Victory hopes win is a catalyst
MELBOURNE Victory winger Robbie Kruse hopes his ALeague side’s Christmas derby win over Melbourne City is a genuine turning of the corner, rather than another false dawn.
Earlier in the season, Victory ground out a 1-0 win against Perth Glory which appeared a breakthrough — but then lost to Western United and had a goalless draw against Wellington.
But on Saturday night, Victory turned in an aggressive, invested performance in a 2-1 win that lifts pressure on coach Marco Kurz ahead of its bye.
“It’s massive (but) we thought that was the case against Perth too, so obviously we don’t want to get carried away but Christmas coming up and a bye, going into that with another loss would’ve been quite demoralising,” Kruse said.
“So the win has lifted everyone — you can see the mood’s changed a lot — but more so it obviously gives us a bit more confidence and it probably takes the pressure off a little bit more, which is really good for some of the younger players as well.
“So I’m just really happy for the club as a whole and for the gaffer and his staff, because the pressure’s been on him a lot which is probably our own doing — so really positive.”
Victory was clearly bolstered by Tim Hoogland’s assured first start, with the German’s opening 10 weeks largely ruined by quad injuries.
“I played with Tim for the last three years in Germany so you don’t get to the level he got to without being a really good footballer. He’s played Champions League in Germany for 12-13 years so he knows what he’s doing,” Kruse said.
“And you could see the experience he brought to the team and for an older guy he’s really fast as well, which is vital.
“So it was a really good game for him and you could really see how much he shored up that back line.”
It was clearly Victory’s best performance under Kurz.
Migjen Basha turned in his best performance in a Victory shirt, with a good combination of aggression and class alongside Leigh Broxham in midfield, while Kruse and Elvis Kamsoba were superb alongside Ola Toivonen up top.
Now the key is taking that form into 2020.
“A derby’s always extra motivation but we have to perform in this way every game because if you have no investment, you cannot win games,” Kurz said.
“And if you want to play a successful season you must play always on a high level and that is our goal.”