Sean Walsh blogs on the Melbourne Victory for BPL.

First let's take a straw poll.  Who would you rather watch play: Carlos, Flores, Perez, Culina, Ifill, Bertos, and Carle OR Simon, Hutchison, Pantelidis, McFlynn, Burns and Muscat?

It seems if you are a referee in the A-League the answer is the second group.

The struggles of Carlos Hernandez and his goal drought have been well documented over the last few months. For a man of his talents his output has been average at best.  From the outside looking in, there appears to be a number of reasons for this.  Part injury interrupted pre-season, part Archie and Danny deficient front third, part opposition defensive philosophy. I for one am proud of the way Carlos has handled himself.  His effort has been for the most part, and within the confines of his solid body shape, second to none. He has been kicked from pillar to post in every game he has played. Contrary to the reputation of some players of latin origin he has stood up to it manfully. No rolling round on the ground, no stupid card inducing acts of revenge.  Just a slow amble towards the next contest.

Shield the ball from one, two or three defenders, lay the ball off and wait for the sly late kick. Rub the sore spot, drag yourself back to your feet, repeat for 90 minutes.

Just in case you are wondering where this is heading I'll get to the point. The A-League has a Marquee system allowing teams to hopefully attract some skillful players they would otherwise not be able to afford.  The problem is that this results in teams that have a large discrepancy between their best players and those with limited ability but very good competitiveness. When coming up against Melbourne Victory I've got no doubt that instructions are given to ensure Hernandez is given as torrid a time as possible.  And this

is the same for skillful players from other teams.  Leave a foot in and see how much the ref allows the team to get away with.  Refs have the ability to yellow card a player for persistent fouling.  Perhaps they should be given the discretion to apply this a little more liberally.  As Hernandez (or Flores, Perez etc.) is being fouled for the fourth time inside the first quarter hour I encourage one of our prescient referees to consider what the flourishing of a little yellow may do to improve the spectacle. I'm not advocating the wholesale booking of every tackle, just enough feel for the game to think "my they're intent on sending him home in a wheelchair, perhaps I could do something about it".

To some extent it really hurts to write this article.  I am a card carrying member of the White Line Fever brigade with a defender's mindset and spent much of my time in various sports either negating the opposition's best or at least getting under their skin. I also understand that if this is in some way implemented the first casualties may just be messrs Muscat or Brebner.

If it means I get to witness a little more of the sublime skills of Carlos I'm happy to take the risk.