MVFC Blog

Provisional squad lists for the Asian Champions League were handed in on Monday, answering a few questions and raising a whole bunch of others.

Any players signed over the coming weeks or months will not be available for the Melbourne Victory during the group stage of the ACL.

Joe Keenan is the unlucky foreign visa player to be left out, with Ernie Merrick preferring Carlos Hernández, Leandro Love and Grant Brebner to the English left back. According to the club, however, it is able to recall Keenan in case one of its other three visa players is injured prior to the start of the ACL. Given Brebner’s current groin problems, the possibility of that happening is by no means improbable.

Other than Keenan, the entire roster of Victory players is on the provisional squad list for the Asian Champions League, including Adrian Caceres.

Over the next few weeks, I will be looking in detail at the Chunnam Dragons, Chonburi FC and Gamba Osaka. For today, I want to take a closer look the strengths and weaknesses of the Victory’s Asian Champions League squad.

Of all the squad decisions Merrick has to make, the goalkeeper question is the easiest to answer. Michael Theoklitos was in excellent form throughout season 3, and while Mitchell Langerak did impress in his debút against Sydney FC, Ernie Merrick will prefer his first-choice goalkeeper for the ACL campaign.

Meanwhile, if rumours on the Melbourne Victory forum are correct, Victory goalkeeper coach Steve Mautone has been listed as Melbourne’s third goalkeeper (the ACL requires teams to have three keepers on their roster).

Daniel Piorkowski appears to have recovered from his injury, and his re-inclusion will make spots in the Victory defence increasingly competitive. In Piorkowski’s absence, Sebastian Ryall did more than enough to suggest that he should be a regular starter.

But having Piorkowski return should also allow Merrick to use Daniel Vasilevski in a midfield role, rather than as a right-back. While Vasilevski proved invaluable as defensive cover in the latter half of the season, he looked most effective when played as a wide midfielder. And with Adrian Caceres set to leave the Victory after the ACL group stage, Vasilevski is one of the few wide options available to Merrick.

Caceres may be still available, but will Merrick play him? With his best wide option moving to the Central Coast Mariners in a few months, Merrick must be wondering how to fill Caceres’ role after he’s gone. I would not be surprised to see him try young Evan Berger in a wide role.

Wide players are as scarce as central attacking midfielders are plentiful. Billy Celeski last week set himself up to compete with Kaz Patafta, Nick Ward and Carlos Hernández, three players who ended the A-League season in impressive form.

Considering the number of attacking midfielders available, Leigh Broxham’s inclusion as a defensive midfielder seems a given, especially if Grant Brebner’s injury persists. I also hope that Kevin Muscat continues to be used as a defender. Towards the end of the season, injuries and suspensions forced Muscat into defence, a role which brought out some of his best games of the season.

Up front, Merrick has more choice than ever. The inclusion of Nathan Elasi and Leandro Love puts extra pressure on golden boys Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp to perform well. Elasi and Love may struggle to worm their way into the starting line-up (unless Merrick experiments with a 3-pronged attack again), but their presence will provide competition for Allsopp and Thompson, neither of whom have ever had to worry much about getting left out of the squad. Competition within the squad is essential.

What do you think of the Melbourne Victory squad for the Asian Champions League?

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Goalkeepers

• Michael Theoklitos
• Mitchell Langerak
• Steve Mautone

Defenders

• Daniel Piorkowski
• Rodrigo Vargas
• Ljubo Milicevic
• Steve Pantelidis
• Matthew Kemp
• Sebastian Ryall
• Steven Pace
• Kevin Muscat

Midfielders

• Grant Brebner
• Kaz Patafta
• Adrian Caceres
• Carlos Hernández
• Leigh Broxham
• Evan Berger
• Daniel Vasilevski
• Nick Ward
• Billy Celeski

Forwards

• Archie Thompson
• Danny Allsopp
• Leandro Love
• Nathan Elasi