Heart must shoot down Jets
Even if you have been living under a rock all week you would have heard about the #GetBeckham rumours and the possibility of him joining the Heart. John Aloisi will be doing his best to keep the players focus on the pitch, in what is a must win game for the struggling Heart. Rocked by the news that playmaker Mate Dugandzic will be out for three months Heart will be looking for someone to fill the void. The performance last week was once again below par for the league and if not for Clint Bolton could have been worse. Aloisi and his coaching staff will be hoping Emile Heskey has a day off this week.
Like the Heart, injury has struck the Jets in a major way with in form keeper Mark Birighitti sustaining a fractured cheekbone. The Jets will be looking for another keeper for the next 6-9 weeks. The scoreline embarrassed the Jets last week but Wellington were playing in a match that they had to win. This week they face the Heart in a similar situation and must be prepared to play a side that will be determined for a full 90 minutes.
Saturday Evening 17:30 AEST AAMI Park
Form Rating MH 0.60 NEW 1.80
Heart (9th) LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN LOSS
Newcastle (3rd) WIN WIN LOSS WIN LOSS
Head to Head
Heart 2 wins Draws 1 Newcastle 3 wins
Michael Boettcher looks at the must win game for Melbourne Heart (@CaptainFantasy)
Beckham V Heskey
Ok maybe it’s a little premature but like many others I’ve been caught up in the Beckham frenzy this past week! Should he come the A-League and Melbourne Heart in particular it could be the rebirth of our club and full houses across the country.
Last Week
I expected a drop off from Heart’s blitzing performance against the Roar a fortnight ago, but I never expected us to be so poor that Aloisi would be quoted at the end of the match saying that Heart “gave up”. Sadly apart from some Bolton heroics in goals, we once again looked very ineffective all over the park, particularly in the second half.
After the best start to an A-League season for Newcastle they came back to earth with a thud thanks to a 3-0 loss courtesy of a fired up Wellington. If it wasn’t for a misfiring Totori it could have been more.
This Week
Heart seem to only perform in night games for some bizarre reason so unfortunately thanks to daylight savings it will technically still be a day game this week. As much as I hate the saga, perhaps it’s time for us to sparkle in the twilight compared to our traditional vampire behavior of crashing and burning in the light of day.
What good luck, Fred is back. What bad luck, Dugandzic is out for three months. Mate has been out of form for most of the season, but I expected him, as all quality players do, to find his way into form soon. Sadly the prognosis is 8-12 weeks out with a broken foot and we wish him a speedy recovery.
Behich, Marrone and Garcia have all be included in the Socceroos provisional squad for the East Asian Cup, which should be creating a buzz for the team at the moment. As we saw in their last friendly verses South Korea, every new face added a new found energy and hope to the national team.
The Jets also loose young keeper Birighitti who was in form before his sickening clash last week with Brockie’s knee. Nash will be in goals, but he has played for the Jets against Heart before, and played well so the keeper factor might not be an issue. The good news for them is they’ll welcome back Goodwin who could cause Heart trouble with his brilliance down the wing. Heskey has also been an amazing pick up for the Jets and it may be a case of them recruiting the right man at the right time. I can see him on the score sheet again this week.
Conclusion
Both sides are capable of anything but one thing I’m counting on is plenty of goals. Games between the two have historically been high scoring affairs. Both are coming off disappointing performances and will want to make amends this week. Heart could make big changes with Fred, Mebrahtu, Vrankovic, and Garuccio all available. The Jets could also make some sweeping changes, but it might just come down to a change of attitude in both set of players and we’ll be in for an exciting battle!
This is one of the three games this season where Heart will have the post game function running in the lounge (I’ll name the Beckham Lounge), above Aisle three so be sure to meet some fellow fans and players after the game!
Prediction: Heart 2 – Jets 2
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