A cursory glance at recent statistics will tell you the Melbourne Victory machine isn’t running as smoothly as it did last year. But when rumours surfaced last week that Ljubo Milicevic, one of this season’s star recruits, had done a runner, matters just seemed a notch worse.
Thankfully, Milicevic, a 24 year old Melbourne boy, isn’t going anywhere. With two weeks to go before the start of the season, that would be very bad news for Merrick and co indeed.
But that is not to say that the rumours are entirely unfounded. There is tension in the Melbourne camp, and it’s between Milicevic and skipper Kevin Muscat.
It’s not hard to see why the two don’t get along. Like Muscat, Milicevic is a fiery player. And he’s a leader, having captained the Australian Under-20s and Under-23s. And in his 6 years in Switzerland, he spent several seasons with FC Thun, which included a string of 5 matches in the UEFA Champions League, up against such humble competitors as Arsenal, Ajax and A.C. Sparta Praha.
Jesse Fink from Half-Time Orange summed it up perfectly:
“Muscat will have grown comfortable in his position as eminence grise of the Victory locker-room. Now, in Milicevic, he has a younger, better and just as headstrong one-time Socceroo defender among his flock.”
Is tension between Muscat and Milicevic necessarily bad?
No. Consider the tension between Muscat and Alessandro at the start of last season, which did not seriously affect the Melbourne game. Tension between players is to be expected.
But Alessandro spent most of the season on the bench. Given Milicevic’s experience and talent, anything short of a spot on Merrick’s A-list would be surprising.
Muscat and Milicevic will be spending plenty of time together on the pitch. For the sake of the team, let’s hope they can put their personal issues to a side.
Read more about Ljubo Milicevic:
- Ljubo Milicevic on Wikipedia
- Milicevic profile on Melbourne Victory website
- Milicevic profile on PintCulture
- Those Melbourne blues, Half-Time Orange
- Victory marches into damage control, August 8, 2007, The Age
2 comments ↓
[...] an injury in the first half against Wellington Phoenix back in round 1, there were also reports of locker-room tension between Milicevic and captain Kevin Muscat during pre-season. And now [...]
[...] Ljubo Milicevic has been invited back to training, but his future with the Melbourne Victory is still looking doubtful. [...]
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