1-0 Macarthur

Victory 1 - 3 Macarthur

Kruse involved early, but lacking poise - he almost stumbles over the ball a few times.

var check- get rid of that sh!t

Great run, great goal by Kamsoba - followed soon after by great run, no idea.

How frustrating to coach him.

Kruse doing a bit more as the game goes on too. He puts little effort in to defensive duties and just about everything on attacking.

Ouch - Susaeta is quality.

Can Victory remain focussed and competitive now that they are not a goal ahead?

Lauton was actually fouled just before the Susaeta build up...should have stopped there.

FMD - Victory backpass to the keeper on his line under pressure. Where do they get the ideas from?

Followed by quite brilliant individual and teamplay up the left all the way to a chance.

The good bits of the game are making it entertaining despite the bad bits. There are some quite spectacular moments of play especially from Victory.

Out of here - lucky Kayo will let me catch the second half "live" later.

Enjoy the game if you are in.

Yeah well that's his main job, to create & score goals

We need a summer league. This looks pathetic 

It’s not even enjoyable to see victory be so bad now. It’s sad. I hope popa can bring them back because they are woeful

Couldn't watch this game due to the players slipping and the seagulls,  surely they have to give the MCG a call because the stupid bird noise they've played at AAMI park only seems to attract more seagulls. 

I liked the park where Millsy gets stuck into Gestude on live tv :D

I haven't watched many Macarthur games this year, geez they are boring to watch. Blind Freddie can see they need to move the ball quicker with the quality they have in the front third. I’m very quickly becoming a Milicic critic.

agreed, they are boring as.
It amazing Derbyshire is 2nd in golden boot.
You'd be blown by the game stats, the score is the end result that counts but MU 6 shots to MV's 21 !
Showed even more why Kruse is like a rabbit in front of headlights and yet to score this season if I recall right, right in front and still couldn't bobble it in.

I have to agree that their football is very hard on the eye.  I have been avoiding watching their games of late.

Funny thing with Kruse is I thought he was far more effective and involved this game. He may be making passes to better quality players than he has in front of him - so they go astray - or he may be guilty of just putting a ball into a dangerous place without looking to see where his options are. I have seen examples of both and can't make up my mind - but the lack of results game after game suggests to me it is not caring enough to make the final pass count.

@SoccerooFan - On Kruse's lack of defensive effort -  I agree his primary role is to setup and score goals - but when you have a team like Macarthur that takes every opportunity to play backwards and slow the game down when it suits them, having no pressure at all on their backline hurts much more than the value of saving legs for a bit later. Perspective can be hard to judge on screen, but it looked like the ball was going to a player only a few steps away from Kruse many times in the first half and all he did was walk or slowly jog around - and often not even in the direction of the player with the ball. If his coach has told him to ignore defence and focus on attack then that is on Kean not Kruse - but otherwise it just looks lazy. Maybe my observations on Kruse having greater involvement this game is due to him not wasting energy on defence - answering my own questioning of his defensive lack...

Milicic has his team playing the best anti-football he can get away with. Every time Victory looked to run past or around a Macarthur player there was a shirt tug or arm grab - enough to impede but not knock over. Stupid rules allowing that all game unless the attacker decides to throw away their chance at a goal for a freekick and the slim possibility of a card being issued to limit it next time. Victory needed their coach to tell them to stop and force the decision right from the start of the game so Beath could penalise the play and Macarthur would not be able to continue doing it with impunity.

Unfortunately for spectators and the game of football, if there is a way to exploit a rule Milicic will abuse it ad-nauseum.

Broxy got the chance to be far more involved in the midfield too and he took that opportunity with both hands. Shame he has to be pushed deep most games to stop holes when he can offer much more both going forward and breaking up opposition play.

Kamsoba and Lauton both added fire to Victory's attack, and with Kruse more involved they all looked to create better chances than they were actually producing. Again, it is a shame that the great work that each of them does is not consistent enough and not polished enough in the final pass or shot.

