There was no joy for Melbourne Heart yet again this pre-season as they slumped to a disappointing 1-2 loss to Adelaide United. The Friday afternoon kickoff meant the match drew no more than a decent crowd despite the school holidays, but any home supporters would have been left shaking their heads in frustration after a particularly toothless display.
Melbourne Heart’s winless streak against A-League opposition was stretched to yet another year, but this was a day in which they failed to make their own luck and the scoreline more than flattered them. Adelaide weren’t exactly full strength, but they looked sharper, hungrier and more tactically disciplined. Spanish coach Josep Gombau seems to have instilled a particular style of play on his team in the quest for “beautiful football”, with new signings Cirio and Michael Zullo impressing on the flanks.
Adelaide’s Argentinian import Marcelo Carrusco opened the scoring from the penalty spot, then added a second in open play before a second half consolation effort from David Williams. Both sides also failed to come out of the encounter unscathed, with Zullo and Patrick Gerhardt emerging with knocks. Nevetheless, there will be one more chance to get back some confidence against a Peninsula XI on Sunday, but it might be back to the drawing board for head coach John Aloisi ahead of the Melbourne Derby in Round 1.
A toothless first half
Granted the home team were missing some of their bigger names, with club captain Harry Kewell, Maltese frontman Michael Mifsud and Dutch defender Rob Wielaert missing in action but the starting lineup that Aloisi sent out was strangely impotent.
Wielaert’s no-show meant Gerhardt stayed to partner new signing Patrick Kisnorbo in central defence, while Golgol Mebrahtu was supported by Mate Dugandzic and David Williams in attack. It was in midfield that the problems began though, with stand-in captain Massimo Murdocca starting alongside youth prospects Paulo Retre and Marcus Schroen.
Makeshift right back Jason Hoffman looked particularly troubled in the opening stages of the match, with the gangly former Australian U23 international finding Cirio more than a handful to deal with. Gombau looked to have instructed his wide men to hug the touchline, with his wingers standing off even when the ball was on the other side of the pitch. This posed a problem for the hosts, with Retre and Schroen struggling to impose themselves in midfield. Williams and Dugandzic took it on themselves to track back and help at times, but were often then forced to chase out wide as United starting stroking searching diagonal balls across the field.
Hoffman brought Cirio down with a clumsy challenge in the box on 23 minutes, with Carrusco stepping up and sending Andrew Redmayne the wrong way. The goal failed to wake Heart from it’s stupor though, as the Argentinian promptly added a second with a curling strike soon after.
With no width and a lack of thrust through the middle (despite Murdocca’s best efforts), Heart were reduced to hopeful long bombs into space for Mebrahtu to chase and it was no surprise that nothing came off in the end. The Adelaide supporters at one end of the pitch were getting quite raucous as the teams went in to the break and really, could you blame them?
Reinforcements offer encouragement
Aloisi obviously had enough at halftime, sending on injury replacement Andrea Migliorini and Iain Ramsay to bolster his flagging forces and it looked to have worked somewhat. While Migliorini doesn’t have injured marquee man Orlando Engelaar’s pedigree or international experience, his introduction did give the Heart midfield more shape and bite as he combined well with Murdocca.
The Italian midfielder strode around midfield making himself available whenever possible, not unwilling to shuttle back into defence to help carry the ball as well as move it through crowded areas. It wasn’t eye-catching in the least, but it was much more effective than Retre’s 45 minute cameo. Ramsay’s graft and hard running gave Heart an extra element too, as he got stuck in on his flank and tried to help Heart gain control of the match against his old team.
This allowed Heart to finally fashion an equaliser, although there was an element of good fortune to a goal they had scarcely deserved on the basis of the first half of play. Dugandic cut in from the right and played in Aziz Behich, with the fullback’s long range effort tipped on to the bar by an excellent Eugene Galekovic. David Williams attempted to head in the rebound, only to see the Adelaide goalkeeper somehow claw his effort away from a prone position, but there was nothing Galekovic could do as the winger put away the subsequent tap-in.
Some consolation
In conclusion, it wasn’t a very good day for Heart, who were found out by another A-League side who just seemed far more prepared for the new season then they were. While the missing first-teamers might have made a difference, it is worrying this close out to a Round 1 match which their diehard fans will be wanting them to win at all costs. Last season’s winning start proved a false dawn, but it would not do to be outmatched by your fiercest rivals come opening day.
As the excited group of Adelaide fans exited Epping Stadium with a few last delighted catcalls, the hosts were left to lick their wounds and figure out what went wrong. There were a few good signs though, probably scant comfort on this day, but nonetheless worth bringing up.
Mebrahtu still looks a little raw, but there was plenty of promise in his one half of play, especially when he was able to run at the Adelaide defence with the ball at his feet. The power and pace from this explosive young lad hints at his large potential, and if he can make this his breakout season, the sky’s the limit for him and his team.
Dugandzic seems to have returned well and without complications from his long injury layoff too, with his involvement in Heart’s consolation goal showing that he might be on his way back to where he was before he broke his leg. You never can be sure that you’ll get the same player after a serious injury like that, but there’s more than a chance that the Melbourne Heart forward can discover his form of old and make an impact this season.
