Football Season Guide

Victory were so close to the title last May, only the post saved Sydney in extra times in the Grand Final, and naturally now the Royal Blues will be full of determination to secure silverware this term. Coach Muscat parted ways with both of his centre-backs in the summer, but this was a planned decision as he already started using Donachie a lot at the back end of last season and also secured for the squad the vastly experienced Rhys Williams. On top of that, youngster Deng is back after a year of learning in Holland and between the three of them there will be serious competition for the starting spots. The big summer loss for Victory was their star playmaker Rojas, he was tempted by an offer from Europe, but to replace him Muscat resigned Barbarouses and also Victory’s captain from two years ago Milligan re-joined the squad too. The two of them and Troisi will be providing support for the A-League legendary striker Berisha and as usual Victory are expected to excite and score goals. Leroy George is another newly signed winger that has impressive CV and his ability to run past defenders is expected to be used to a devastating effect by Muscat. It is also important that George can play as a centre forward, which could give Bersiha much needed rest once the Asian Champions League campaign kicks-off in February. Concerning this international competition Muscat has called five young players from the U19 squad to train with the senior team in pre-season and he seems to be preparing them exactly for appearances in the Asian Champions League. This shows that Victory’s main priority is the A-League and the Royal Blues won’t be happy with anything less than another Grand Final appearance. Possible weakness is the absence of a typical left-back in the squad and at least for now Broxham will be used in that position. That said a few times in pre-season Muscat used 3-4-3 as a formation and if he opts for it more often he won’t be needing a left-back.