I much preferred watching Victory create ineffective plays with skill over Macarthur's stifling domination. But it is results they play for so Milicic stays in and kills football entertainment one game at a time. Genreau missing takes a lot of activity out of Macarthur too. There are things I cannot stand about him, but he is quality and has a significant role in the team.

RimB, Kruse is an absolute dud for MV, checking his stats says it all.
NO goals, 1 Assist from 14 start up games + 2 from the bench.
For the amount of time he's had the ball on the break in many games I've watched this season, around the opponents flanks and box he is ineffective, even offloading to player in better position isn't paying any dividend.
Heck I have to say Elvis looks more dangerous period and he's lacking the finished product and touch.
As you said his primary role is to set up and score - he's delivering the above, watching last night once the ball was lost he's just walking.
No tracking back or anything - sure he's in a ordinary team But he's their Snr player, he should be leading from the front. At least Broxham puts in as we always have seen.
For his experience, the pace he did have he should be standing out at this level imo.
I see better play by PL players in the same position every weekend getting paid zip.
Surely MV could risk using a promising young player and leave him on the bench as an impact player IF you can call him that.

Agree on Kruse to me he looks past it even with a poor side, I expect more from him especially from the experiences of playing in the Bundesliga for a long time

Fun fact. We were fortunate to go to the World Cup in Russia and watch the socceroo games. Against Denmark we sat next to a guy who had a mini Kruse photo. Whenever he held it up, Robbie exerted himself. Whenever the fellow forgot, Robbie did little. A couple of times, the fellow got "Robbie" up after the ball had passed the onfield Robbie, and lo and behold, he ran after the player and tracked him down.

Funniest entertainment I've had at a football game!

Macarthur remind me of Angeball at its worst with the national team. Absolutely dire it was, and guess who was Ange's assistant? 

I found his involvement to be quite a bit more than previous games (in my eyes anyway). Agree he is not worth his place at Victory based on what he shows - even when he does put in more effort like last game.

Maybe Popa told him he was on the out and that was the start of his attempt to build a market for his next contract...?

Watching on Kayo, sometimes I run games at 2x speed just to get the flow of the game, skip over what might otherwise be a boring period, or catch up with live play after watching something back. Over several periods, I was surprised to see that Kruse put his head down every time a Victory player passed the ball to Macarthur or simply lost the ball. Watching at normal speed it almost looked like he was just drawing in breath - but he had not put any effort in to be needing to catch his breath. He also throws his arms out when the ball is lost or a Victory player does not pass where he wanted it to go - but it is his first reaction rather than putting effort in to recover the situation first. Quite immature really - I don't think he has developed the maturity or leadership that either his experience or his age should have instilled in him.

When on the attack Kruse is the go to every other game I've watched so to me he obviously looked busier for being they had 21 shots means they pushed into their half alot.
His pitch manner is for all to see as you've expressed your observations, hence why I said he's meant to be a leader, not put his head down, shrugg his shoulders or throw up his arms in frustration, worse walking. Heck we do that at Club level it shouldn't be at his.
He's frustrated but your only letting your opponent know And worse your young fellow players need better than that.
Anyway enough said of him he's not worth the time.

Kruse is not a natural leader and really should have more numbers to his name. BUT I feel like his play is symptomatic of Victory’s lack of overall game plan this season. He’s just trying too hard to make things happen all the time. Rojas when fit and even McManaman have been guilty of the same thing too. Are they bad players too? 

Rojas's season is a right off having played just 7 with no return but his play is more effective and at least he "shoots", last year 6goals 2 assists from 10 games.
Mcmanaman smokes Kruse slotting 4 goals 1 assist to date, he deserves a rest :)
A good experienced player doesn't need to be a natural leader but putting in 110% is a given, trying hard isn't an excuse.
Hey Kruse last season from 11 games, 2 goals 2 assists.

Victory really should have won easily.

You have just nailed a HUGE part or why I have never liked or respected him as a player.