Former Socceroos goalkeeper Clint Bolton has smashed the out-of-form Melbourne Victory and their talismanic striker Besart Berisha, believing the club are in danger of missing out on the A-League finals altogether this year.
The 32-year-old Kosovan striker, the A-League’s all-time leading goal-scorer, has only scored eight times in the competition this season, well down on the 21 he managed in the 2016-17 season.
Bolton says Berisha’s body language is by far the worst he has ever seen it in his illustrious career in Australia.
“The way he gets offside is dire,” the Football Nation commentator told SEN Afternoons with Andy Maher.
“He’s gone from being a player out of form to a liability now for that team in a lot of ways.”
A penalty scored in Victory’s heavy 4-1 loss to Shanghai SIPG in their Asian Champions League clash on Tuesday was the first time Berisha had hit the back of the net since their traditional Australia Day “Big Blue” against Sydney FC last month.
Their loss in China earlier this week was their fourth in their past five matches, with a 3-3 ACL draw against Ulsan Hyundai last week the only match the Victory have gained a point from since the 19th of January.
The Victory currently sit only four points above the seventh placed Brisbane Roar, with Bolton believing that they are at huge risk of dropping out of the top six and the finals should they not quickly turn around their current slump.
“Will they finish top four, will they fall out of the six? It’s as tight as that now for Victory,” the ex-Melbourne Heart keeper said.
“They’re seriously hurting mentally. They’ve been hurting for a while and players are down.
“They have got a lot of questions to answer. Kevin Muscat looks like he is going to stick with this squad of players, in particular his first 11, but they keep underperforming and not getting the job done.
“There’s little room for error.”
Bolton has predicted the Victory to get a result against the injury-hit Adelaide United tomorrow night, but is not confident they can finally break their winless run.
A win would see them return inside the top four, while a loss could see them fall below Western Sydney Wanderers into sixth place.
Listen to Clint Bolton chatting with Andy Maher on SEN Afternoons below: