For all the pictures from Thursday's Melbourne Victory training session...

 

Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
In one of Real Madrid's most outstanding performances at the Camp Nou, Los Blancos beat FC Barcelona 3-1 in the Spanish Supercup. Real were leading 2-1 after Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute goal, but just before the final whistle, we sealed the win with this beautiful Marco Asensio strike.
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Merrick said the club had been back through video replays and noted 13 times where their attacking players had been wrongly-ruled offside, a level of error he says in unacceptable.

He said: "I have to say my biggest concern is the assistant referees. We've had 13 occasions this season, where mainly Archie and Danny, were called for offsides. And video replays strongly suggested that they weren't offside. Now that's 13 one-on-one attempts at the opposition goalkeeper in very good scoring chances."

Merrick said he thought the standard of refereeing had improved dramatically in the A-League over the past couple of years, but that the issue of having part-time officials would need to be addressed to ensure the standard of linesmen lived up to the standard of the refereeing.

He said: "I'm not suggesting its bias or incompetence. I'm just hoping the assistant referees are very good at their job, especially on offsides.

"The rule, especially, where if they are in doubt and it's even, that they are supposed to go with the striker. We can show 13 occasions where it was fairly blatant the other way. I hope that doesn't affect our opportunities in the finals."

The timing of Merrick's attack is intriguing as his side plans to go into battle against Adelaide in the first-leg of the Major Semi-Final at Hindmarsh Stadium on Saturday.

Adelaide and Melbourne share one of the biggest rivalries in the competition, and the 15 contests between them have yielded 70 yellow cards and five red cards over the years. But Merrick is not concerned about Strebre Delovski keeping charge of the match, he is more worried about his assistants maintaining control of their flags.

He said: "I have to say I hope the assistant referees are on their game more than the man in the middle.

"I think it's important for every game. I think the referees have improved out of sight. I just think that assistant referees, who are unfortunately part-timers, they just have to get it right on the day.

"Thirteen mistakes, 13 out of 21 matches. Some of them are pretty blatant. We are pretty disappointed by that. That's why they've (FFA) brought in a referees boss from Holland."