Grant Brebner has thrown down the gauntlet to his charges after a shambolic performance saw Melbourne Victory succumb to a 5-2 defeat to Brisbane Roar in Redcliffe on Saturday.
The travellers went down by three goals in less than 20 minutes, with Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Scott McDonald and Riku Danzaki getting on the scoresheet. The two No. 10’s in the 3-4-2-1 formation went on to bag a brace each as the defending from the visiting side seemed to be a predominantly forgettable affair.
The only apparent bright spots of the game for the men in navy blue were the two goals they scored. Young Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio was in an excellent position to latch onto a cross from Adama Traore to score the first A-League goal of his career. Later in the game, Jake Brimmer took a superb free-kick that beat the wall and left goalkeeper Jamie Young staring at the ball as it went into the back of the net.
Yet the manner in which Victory lost the game is likely to have critics and fans alike asking serious questions about the performance on the day.
One potential cop-out could be the heat as it was a typically warm and sunny afternoon with high humidity in Redcliffe. The gaffer insists, however, that the time for excuses is over and that his charges now need to prove whether they deserve to wear the navy blue shirt.
“I don’t like losing,” Brebner told reporters.
“But I can handle losing if there’s a manner in which we go about it.
“Today, as I’ve said, I’m not making any excuses for it. It was unacceptable, and the players will know that.
“The ones that are fortunate enough to play on Wednesday night [against Western Sydney Wanderers] will show us how much they want to keep the shirt, and the ones that aren’t shouldn’t have any complaints.”
Melbourne Victory will take on the Wanderers in Parramatta on Wednesday night looking to turn the tide after registering only one win in five games this season.
