City, Victory eye Christmas Derby statement

For the first time in years, Melbourne City enters this year’s Christmas Derby against Melbourne Victory in an underdog role. But history informs that there is often no such thing in these games.

For the first time in a long time, Melbourne City enters this year’s traditional Christmas Derby against Melbourne Victory in an unfamiliar, underdog role. History, however, informs that there is often no such thing in these fixtures, even if Victory enters unbeaten and looking to make a statement against their upstart rivals. 

A year on from securing their third-straight premiership, City has experienced a swoon to start the 2023-24 campaign, sacking coach Rado Vidošić and replacing him with Aurelio Vidmar after just two rounds, taking just three wins from their opening eight games, and finding themselves sitting outside the finals places, seventh on the table. 

Despite only losing a single game, they were also eliminated from the Asian Champions League in the group stages after conceding late goals in their last three fixtures – two of which were at home – and watching seven potential points become two in a flash. 

Indicative of how out of character this is for City, the last time they entered a Christmas Derby this low on the table was the 2014-15 season, the first year after their re-brand from Melbourne Heart, when they also entered in seventh position. 

Yet, reflective of the adage of throwing out the form guide for the derby, they ended up eeking out a 1-0 win over second-placed Victory in that contest thanks to a 91st-minute header from Erik Paartalu.

And with only six points separating them from top-of-the-tree Wellington despite their tepid start to the campaign, it’s easy to fashion a narrative around how a similar result this time around could kickstart City’s campaign, as well as deal a significant moral blow to Victory’s thoughts of regaining supremacy in the sporting capital.

“You can look at the ladder, the ladder doesn’t lie at some points. But it’s only been eight games or so,” said City skipper Jamie Maclaren. “I remember there were times when we were well clear at the top of the league and we would lose derbies. 

“So it’s all about moments in games; who takes their chances, who concedes the least and makes the most of the opposition’s mistakes. 

“It’s going to be a game full of passion. We’ve seen that in many derbies we’ve played in and we just hope it’s an exciting atmosphere for the crowd. 

“It’s a doubleheader as well and we want as many people in the grandstands as possible because there are not too many bigger fixtures in this in our Australian game.”

Continuing to play through the pain of an ankle injury that has hampered his form and contributed to him missing out on selection for the Asian Cup, Maclaren’s wish for packed grandstands looks to be coming true, with City officials saying that a 25,000-plus crowd for the game isn’t an unrealistic hope.

Contributing a sold-out away bay to this figure, Victory will head to AAMI Park on Saturday experiencing something of a mirror season to their crosstown rivals. 

After (another) horror campaign that saw them finish second bottom of the league – the third time in four seasons they had occupied one of the bottom two places on the table – Tony Popovic’s side now stands as the lone unbeaten outfit in 2023-24: taking four wins and four draws from their opening month of games. 

Last week, they put their Big Blue rivals Sydney FC to the sword with an incisive display of transitional football that saw Daniel Arzani, Zinédine Machach, and newly-named Asian Cup Socceroo Bruno Fornaroli on the scoresheet. 

“There’s a lot of things that go into a team,” Arzani said of the turnaround. “I think we’ve got some personalities now in the change room, we’ve got some leaders and people have stepped up. 

“You know what you’re gonna get with the boss, he’s really tough and we’re all extremely fit. 

“With the addition of those personalities and the captains and people stepping up and bringing the leadership from outside the staff into the change room. I think that’s been the biggest thing for us.”

Arzani, for his part, is experiencing his best season as a professional since his breakout 2017-18 campaign with City, netting a first goal of the season against the Sky Blues are threatening for several weeks. 

As would be expected, the 24-year-old is amongst the league leaders for dribbles and chances created; there’s also been a notable increase in effort on the defensive side of the ball, an area that long seen as holding him back from taking his play to the next level. 

Of course, that shouldn’t be surprising for a bloke in a Popovic team, if you’re not willing to do the defensive work, you’re not playing. There’s also something to be said for maturing as a player. But there’s more.

“Absolutely the boss and then me just knowing that it’s something that I need to do,” said Arzani. “But more important than both of those is now that I have the physical capacity to be able to do that. 

“There are a lot of times there are things you want to do in the game that you’re just not able to because you’re not fit enough. 

“Doing a preseason under the boss has helped me immensely. And I think now I’ve got the capability to do the things that I want to do on the pitch.”

And despite his former side’s slow start to the season, Arzani knows ballers when he sees them. But they have to keep up. 

“Melbourne City, the thing with them is they always have such incredibly talented individuals,” he said. “I think it hasn’t clicked for them yet so far this season. 

“For us, it’s just gonna be about making use of, we’re physically so much so much fitter than every other team in the league and we want to put that to good use this weekend and just throw our weight around, play them out the whole 90 and see if they can keep up with us.”