Melbourne Victory defender Matthew Kemp believes the momentum his team has created in the first seven matches of the season will be crucial to its hopes at the business end of the season.
Melbourne Victory defender Matthew Kemp believes the momentum his team has created in the first seven matches of the season will be crucial to its hopes at the business end of the season.
Melbourne has a FIFA match day break this week to reflect on the first third of the season where it has won four matches, drawn two and lost one. Victory is currently top of the table and while Kemp is happy about that, he said the style of football Melbourne displayed in Sunday’s 4-0 win over Perth was also particularly pleasing.
“It’s been a good start to the season. We’ve played some good football, we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We have lost a game (against Queensland) which was a bit disappointing, the performance we put up in that game. Getting back on track last week was good for us to play the style of football that we played and to score as many goals as we scored was quite pleasing,” he said.
Kemp joined Melbourne at the start of last season where Victory’s title defence started off with five draws and never really got going from there on in. He attributes the stronger start to this season to the depth of the squad and the confidence the players have in each other.
“The big difference is the recruiting in the off-season. We brought in some really good players who have strengthened the squad. That’s made a difference,” he said.
“Like I said at the start of the season, you need to start strongly, if you start well, things get easier, and you can continue your momentum and the winning ways. If you start slow like we did last year with all the draws, it becomes tougher to get the winning mentality going. I think the good start has set us up well for the second half of the season.”
Melbourne has endured suspensions to key players this season as well as injuries to the likes of Archie Thompson, Michael Thwaite and Nick Ward. Kemp said the doeth as well as the momentum gained by the strong early-season form has helped the team deal with those setbacks.
“Every season you’re going to have players out with suspension and injuries. That’s where the depth of the squad comes in. I think we’ve got a really good squad right the way through. Everyone is capable of doing a good job for us. That’s made a difference. Last week we had a number of players out but everybody who came on the park did a really good job for us. I think that depth is a huge asset to us this year,” he said.
Kemp said that having had a chance to play every team so far, Victory was able to assess where each team was at. But he said the players were taking nothing for granted and are determined to maintain the momentum through the second seven-game block of the season.
“We’ve got some momentum going and we have to keep that up. It’s always good to know at the end of the round where you are. Everybody’s played everybody, you’re at an even playing field. It’s good to sit back and say ‘ok this is where we are now, this where we need to be in another seven games,” he said.
“It’s good to be on top but we are not going to rest there. We’ve got a long way to go. We are just focussing on Newcastle in a fortnight, and getting the three points there.”
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.
