What a night it was at AAMI Park on Saturday as the second edition of the FFA Cup final was run and won. In a single evening we learnt that Melbourne Victory are the new superclub, have flaws that can be seized upon, and the “magic of the Cup”, somewhat counter-intuitively, seems to end at the semi-final stage.
On the park Victory turned in an imperious first-half-display to effectively end the contest by the midway point, en-route to becoming the first team to win the premiership, championship and cup all in one calendar year, if not in the same season.
If key personnel stay fit they will stand a good chance of sitting atop the ladder come the end of the regular season, and of being favourites heading into the finals. Much anticipation will surround their next tilt at the Asian Champions League in a few months time.
The Victory could easily have scored more than two by half-time. The sometimes underrated Kosta Barbarouses always looked dangerous, and the rated Fahid Ben Khalfallah gave cause for concern in Glory ranks. Centrally Ollie Bozanic and Gui Finkler again showed their complementary attacker virtues. As usual, striker Besart Berisha oscillated between twinkle-toed goal conjuror when in possession, and out-of-control Subbuteo player crashing into opponents when not.
It all adds up to a dynamic attacking equation for the Victory. As often the case, they opened powerfully putting their opponent on the back foot both in reality and on the scoreboard. At times it felt they were playing football from the future against a brave, but hopelessly outgunned opponent.
But, not for the first time this season, Victory’s momentum halted after the break. The Glory, showing admirable fortitude to bounce back from a 45-minute work-over, had the better of the second period. The second half gives hope to the chasing pack that the Victory are far from unbeatable, despite their attacking superiority.
Sure, Victory had plenty of chances, but most were on the break as Perth threw caution to the wind. Most notably Daniel Georgievski allowed excitement to get the better of him to be marginally north of the ball and somehow ruin a three-on-none counter. His excitement remained undimmed as he rushed into the crowd to celebrate, where he remained blissfully unaware of the offside flag as play restarted. No doubt watching Socceroo coach Ange Postecoglou recalled his goatee-era days coaching South Melbourne when team wide-boy Con Boutsianis led a similar foray towards the distant fence at the late-lamented Olympic Park during the 1998 grand final. Fortunately for Boutsianis, Carlton were unable to make their four-man advantage count, ending hopes of NSL footage going global.
There was a dash of humour too with the coaches donning unfeasibly large headphones midway through the match to talk to the TV commentary team. One feels conflicted as to whether it adds to the occasion, or makes the whole event feel contrived. There is, however, an enjoyable dash of tension amid the feeling that one of the A-League’s myriad grumpy coaches are just an ill-advised moment away from a live-TV blooper.
Less good humoured will be Victory skipper Carl Valeri who somehow found himself sent off in the final minutes of a victorious final for the second time in six months. With a thoughtful and considered nature Valeri is far from a wild enforcer prone to straight reds. The ability to avoid second yellows it seems, is another matter altogether. Schooled in Italy as a defensive midfielder Valeri, who was once dubbed “Mini Vinnie” in honour of Vince Grella, still has something to learn from his Socceroo predecessor in terms of brinkmanship with referees.
However, that Valeri was unable to collect his winners’ medal at the post-match presentation didn’t quite feel right. A red card is a red card some will say, but is thumping a match official worthy of the same immediate sanction as an inadvertent goalline handball.
For Glory there is some solace to be found in their second successive final defeat. “There is more to come from us,” said captain Richard Garcia post-match amid some unedifying and unnecessary boos from the try-hard tifosi set. He is right. There are plenty of tasty ingredients for coach Kenny Lowe to work with. The next challenge is getting the blend right. Credit also to the club for their un-21st century style invitation, whereby their 300-hundred odd travelling fans were offered a welcome back to the team hotel. Presumably that meant to the lobby only, though that wasn’t strictly specified.
Ultimately, Victory will have good memories of the night. It is just a shame many of their regular fans were not there to enjoy it. Many blamed ticket prices with just 15,000 turning up from a membership base of 26,000, and a season home gate average that currently stands at 32,000.
Each FFA Cup matchday has offered something colourful and out of the ordinary. Yet, somewhat ironically, the final felt like just another A-League match. Kick-off commenced less than 15 minutes after the conclusion of the contest in Newcastle, on an otherwise full round of matches.
A final on Australia Day, or another iconic date has been mooted. So too a two-legged affair or a neutral venue. Perhaps only Canberra would be an option for the latter. Certainly on a pro-rata basis Canberra is unsurpassed when it comes to attending one-off big-ticket events recently – Socceroo and Asian Cup matches providing strong evidence. Identifying problems and finding a perfect solution are invariably at opposite end of the scale, but undoubtedly there was little “magic of the cup” on Saturday night.
On the positive side the final was entertaining fare unlike, thankfully, Friday’s moribund A-League scoreless encounter between Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar. Graham Arnold has, perhaps as a direct result of last year’s one-sided grand final defeat, decided that the maxim “defences win championships” is the only way forward. His side now have the best defensive record, but again there was little to enthuse the neutral.
“Stifling” was how John Aloisi described the Sydney FC method. It is easy to imagine one of the nice guys of football was being restrained. Graham Arnold took the opposite view about where the blame should lie. Both teams were guilty of tactical fouling amid 35 fouls. It seems either not enough cautions are issued for breaking up play, or the yellow card threshold prior to receiving a suspension is too high.
Football coaches and fans alike have long been renowned for a complete absence of perspective. Enter stage left, Newcastle Jets coach Scott Miller and Western Sydney Wanderers counterpart Tony Popovic. Rather like Arnold and Aloisi redux, Popovic thought Brendon Santalab’s flop to the ground made for a clear penalty, yet Miller was “gob-smacked”. Little surprise then the pair also had divergent views on the Jets’ contentious “offside” goal. Admittedly the sight of the referee consulting, and then over-ruling, his correct assistant was odd at best. The bigger picture is that both teams are already far in advance of where they were last season, with the Wanderers just about deserving of their 2-1 win.
Perhaps the only team which has gone noticeably backwards so far is Adelaide United who crashed to a 4-2 defeat against Melbourne City way back when the round started last Thursday. As long as Aaron Mooy remains fit, City will surely be among the leading pack at last.
Less confident of such an outcome will be Central Coast Mariners and Wellington Phoenix whose 1-1 stalemate was not hugely unexpected. They were once again some promising signs but both are in danger of being left behind before finding momentum.
