League, may be after a change of scenery when his contract runs out with Adelaide in January.
If he is signed, Pantelis would be a great boost for the Melbourne midfield. Left-footed and dangerous in attack, some Victory fans will remember the goal he scored against us in round 8 (if not, watch the video here - it’s the last goal). It hurts to get strikes like that against you, but it sure would be nice having a player capable of that on your side.
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9 responses so far ↓
1 Campbell // Jan 4, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I wouldn’t mind him at all as long as he doesn’t turn out like Kemp. He definitely is a very good player for this league and we could use some width as well but another left sided player!?
2 Eric // Jan 4, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Good point regarding his favoured position. In the end, I think it would come down to whether Merrick picks Caceres or Pantelis for the left winger role, although he might resort to playing one of them on the right… That, in my humble opinion, would be a bad move, since Daniel Vasilevski is a natural right winger with plenty of pace and a good touch.
Another option would be to shift Caceres or Pantelis forward, as a striker. Not sure that it would be the greatest use of either player’s strengths, even though they are both capable goal-scorers.
3 Campbell // Jan 4, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I think a couple of weeks ago, maybe against Newcastle when Merrick first started Patafta, he put Caceres up front and he really struggled to adapt to the role and went a little at deep at times for a striker.
Didn’t stop him having a good game still, just wasn’t suited as a striker.
4 Astri // Jan 5, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Not sure Pantelis is what we need even though he is very good. It would be a welcome selection headache though. That is providing he stays in form.
5 chris // Jan 8, 2008 at 4:32 pm
to me kemp was a failure this season, after what he had produced for adelaide so i tend to think maybe pantelis could be the same…. i dont think we need another left winger… i think we need a distinguishable right winger… im not sure if Vasilevski is the answer but i would be prepared to give him time… i think he will come good… but is he more an attacking player or defensive?
why get another left winger when the team is unbalanced now? or is caceres on the way out?
any more infor eric?
6 Eric // Jan 8, 2008 at 4:56 pm
No insider info I’m afraid:) Taking on Pantelis would certainly create a selection headache for that left winger side, while a strong right winger could be more useful.
That said, I think Vasilevski has been one of the stand-out players this season, and has looked particularly dangerous when played in midfield - instead of as a right back.
Regarding Kemp, I agree that he hasn’t performed as well as he seemed to last year for Adelaide. But that certainly doesn’t mean every player we sign from Adelaide is going to turn out the same way!
On that note, I read today that every club in the A-League bar Perth Glory has expressed interest in Nathan Burns. Certainly wouldn’t be too upset about signing him to put extra pressure on our strikers to perform.
7 Neil // Jan 10, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Pantelis is staying in Adelaide.
http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/67850,lucas-is-a-red-for-two-more.aspx
8 Eric // Jan 10, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Well I guess that’s one selection headache Merrick won’t have to deal with.
9 Campbell // Jan 10, 2008 at 3:29 pm
It’s one extra player we don’t need out of the question to me. :]
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