Blog: There's Nothing Like A Loss...

THERE'S nothing like a loss to Sydney on a Friday night to ruin one’s weekend.

Us Melbourne fans don't like losing to Sydney full stop, but the manner in which Victory capitulated to our fiercest rival was of the most concern.

Capitulation may be a little harsh, but to see us concede three goals in such rapid succession and in such a manner, no other word really springs to mind. So many goals in such a short period of time makes one think of a South American World Cup Qualifier.

For a minute there I almost thought we were going to get a repeat of last year's match against Sydney and we would come back with three goals of own after they scored those two early goals.

Unfortunately there were two problems. Firstly, Sydney decided they would score a third shortly thereafter and secondly, Melbourne were playing nowhere near as well as they did in that aforementioned match. Not even close.

As I alluded to in my earlier comments, it was the way in which Melbourne conceded those three goals that was of most concern. Sloppy, even lackadaisical defending gifted our opposition gilt-edged chances that they took with aplomb. It was like we didn't give our opposition enough respect.

I wouldn't have to be Einstein to point out that Messrs Vargas, Muscat, Leijer, Sukha and Kemp shouldn't be holding their heads up high after that performance. But they weren't alone. For a team with such experience of big games it was like the occasion got to them.

All in all, the match was basically over after 20 minutes and for the remaining 70 the 30,000-strong crowd were treated to a rather tawdry affair with only the significant Sydney support getting any benefit out of it.

The rest of us were probably hoping that it would end as soon as possible because try as we might to bridge the gap, Melbourne never really looked like hitting the back of the net.

An early finish would have also meant that the spectator behind me would be able to stop complaining about every single aspect of Melbourne Victory and be a much happier person. I know it would have made me happier person to hear them give it a rest for a while.

Next week now looms as an important match against bogey team, Newcastle, especially if we are to maintain contact with those around us. Friday night's result may have been only our first loss in six matches but it's a result that could have a huge bearing on our title chances.