Ernie Merrick is hoping the speed of his attacking players will give Melbourne Victory the edge in Sunday’s Hyundai A-League match against Queensland Roar.
Ernie Merrick is hoping the speed of his attacking players will give Melbourne Victory the edge in Sunday’s Hyundai A-League match against Queensland Roar.
Queensland is renowned for playing attacking football and this very much suits Merrick who plans to use the speed of Archie Thompson, Danny Allsopp and Carlos Hernandez to torment the Roar on the counter-attack on the slick Telstra Dome surface.
“We like a team to come at us. I think we’ve got the ability to both counter-attack and keep possession when we need to. We’ve got very fast strikers,” Merrick said.
Tom Pondeljak could be used as a back-up for that attacking trio with the veteran impressing Merrick with his pace and fitness.
“Tom Pondeljak is looking even more like a striker than a midfielder. And we’re very happy with his progress. Archie’s on fire, Danny Allsopp’s looking good, Carlos is terrific, so we’ve got the firepower to score goals,” he said.
“I think they are pretty desperate for points. They won’t be coming here for a draw. I think they’ve got a tough match. They’ve got a midfield that’s very busy. Charlie Miller scoring goals,” he said. “The good thing about Queensland is that they play attacking football as well.”
Merrick will include Leigh Broxham in his squad as he looks to keep his options open ahead of Sunday’s match.
“I haven’t finalised the squad. Leigh will come in and he’ll be in for consideration, so it’s a case of who we drop out. I don’t see a lot of changes to our first XI which is performing well week in, week out,” he said.
Nick Ward is probably another week away with his persistent calf injury, with Merrick unwilling to risk him despite strong performances in training
“He’s got that type of injury that we could bring him in and he’d be 100 per cent. But we run a risk. It’s not worth running a risk when we’ve got the quality of players fully-fit, like young Leigh, to come into the squad. I think he’ll be right for next week.”
The only other change to the squad is likely to be Lou Acevski, from VPL side Preston, who will come in as a back-up for Mitch Langerak with Michael Theoklitos suspended for two matches.
Victory memberships for the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 season are currently available from the Victory Shop, 236 Swan Street, Richmond, by calling 1300 GO MVFC or online by clicking here.
