A-League grand final, Melbourne derby: Five burning questions facing Victory and City
A rollercoaster of an A-League season is poised to end on a high in a grand final that doubles as a derby between two of the competition’s fiercest rivals. These are the five burning questions.
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Another rollercoaster of an A-League season is poised to end on a high on Saturday night in a grand final that doubles as a derby between two of the competition’s fiercest rivals – Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory.
What’s great is that the decider is already a sellout, meaning the atmosphere at AAMI Park will be intense. And that’s what you want in a grand final.
The Victory perhaps have the advantage in terms of momentum after last weekend sending premiers Auckland packing, but City have been consistent and professional all season.
On The Attack poses five burning questions facing both clubs before the 2024-25 champions can be crowned.
1. Have Melbourne Victory already played their “grand final”?
The Victory needed all their physical and mental strength to end premiers Auckland FC’s season with a 2-0 semi-final second-leg win last Saturday at Go Media Stadium.
Trailing 1-0 after the first-leg in Melbourne, the Victory were given almost no chance of ending Auckland’s dream of a premiership-championship double in their first season in the competition.
However, that’s exactly what the Melbourne outfit did in front of almost 30,000 screaming Kiwis. How much of a toll has that taken on the Victory?
In their favour this week will be a pro-Victory crowd, but they will need more than that to produce another performance worthy of winning a grand final.
2. Will Melbourne City complete the final step?
There is no doubt that Melbourne City has been the A-League’s most consistent team for the past six years, but that hasn’t been sufficiently rewarded.
Saturday night’s grand final will be City’ fifth decider in six seasons, but their only championship success came in 2021.
Since then, they have lost two more grand finals, including an embarrassing 6-1 loss to the Central Coast Mariners two years ago.
From that team, Marco Tilio, Mathew Leckie and Callum Talbot will be in City’s squad this weekend and will no doubt have some haunting memories of the disaster.
3. Which Daniel Arzani will show up?
Melbourne Victory playmaker Daniel Arzani has made no secret of the fact that he loves a big occasion, and in terms of the A-League, there is nothing bigger than the grand final.
With doubts over the fitness of his club and Socceroos teammate Nishan Velupillay, Arzani will be under even more pressure to perform.
No-one has ever doubted Arzani’s ability.
A former Melbourne City prodigy, he was a teenager when he represented the Socceroos at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Since then, it’s more than fair to say he hasn’t lived up to the hype. However, a boot up the backside from national team coach Tony Popovic about his application at a Socceroos camp last year seems to have worked wonders in helping Arzani realise he needs more than talent to succeed.
4. Who will have the safer hands?
Had you predicted before the season started that Patrick Beach and Jack Duncan would be the two goalkeepers in the 2024-25 A-League grand final, you would have been considered a genius.
However, unless Victory star Mitch Langerak makes a miraculous recovery from a foot injury, it will be Beach (City) and Duncan (Victory) between the posts.
Young gun Beach surprisingly got the nod ahead of title-winning gloveman Jamie Young, and has played in every one of City’s 28 A-League games this season, with Young having left the club in February.
Duncan was supposed to keep the Victory’s custodian spot warm for Langerak until the latter’s return to the club in January.
However, the 32-year-old keeper has made 18 appearances this season and has the backing of everyone at the Victory.
5. Arthur or Aurelio?
The Victory’s Arthur Diles and City’s Aurelio Vidmar are both chasing their first A-League championship as coaches.
Many questioned the Victory’s decision to appoint previous assistant Diles as head coach in December following the sudden departure of Patrick Kisnorbo, seeing it as just a money-saving move.
And then after little-known Diles’ indifferent start at the helm, it was even more of a shock when it was announced in late January that he had signed a deal to be coach until the end of next season.
However, he is now just one game away from winning the title at his first attempt as the main man.
The much more experienced Vidmar guided Adelaide United to the 2009 grand final, but the Reds lost 1-0 to Melbourne Victory. His calmness and cool temperament have been evident this season, with City’s professionalism having been lauded by many.
FAREWELL SIMON
Simon Hill has been the voice of football in Australia for more than 20 years, so his announcement this week that the grand final will be his A-League farewell ahead of his return to the UK after the Socceroos’ two matches next month represents a huge loss for the game in this country.
However, it’s also an opportunity for Hill to make his mark as a commentator on a bigger stage in England, and there’s no doubt that he will succeed when an opportunity presents itself, as it no doubt will.
Hill’s commentary will be sorely missed in Australia, and On The Attack wishes him the very best for what’s certain to be a bright future.
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Originally published as A-League grand final, Melbourne derby: Five burning questions facing Victory and City
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