Ernie Merrick has a secret weapon up his sleeve when Melbourne Victory take on Wellington Phoenix on Saturday – Costa Rican forward Marvin Angulo.
Ernie Merrick has a secret weapon up his sleeve when Melbourne Victory take on Wellington Phoenix on Saturday – Costa Rican forward Marvin Angulo.
Angulo, 24, has struggled for consistency since joining the Victory on loan late in 2009. Despite impressing in fits, he is yet to live up to the phenomenally high standards set by his compatriot, Carlos Hernandez.
It is unlikely Angulo will ever match the exploits of his gifted countryman, but after an encouraging performance in Victory’s 2-2 draw against Central Coast Mariners last Thursday, Merrick believes that months of hard work in training may finally be paying dividends for the young prospect.
“There’s a lot of work (that has) gone into Marvin Angulo because he’s always played behind the two strikers in Carlos’ position,” Merrick said.
“He’s not going to play in that position if Carlos is there. So we’ve been working on him on the left hand side and Billy (Celeski) on the right hand side, starting wide and then coming in. This is his third start in a row, our work on him is beginning to pay off.”
“He’s pretty full of confidence. He’s never been a goal scorer, but we’ve done a lot of work there also. “
“He had a chance against the Mariners at the end where he went right through but didn’t get his shot off, so he’s beginning to make dangerous runs as well. I always feel that attacking midfielder should be goal scorers as well as creators and he has the skills to do that.”
The Phoenix will have their own unknown quantity in Saturday’s game in the form of young defender James Musa, who will be handed his debut at left-back by coach Ricki Herbert.
Victory might be expected to single out the newcomer as a potential chink in the Wellington armour, but Merrick claims the Victory will not going after individuals.
“We’ve never targeted opposition players,” Merrick said.
“You have to offer a range of attacking possibilities, whether it be a fast breaking attack, attacking down the flanks with crosses low and hard or go central through the middle, with the likes of Archie (Thompson) and Robbie (Kruse).”
“If you can keep a variety it keeps the opposition guessing. If you only go one way, it can soon be counteracted by a coach as shrewd as Ricki.”
