MVFC Blog

There’s a new kid on the block of Australian football sites: The 84th Minute. Neil Zimmerman, who’s also responsible for Victory in Melbourne, is behind the new site, which is set to cover the latest football analysis, interviews with bloggers, and news about the local game.

To get the site rolling, there’s a few articles already:

• Will the dark horse finally come out into the light? by Neil Zimmerman. A look at Uzbekistan, the Socceroos’ first opponent in the next stage of World Cup Qualifiers.
• Job done, hopefully with more to come by Tony Tannous. An evaluation of the Socceroos’ efforts in their first stage of qualifiers.
• Melbourne’s ACL experience by yours truly. I take a look at the Victory’s efforts in the ACL.
• Max Power FC by Neil Zimmerman. Getting local with Max Power FC, Neil’s indoor soccer team that’s gone an entire season without a win.
• The Nearpost’s Eamonn Flanagan Exposed. An interview with Eamonn Flanagan, who blogs over on the Near Post.

The Melbourne Victory’s first pre-season match against Green Gully ended in a 3-1 loss last night. It was a forgettable match for Michael Thwaite and Ney Fabiano, both of whom were making their debút for the Victory.

Matthew Kemp scored Melbourne’s only goal from a penalty. But it was Green Gully, currently placed second in the Foxtel Cup, who made the biggest impression. Kristijan Ivesi, John Adam and Ryan Ollerton scored for Green Gully.

Melbourne had two players red-carded, the VIS’ Fabio Dilizia and Evan Berger, who picked up two yellows. Green Gully’s Emanuel Muscat also received a red card.

Melbourne was missing a host of players, including Archie Thompson, Carlos Hernández, Rodrigo Vargas, Nick Ward, Sebastian Ryall and Billy Celeski. It started the game with Danny Allsopp, Ney Fabiano, Tom Pondeljak, Leigh Broxham, Evan Berger, Michael Thwaite, Kevin Muscat, Steven Pace, Matthew Kemp, Michael Theoklitos and Steve Pantelidis. The bench consisted of a slew of VIS youngsters.

Aaron Healy was coach in Ernie Merrick’s absence.

The Victory have one more friendly before they play Adelaide United in Launceston on July 20 for the Pre-Season Cup. They play the Whittlesea Zebras on July 15 at Epping Soccer Stadium.

The Melbourne Victory announced last Friday that it has buoyed its defensive stocks by signing Michael Thwaite. The Socceroo joins Melbourne on a one-year loan from his Norwegian club, SK Brann.

Gary Cole, on Thwaite’s signing:

“It’s very pleasing to be able to bring another Socceroo home, albeit for only a short time at this stage.”

“He’s big, quick and will do a great job for us in defence.”

Meanwhile, mystery still surrounds whether Costa Rican defensive midfielder José Luis López has signed with Melbourne. The Costa Rican press seems quite certain of the deal, but the club hasn’t made an announcement yet.

Just to stray off-topic for a while…

Who are you going for in the Euro 2008? Why?

Me? I’m half-Dutch, so I am hoping to see Oranje lift the trophy. They had a good run in qualification, but are now faced with the hardest group in the cup: Group C, with Italy, France and Romania. Things are looking even tougher as they have to contend with injuries to some key players, including Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Ryan Babel. But I think they can do it.

Over to you. Where does national allegiance lie, other than Australia?

My apologies for the lack of posting lately. It is off-season though.

Here’s some news items you may have missed during the week:

• Kaz Patafta: Released by Benfica, under-utilised by the Melbourne Victory, young Kaz runs to the wide open arms of Gary Van Egmond.
• Mark Byrnes: The former Victory player has signed a short-term deal with Apia Leichardt in the NSW Premier League. He’s hoping to make his way back into the A-League.
• A-League expansion: There are plenty of people jostling for a piece of the pie, with no less than three Melbourne teams hoping to become the second Melbourne club. Meanwhile, billionaire Clive Palmer has thwarted the Gold Coast Galaxy franchise, wooing the FFA with his own - more lucrative - club, Gold Coast United, which he hopes will become the new Bling FC.
• Carlos Hernández: The injury he picked up against Juventus has forced him to forego a spot in the Costa Rican World Cup qualifying squad.

