News and views on the Melbourne Victory
October 31st, 2007 — Adelaide United, Eugene Galekovic, Melbourne Victory, News, Players, Steve Pantelidis, Steven Pace, Transfers
The Melbourne Victory has added Steven Pace to its ranks as a replacement for the injured Daniel Piorkowski.
The 24-year old defender signs over from the Preston Lions. In a 2-week trail with the Victory did, he obviously did enough to warrant his inclusion on the Victory payroll:
“Steven reads the game well, has excellent speed, good distribution and possesses great maturity.” (Ernie Merrick)
September 4th, 2007 — Melbourne Victory, Players, Steve Pantelidis
Steve Pantelidis is one of only seven players who have been with the Melbourne Victory since the inaugural season.
He is a valuable cog in the Melbourne machine and has appeared in 45 matches. Touted by Wikipedia as a central defender, by the Melbourne Victory website as a right back, and by Michael Lynch as a “spare parts man” (The Age), Pantelidis provides Ernie Merrick with a broad spectrum of options.
And yet, this season is off to a rocky start for “Panta”. Early in the Pre-Season Cup, he picked up a hamstring injury. He was back by the time Melbourne played Sydney in the final pre-season hitout, but when it came to the first round of the regular season, Pantelidis was told to stay home. But Merrick insisted that he had not lost his place in the squad:
“He can put others under pressure for a place. He can still get his place back and he’ll get his chance.”
After the disappointing draw in Wellington, Pantelidis found himself straight back in the first 11 – perhaps owing to Ljubo Milicevic’s injury. But, the poor bloke just can’t seem to catch a break at the moment, coming out of the Perth match with a bad cork that looks likely to set him back even more.
Injury aside, Pantelidis has enough of a challenge to stake his claim in the Victory first 11. His best chance is to slot into the right back role, where his primary competition is Matthew Kemp, who started on the bench in the opening two rounds. Judging by Merrick’s selection for the Perth match, Pantelidis has a slight edge over Kemp. But I expect a fair bit of shuffling around in this spot, especially as injuries force Merrick’s hand somewhat.
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