Rodrigo Vargas was last season’s surprise package.
While he didn’t attract the media attention that the “Trio from Rio” did, Vargas proved that homegrown talent is as good – if not better – than foreign imports. While 2 of the 3 Brazilians became benchwarmers, local boy Vargas started 23 games. The only other player to start that many games was Danny Allsopp.
Vargas may have come as a suprise to some, but those well-acquainted with the old NSL have heard of him before. Vargas spent 5 seasons with the Melbourne Knights, where he became known as an aggressive, reliable defender. When the A-League took off in 2005, signalling the death of the National Soccer League, Vargas signed with the Green Gully Cavaliers, one of the Victorian Premier League’s best sides. A year later, he had signed with the Melbourne Victory.
The Victory’s defence hadn’t been its main downfall in the 1st season, but the addition of a solid, experienced player like Roddy Vargas did wonders for the team. Vargas and Adrian Leijer formed the backbone of the Melbourne defence, especially after Daniel Piorkowski suffered an injury in the 13th round which put him out for the rest of the season. The Vargas-Leijer combo was about as sure-fire as the Muscat-Brebner partnership in midfield.
I’m curious to see whether Merrick will shake up the defence this season. The signing of Ljubo Milicevic and the return of Piorkowski mean that he has more manpower to choose from. For me, however, Vargas and Leijer are the default combination: unless they fail to keep the Melbourne defence as tight as we’ve come to expect, I doubt that we’ll see too many matches without them.
Read more about Roddy Vargas:
- Rodrigo Vargas on Wikipedia
- Vargas profile at MelbourneVictory.com.au
1 comment so far ↓
Vargas was definitely one of the best additions last year. Minus that one time when he had a brain fart and made a keeper’s save, he was as solid as defenders come.
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