For all the latest news, you can follow two other feeds I’m updating simultaneously throughout the week. If you’re on Twitter, follow my profile. Otherwise, this page is updating regularly and has an RSS feed.

The Melbourne Victory lost 4-1 to Juventus last night. Two late goals left Melbourne with a disappointing scoreline, despite the Victory managing to contain the Italians for most of 90 minutes.

In truth, it was a rather pedestrian performance by both sides. Juventus, consisting largely of B-team players, did not appear particularly driven, although it still kept Melbourne on the back foot for most of the match. The Victory did enjoy a fair share of possession, but struggled to convert possession to chances.

Juventus’ goals were clinical and opportunistic.

Compare that with Carlos Hernández’ equaliser, a beautiful strike from outside the penalty area, the kind of shot we dreamed of when the Costa Rican was first signed. The goal, his second in two matches, is an encouraging sign that Hernández is rapidly returning to form.

I went prepared to see Melbourne lose (I said as much yesterday), but I wasn’t prepared for the level of hostility directed towards the Victory from spectators around me. Several people around me were clearly not just there to witness one of the world’s legendary clubs in action; they were also there to ridicule the Victory. There’s something very odd about being in your home stadium listening to people take pleasure in everything your side’s players do wrong.

Kevin, an MVFC Blog reader, wrote me earlier today commenting on the lack of atmosphere at the game. He asked: “Where were the Blue & White Brigade and their flags and drums or the Juve army with theirs?”

I agree with Kevin. It was an odd affair last night. I was glad - as I always am - to see some of the youngsters given a good run (Nathan Elasi had a good half, I thought), but the game didn’t really come to life until Hernández fired in Melbourne’s equaliser. That broke things open for a while, but injuries to Hernández, Thompson, and the penalty for Juventus again stole the game’s spirit.

Anyway, enough of me being pessimistic. Anyone got something positive to say?

My wife thinks it’s a bit silly to dish out $60 for a friendly in which we’re bound to get pummelled.

But for me and the 50,000+ spectators at Telstra Dome tonight, Melbourne vs. Juventus offers a chance to watch one of the world’s greatest teams in action against our little club.

Ernie Merrick said earlier this week that he would be happy if Melbourne could come out of tonight’s clash with Juventus with a goal or two. A goal or two would be impressive indeed, even if Juventus are missing many of their best players.

Frankly, I’m not too fussed about the result. Just show me some good football and a courageous effort by the Victory lot, and I’ll be happy.

ps. Ernie, please, please give the youngsters a go. Evan Berger, Kaz Patafta, Nathan Elasi. There’s nothing to play for tonight, give them more than 3 minutes to play against a world-class team.

pps. Credit to my wife. Not only did she let me dish out $60 for the game, she’s coming along.

Ney Fabiano spent the early part of his career playing in the lower rungs of Brazilian club football, before moving to Austria for a spell. In 2007, he signed with Thailand Tobacco Monopoly FC and went on to become the Thai Premier League’s top scorer, despite his team’s 6th-placed finish. Chonburi FC snatched him up prior to the start of the current Thai season.

And now the Melbourne Victory has him on a two-year deal.

Fabiano’s arrival spells the end for fellow Brazilian Leandro Love, whose one-year loan will not be extended. Fabiano’s signing also shows that the club has learned lessons from last year’s poor recruitment strategy.

Leandro Love was the best example of Melbourne’s ill-conceived recruitment last year. Signed on the basis of a DVD, he came to Melbourne touted as a “back-up striker”. For most of the season, he wasn’t even that.

The club seems to have learned its lesson. It brought in Stefan Moore for a trial; Ernie Merrick flew to Costa Rica on a scouting mission; and it signed Ney Fabiano after witnessing the Brazilian’s talents first-hand.

With Fabiano, there’s no talk of him being a “back-up striker”. Fabiano is here to compete for a spot in the starting lineup, alongside, or in place of, Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp. While our midfielders and defenders have had to fight for selection, Allsopp and Thompson have had little competition over the past three seasons. Fabiano changes that.

