A-League news: Change Melbourne Victory must make | On the Attack

Melbourne Victory have gone winless for six straight games and have lost their spot in the top six, so now is the time for change. See the latest A-League news in On The Attack with ROBBIE SLATER and MARCO MONTEVERDE.

Socceroos great ROBBIE SLATER and MARCO MONTEVERDE discuss the change Melbourne Victory must make for their clash against Sydney FC, Hayden Matthews’ move from the Sky Blues to the English Championship. All that and more in On the Attack.

PITCH FOR MITCH

Mitch Langerak must play for Melbourne Victory in Friday night’s “Big Blue” against Sydney FC.

The former Socceroos goalkeeper hasn’t returned to the A-League, and more specifically the Victory, to sit on the bench.

While it would be tough on Jack Duncan, who has performed admirably between the posts for the Victory while Langerak finished his commitments with Nagoya Grampus in Japan, there is currently no room for sentiment at the Melbourne club.

The Victory haven’t won any of their past six games and have slid out of the top six.

While it hasn’t been the fault of Duncan, the Victory have conceded nine goals in their past three games.

That’s not good enough for a team that wants to win the title.

Changes are needed, and the inclusion of Langerak is the obvious one.

Melbourne Victory must play Mitch Langerak in their ‘Big Blue’ clash against Sydney FC. Picture: Getty Images

It could be the catalyst to ignite the Victory’s season.

It would also be a proactive move by embattled interim Victory coach Arthur Diles.

Since Patrick Kisnorbo quit last month, the Victory haven’t won a game under former assistant coach Diles.

While performances haven’t been terrible, it’s the results that ultimately count, and unfortunately for Diles, he hasn’t found a way to guide an extremely talented team to a win.

Unless that changes pressure will continue to mount on Diles, with the Victory already interested in the services of John Aloisi and Nick Montgomery – both A-League title-winning coaches – for next season.

While the Victory will be desperate for a win on Friday night, so will Sydney after the Sky Blues’ embarrassing 4-3 home loss to bottom-placed Brisbane Roar last weekend.

The Roar hadn’t won all season before last Saturday, but somehow managed to beat a Sydney team many considered to be title favourites at the start of the season.

Well, the Ufuk Talay-coached team is a long way from winning anything at the moment.

However, a win on Friday night against in a high-stakes encounter would go a long way towards giving Sydney some much-needed momentum heading into the second half of the season.

Melbourne have not won a game since former coach Patrick Kisnorbo quit last month. Picture: Getty Images

HIGH HOPES FOR HAYDEN

The Sky Blues will begin life without Socceroos defender Hayden Matthews on Friday following the 20-year-old centre-back’s move to English Championship club Portsmouth.

It’s hard not to think that Matthews is perhaps leaving the A-League too early, and that he should stay in the national competition for a couple of more years to further develop his game because he’s far from the finished product.

However, it would have been hard for him to say no to going.

You can also understand Sydney’s desire to accept an offer of $A2.5 million for a player that young, particularly when add-ons for future moves by Matthews were also part of the deal.

The good thing for Matthews is he will also be going to a club that has three other Australian players on its books in Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi, former Mariners left-back Jacob Farrell and young attacker Thomas Waddingham, who has just joined Portsmouth from Brisbane Roar.

Sydney FC will be forced to face life without Hayden Matthews for the first time this week. Picture: Getty Images

That will help Matthews settle in at his new club, which also has a good history with Australian players.

With Matthews gone from Sydney, the Sky Blues, whose defensive problems have been no secret this season, will be in further need of some backline reinforcement.

Signing an experienced central defender, as well as retaining the services of centre-back Alex Popovic, currently on loan from South Korean club Gwangju, must be Sydney’s priority in this current transfer window if they want to contend for the title.

CLEAR FOUL MISSED

Adelaide United should have no complaints about having to settle for a 2-2 draw in Wednesday night’s top-of-the-table clash with Auckland FC at Coopers Stadium, despite Reds coach Carl Veart expressing his anger when the Black Knights equalised deep into stoppage-time.

The Reds should not have been awarded their first goal, with replays clearly showing that Yaya Dukuly clearly fouled Auckland’s Callan Elliott in the build-up.

It was astonishing that referee Alex King didn’t see what was a clear foul by Dukuly, who pulled Elliott back by grabbing his jersey, when it first happened.

And it was even more farcical when after reviewing footage of the incident, as was recommended by the VAR, that King stuck by his original decision.

While we are all for referees not feeling the need to change their mind just because the VAR tells them to have a look at the replay of an incident, this time it was clearly a foul by Dukuly, whose shirt-pulling led to Elliott falling over.

The Black Knights didn’t deserve to lose that game, so justice was done when they secured a point from substitute Logan Rogerson’s late header.

Originally published as A-League news: Change Melbourne Victory must make | On the Attack