Melbourne Victory’s 3-0 win on Saturday night against Adelaide was a welcome return to winning ways for the home side, having suffered back to back losses in away trips to Sydney.
The result meant head coach Kevin Muscat also retains his unbeaten record at home while in charge, and he had plenty to be pleased about on the night.
Kosta Barbarouses and Mitch Nichols got their first goals for the club, while Archie Thompson also found the back of the net to secure the perfect result for Victory.
High pressing reaps rewards
One of the features of the performance for Victory against the old enemy was how they executed a well planned high press, a move that put a lot of pressure on an Adelaide defence that played out from the back. Muscat set his attacking players to ensure that no Reds defender had an easy pass out of defence, and when the ball went back to Eugene Galekovic, the keeper had no option but to send it long. That allowed Melbourne to reset and launch another attack.
Victory’s high press was at it’s most effective in the first fifteen minutes, as Adelaide struggled to string together any decent passing combinations. Attacking midfielders James Troisi and Mitch Nichols were excellent in ensuring that playmaker Isaias Sanchez was covered, with none of the defenders able to find him with any ease. The Reds were rattled and had to look for other avenues for the pass, a deviation from their original gameplan.
And so it was that the first goal came about. Adelaide had managed to get the ball on the left flank, but were unable to find Isaias and when stand in defender Osama Malik passed the ball back to Galekovic close to the left sideline, the warning bells should have sounded. Galekovic passed it to Nigel Boogaard, who had peeled wide, creating a massive gap between him and Malik, which would eventually prove vital. Adelaide thought they had got through Victory’s high press with Boogard finding Isaias, but his only option was Fabio Ferreira, whereupon the Portugese winger ran into Adama Traore.
The problem now was that Victory were excellently positioned for a counter attack, as Mitch Nichols sucked Boogard into marking him, while Tarek Elrich lost his man in Archie Thompson having been pushed further out of position by Boogard when he ran wide. The ball from the Traore tackle fell to Nichols, who played a one touch pass to Thompson, who then also played a one touch through ball for James Troisi. The on-loan midfielder simply ran through the wide canyon that Adelaide left between their centre backs, and it was all too easy from then on, squaring the ball to Barbarouses for an easy tap in.
It was a well executed trap from Victory who exploited Adelaide’s much talked about style. In pre-season Adelaide coach Josep Gombau spoke about how Australian footballers lack tactical understanding, and he was unfortunately proven right in this instance, as the Reds played right into Victory’s hands.
Victory continued the high press throughout, even when they were down to ten men, although when that happened they did so selectively. One of those moments they chose to press was with the second goal where Kosta Barbarouses was on hand to make the most of Michael Zullo’s indecision to win the ball and square it to an eagerly waiting Thompson.
Adelaide’s insistence of playing their way no matter the score cost them again on this occasion, as Muscat’s plans worked to a tee.
Muscat earns his wages
Coaches are paid to make the big decisions, and they live and die by their own sword. Many criticised Muscat for how he reacted in the two losses away in Sydney but he has to be given credit where it is due, and in this result he made a big call in particular that came off.
After Adrian Leijer was shown red for a second bookable offence the Victory boss had a huge call to make: who to sacrifice in order to bring on Nicholas Ansell. Muscat decided to take off James Troisi, the provider for the first goal, and a midfielder in red hot form this season with five goals. It puzzled many, as to why he would take off the most influential attacking player on the team.
One thing to remember about Muscat is that he is carrying on the structure left in place by Ange Postecoglou, and he made no attempt to hide his involvement in implementing it. If anyone knew how to fix this situation, it was Muscat. Many have wondered if his predecessor would have made the same move, but Postecoglou himself was in the crowd watching on this evening. The decision fell to the man in charge and he made it.
When you take a deeper look into how Victory play, it was actually Troisi that was the most dispensable player on the pitch. Barbarouses and Thompson were important for providing space and width, allowing for quick counter attacks, Nichols was the attacking playmaker who is designed to play in the wide forwards when possible, while Rashid Mahazi and Mark Milligan are important cogs in defensive midfield that allow the frontmen to work up front without having to worry about what happens when they lose it.
Victory no longer play the false nine, instead moving that man deeper back into a proper attacking midfielder role. One that worked around everyone else in the structure, filling the gaps and being the extra option at all times for the attacking men. Troisi’s role had been to be the one to break the lines and be on the finishing end of everything, and having scored five goals this season, it has been working. By taking him off, Victory could survive. Nichols simply had to be more precise in finding the two men out wide, while Mahazi and Milligan were allowed to help out whenever they could.
With a man down, a high press was also not going to be a reasonable tactic for the entire game, so Troisi’s defensive role was now made redundant. They could now afford Isaias to be on the ball as long as it was deep and away from the goals. Adelaide could dictate possession if they wanted. Victory were ahead and didn’t need to chase the game. The focus now was to ensure they were compact enough to prevent the Reds penetrating them, and possibly catch them on the counter attack.
Muscat’s two other substitutions simply mirrored what was required in the structure, to provide fresh legs for the tiring ten men. Guilherme Finkler and Connor Pain came on for Thompson and Nichols, basically like for like replacements. The decision to take Troisi off was the right one, as it actually had the least disruption to the team structure. Whether or not the fans agreed with the decision, it proved to be the correct one in the end.
Back four woes continue
Despite all the positives that came out of the game, Victory’s defence still remains a gigantic question mark as they continue their push to win the title.
Pablo Contreras looked calm and composed for most of the contest, but once again was at the centre of a penalty decision, having given Jeronimo a light ankle tap which sent the Argentinian theatrically tumbling to the ground. This time it didn’t cost the side thanks to Nathan Coe’s heroics, but the jury is still out on the Chilean marquee, who can’t afford anymore calamitous errors.
Adrian Leijer is the biggest loser of the night, erasing all the positive signs he’s shown so far this season with two daft challenges. His first yellow for a lunge on Marcelo Carrusca was needless while his second yellow for pulling down Sergio Cirio was also unnecessary given he was already on a card.
Leigh Broxham stepped in at right back for Jason Geria, but was also caught out positionally at times. Leijer’s second yellow came about as Cirio got into the space in behind Broxham, and similar occurrences happened to him throughout the contest, which brings about the questions why Scott Galloway still hasn’t been given a good go in the position.
Adama Traore was the only good performer in the backline, and it has been a worrying problem for Victory for far too long. Nick Ansell has looked solid in his outings so far this season, and had another good performance against the Reds. The youngster is putting pressure on his experienced teammates to perform, and so far neither Leijer nor Contreras have really stamped themselves as first choice starters.
Victory now come up against the Central Coast Mariners, which will be a tough ask given their recent record in Gosford. They need their back four to be in top form as the well drilled Mariners will exploit any deficiencies with ease.