Here we have an attacker that can score goals and line them up for others. Here we have a player who was the driving force behind Chonburi FC’s 3-1 defeat of Melbourne during the Asian Champions League. Yes, Stephane Baga scored the winning goals; but Fabiano was there creating trouble for our defence for 90 minutes.

One worrying comment regarding Fabiano came from Thai football fan Druryfire, whose blog about Thai football is the best English source of information I’ve found on the Thai Premier League. According to Druryfire, Fabiano’s form in the Thai Premier League never really took off this year, despite his impressive performances in the ACL. It seems the expectations placed on him after finishing as top scorer in 2007 may have undermined Fabiano’s performances.

I just hope pressure won’t be a problem for Fabiano as he joins a new club in a new league. He is a promising talent, and one that fills a hole in the Victory squad. Here’s hoping he adds potency to Melbourne’s final third.

More on Ney Fabiano:

• Profile on Melbourne Victory website
• Some Fabiano videos on YouTube

The Newcastle Jets have turned their eyes to Melbourne in search of new players to add to their title-defending squad.

Joe Keenan is on a three-day trial with the Newcastle Jets, according to The Herald:

The 25-year-old has a season to run on a two-year deal in the Victorian capital, but coach Ernie Merrick has opened the way for him to move on.

Keenan’s departure will pave the way for Melbourne to sign another foreign player, likely to be Costa Rican defender José Luis López.

Antun Kovacic is also on trial with the Jets. Some Victory fans may remember the Richmond defender for his brief addition to the squad in season 1 as an injury replacement.

Newcastle have also been touted as a possible destination for Kaz Patafta, who has severed ties with Benfica FC.

And just to round things off, another former Victory player has been talking with Jets coach Gary Van Egmond. Ljubo Milicevic, it appears, has not been able to find a new club since he parted ways with the Victory in February.

Hey Gary, you want to check out Leandro Love as well?

This is bad. Really, really bad.

A post on the Melbourne Victory forum over the weekend explained the FFA’s plans for seating arrangements during Season 4. It’s not pretty:

With all the debate over Home End Membership and posts that have appeared on Ultras Tifo, the Sydney FC forum and on this forum, I.T.A. wishes to clarify what the arrangements that are being put in place by the FFA are for Season 4. These changes will have significant implications for active and non-active support. It must also be stressed that the following directives are applicable for all active support areas across the A-League.

Following advice from a corporate risk management “business resilience” consultancy firm, the FFA have dictated that all active support areas and many non-active support areas will be reserved seating. To access these areas, a person is obliged to purchase a ticket in this particular area, as opposed to the dynamic General Admission system that is about to be phased out. Although not finalised, club members will be required to follow a similar system, where a seat is likely to be attached to their membership. These arrangements are still to be finalised completely, but from all reports, there is very little scope for flexibility on the key aspects of this directive. It must also be stressed that this was not a decision made by the clubs or the various stadia and we understand that significant resistance to the proposal did exist, but was to no avail.

Both the South and the North Ends will be fully ticketed and this clearly has massive implications for the growth and artistic quality of active support and the independence and freedom of every club supporter in the country. I.T.A. believe that these two things are absolutely fundamental to the on-going success of football in this country and in order for our football communities and culture to continue to flourish. We also believe that this move undermines the FFA’s own edict, duties and obligations towards “building a very inclusive, mutually valuable relationship between FFA and the Australian Football Community”

In time, the North Terrace as a whole will define their position on this, but it is fair to say that there is genuine concern about the implications of such a directive. Especially considering it appears to contravene a healthy and effective working agreement and system that the club and the North Terrace had in place.

This isn’t just bad for active supporters, although it’s as good as a nail in the coffin for them. It’s also bad news for the average member who won’t be able to sit with mates he or she invites along to games.

Very few things would make me consider not getting a membership, but if these plans are enacted, I will have to think long and hard before giving the club my support and money for another season.

Guido has more about the issue on his blog, The Accidental Australian.