Besart Berisha (Melbourne Victory)
As Kevin Muscat took over from Ange Postecoglou at Melbourne Victory, one of his earliest decisions was to acquire Besart Berisha from Brisbane Roar. Immediately, one knew that Postecoglou’s 4-2-2-2 formation was gone and a more common formation suiting his new player would be used.
Berisha was deployed as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation and consequently excelled. Last season he scored 15 goals, finishing runner-up to Marc Janko in the Golden Boot stakes.
At the Victory, it was expected that the Berisha/Muscat combination could be a fiery one and for the wrong reasons. Yet it turned out to be a fruitful one, which culminated in the league double.
Berisha led the Victory front line diligently. As is his trademark, Berisha chased defenders down, he continuously made himself an option for his teammates in attack and inevitably found himself in a number of goalscoring opportunities throughout the season.
Given the standard that Victory play under Muscat, there is no reason to discount Berisha being the leading goalscorer, or at least challenging for Golden Boot honours, in 2015-16 again.
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