Opinion: New writer Zee Ko looks at yesterday's Heart home game ..


Heart Denied Their Greatest Desire!

It wasn’t a particularly good look, the Melbourne Heart bench sheltering under a line of black umbrellas on the touchline as the Sydney F.C. substitutes braved the elements just mere feet away at AAMI Park. On the pitch, the two sides battled away oblivious to the lashing rain, Heart seeking their first win of the season while Sydney attempted to keep pace with runaway leaders Brisbane Roar.

Heart’s Alex Terra made a nuisance of himself early on, twisting and turning up front as he sought to put Matt Thompson through on 14 minutes, but the stand-in captain put his header marginally over Liam Reddy’s bar.

The wet conditions were proving problematic for both sides with passes going astray and players slipping on the slick turf, but Sydney were slowly but surely gaining a foothold in midfield. Heart’s 4-3-3 system meant its wing players pushed out wide on the flanks, but it seemed none of Michael Marrone, Aziz Behich, David Williams and Mate Dugandžic were willing to come into the centre and help out.

A goal was looking unlikely at this point, with both teams preferring to sit deep upon losing possession. Defenders were free to bring the ball up to the halfway line without any problems, before facing a swarming wall of opposition players in the other half. While Sydney looked marginally more dangerous, Heart were seeking to take advantage of their width, shifting the play from left to right and then back again.

Unfortunately, no one told them that passing the ball endlessly between full backs Marrone and Behich would give the Sydney defence adequate time to cover all passing angles.

Clint Bolton was looking unusually shaky back in the Heart goal, coming off his line and courting danger on a few occasions. Thankfully, the Sky Blues were in a giving mood this evening and the tie remained scoreless. Terra’s influence was also starting to wane as a failed attempt to get anywhere near a cross led to shouts of displeasure from the Heart faithful.

“It took him half an hour to get there!” someone moaned.

Sydney captain Terry McFlynn limped off with what looked like a thigh injury shortly before half time, while the hapless Williams was also hauled off and replaced with Jason Hoffman.

Proceedings resumed as per normal after the break, with Sydney’s dominance continuing to show. It was the home team however who came closest to opening the scoring, with Dugandžic flashing a free kick marginally wide. The crowd rose as one as the ball hit net, but alas it had gone just wide to the right.

Brazilian striker Maycon was introduced for Wayne Srhoj on 77 minutes, in what turned out to be a masterstroke substitution by coach John van ’t Schip. Terra was shifted out to the flanks and Maycon was on hand to hook the ball home after Dugandžic’s shot was deflected. It was no easy goal, with two other defenders in close attendance, and Maycon was visibly delighted with his 85th minute effort. Surely all three points were in the bag for the first time this season?

Unfortunately, it was not to be so, as Nick Carle salvaged a point from close range three minutes into injury time to break hometown hearts. Heads dropped and several Heart players sank to the pitch upon the final whistle, with Maycon looking particularly devastated.

It was once again a matter of so close, yet so far for Melbourne’s newest team but the fact is they were nowhere near good enough to win this tie. The defence remains shaky and as long as they allow crosses to evade them so near to goal, Heart will always be living on the edge.

The team has to utilise their width effectively, and also show greater co-operation when not on the ball. Attacking movement would also have to be improved, with players making runs off the ball and into space when teammates have possession on the other side of the pitch.

Much too often, attacking players stayed static or moved towards the ball when it was on the flanks, leaving no avenues for the pass. van ‘t Schip will expect his charges to recover quickly from this setback and grab a win away to Adelaide next week. United will have demons of their own after shipping a whopping seven goals against the league leaders Roar, but at least have a win in the bag so far.

Whatever happens, you can’t help but feel it is going to be a long season for Heart and their fans.

By Zee Ko 30 October, 2011