Melbourne Victory 2012/2013 Season Review
Melbourne Victory’s season of promise came to an abrupt halt with a disappointing 1-0 loss to grand final bound Central Coast Mariners. With the dust now settled on the campaign it is time now reflect on the highs and lows of the season and determine if the season has been a success or not.
New Faces.
Melbourne Victory welcomed many new faces into the side for the 2012/13 season, and none was bigger than the man who would lead the side from the bench. Ange Posteglou became the clubs fourth manager in just over 12 months’ days after guiding Brisbane Roar to their second consecutive A-League title. The signing of Ange Postecoglu to the manager’s role was seen as a major coup for the club and would hopefully bring back the glory days of seasons past. After a disappointing season in 2011/12 it was clear that a major overhaul of the playing group was needed. High profile player Harry Kewell and Carlos Hernandez left the club along with experienced players Matthew Kemp, Grant Brebner, Roddy Vargas and Tom Pondeljak. Experienced campaigner Spase Delivski become the first signing of the Ange Revolution, next came international signings of Jonathan Bru and Gui Finkler and the capture of Mark Milligan to a full time contract after linking up with the club on loan for the latter part of the previous season. The biggest player signing for Victory was next announced with the capture of former Adelaide playmaker and Johnny Warren Medalist Marcos Flores. The start of the new season saw a massive shift in the playing group not seen since the early days of the club and expectation was high for a solid season from Postecoglou’s men.
Young Guns.
The biggest thing to take out of this season is the quality of player making the transition from the clubs youth team to the seniors starting XI. Andrew Nabbout made the loudest bang out of any of the young players at the club by introducing himself to the league with an outstanding cameo against Sydney FC, coming off the bench to find the back of the net with two spectacular strikes in the famous come from behind win at Allianz Stadium. Melbourne started the season with a dodgy defense and was leaking goals too often for comfort. Ange Posteglou gave young defender Nick Ansell a go in the heart of defense and fitted in seamlessly. Ansell played with skill and experience well beyond his years and become an integral part of the side until injury cruelly ended his debut season during the first half of the third derby of the season. Young players who made the transition into the senior squad included Luke O’dea, Connor Pain, Sam Gallagher, Jason Geria, Scott Galloway, Chris Cristaldo and Dylan Murnane. All will be even better next season with a pre-season with the senior side under their belt and more experience under Postecoglou. Expect more names to be added to this list next season with Melbourne Victory Youth ending the season as the champions of the National Youth League.
Highlights of the year.
Melbourne produced some stunning performances’ and scored some cracking goals throughout the season to claim third place on the A-League table. After a sluggish start to the year, Victory’s campaign kicked up a gear with a memorable come from behind win away to Sydney FC. Melbourne was staring down the barrel of their fourth loss in the first six rounds as they trailed FC 2-0 early in the second half. Enter Andrew Nabbout, whose stunning two goals clinched a famous win that will go down as one of the greatest wins in the clubs history. Victory went into the second derby of the season not beating their cross town rivals in over two years. That terrible statistic was put to bed in some style two three days before Christmas with a pulsating 2-1 win over Melbourne Heart. With the game destined to finish a draw as former Victory player Fred equalized late on after Victory took the lead in the second half courtesy of a Marcos Rojas goal, Archie Thompson somehow found the pace and the space to slide through the Heart defense to score a 93rd minute winner with a chipped goal over the head of Heart keeper Clint Bolton. The final whistle saw scenes of delirium on and off the pitch as both fans and players celebrated a long overdue win over Heart.
Australia Day 2013 saw the visit of Sydney FC and their Italian superstar Alessandro Del Peiro to AAMI Park in one of the most anticipated Big Blues in recent memory. With both sides in hot form and a sellout crowd this much promised so much, and Victory delivered in spades delighting the strong crowd with an impressive 3-1 win. Marco Rojas lit up AAMI Park with a dazzling performance, hitting the back of the net twice.
The overall form of the ‘Kiwi Messi’, Marco Rojas was a massive highlight of the season. Rojas lit up the A-League during the season with his outstanding displays and memorable goals. Rojas came to Victory last year with big wraps on him after impressing with Wellington Phoenix two seasons ago, but endured a disappointing year that never really took off. Rojas started the year with a bang with scoring in the opening game against Melbourne Heart and never looked back. Rojas was rewarded with his stellar season by winning the prestigious Johnny Warren Medal for the league’s best player, becoming only the second Victory player to do so after Carlos Hernandez.
Lowlights of the season.
Victory had some great highlights during the season, despite this there were also some low points throughout the season as well. The season got off to the worst possible start with a lackluster performance against rivals Melbourne Heart 2-1. Victory battled to contest with Heart for much of the game as it was clear early on that the playing group was still yet to adjust to life under Ange Postecoglou with Heart making them pay on the counter. The season went from bad to horrible for Victory as the next round saw them record the highest loss in the clubs history, going down 5-0 to a rampant Brisbane Roar. This was the first time Postecoglou went back to face his former employees and it was clear the Roar were out for revenge. Two other disappointing results for the year were going down 4-2 against fierce rivals Adelaide United and the horror show in the Gosford rain with Central Coast Mariners dismantling Victory 6-1, the first time Victory have shipped six goals in a game.
Another serious lowlight for the year was the never ending injury list Victory had throughout the season. Melbourne Medical team were kept busy during the season with injuries to key players Archie Thompson, Marcos Flores, Adama Traore and Nick Ansell which kept them out for a significant period of time. The biggest injury to hit the side was of key playmaker Gui Finkler going down with a knee injury against Western Sydney Wanderers on New Year’s Day. Scans would reveal Finkler was to go a full knee reconstruction and miss a year of football. It was a major blow to Victory and the Brazilian as he lead the league with assists before his injury hit.
Player of the Year.
While Marco Rojas deservedly won the plaudits this season with his stunning form that culminated in winning the Johnny Warren Medal, Mark Milligan gets my vote for player of the year. Victory is a much improved team with the former Sydney FC man in the side and his absence has been felt throughout the season when he has missed games. Milligan is assured in midfield and is dangerous in defense and attack. The form of the Socceroo justified Ange Postecoglou’s decision to bring him back to the A-League from Japan.
Grade.
A.
So has this year been a success for the boys in blue? If you ask coach Postecoglou, he would answer that question with a blunt no. Ange is a winner and expected that to follow onto his new side. Coming off a disastrous 11/12 campaign and a big change in players, this year was always seen as a transitional year for the club. Victory was always a tough prospect for oppositions to deal with and could have seriously challenged for the silverware if injuries didn’t get in the way. In my view this has been a successful season for Victory and has laid some pretty solid foundations to work with for next season in order to challenge for the championship next season.
A big thank you to From The Stands for allowing me to write the weekly match preview for Victory games and thank you to those who have read them throughout the season. It has been a joy to write for the website and I look forward to doing it all again next season.
Brad Hutchings.
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