Power, pace, passing and precision.
Ruthless finishing, intelligent movement, focus and flair.
Melbourne Victory rarely let up in as dominant and commanding a performance as the A-League has seen in recent seasons in their 4-0 annihilation of a lacklustre Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday night, Kevin Muscat's team giving a clear warning to all and sundry that they will the side to beat this season.
Kosta Barbarouses is congratulated after slotting a penalty for Victory.Credit:AAP
If Victory were fortunate to win the championship last year after ending the regular season some 23 points behind table-topping Sydney before clawing their way to glory through the finals system, it's unlikely that anyone will say they are fortunate if they go back-to-back this season.
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It is, of course, far too early to be making them bankers: only six of the 27 rounds have elapsed and the fate of last year's premiers' plate winners Sydney will never be far from Muscat's thoughts.
And come February and March the fixture pile-up and strenuous travel demands associated with competing in the Asian Champions League will come into play and fatigue could become an issue.
But the coach has recruited with all this in mind this season, building the Victory squad to give it the depth and experience that will allow it to compete across both competitions.
On Saturday evening Muscat had to make do without Socceroo forward James Troisi, who has been an important contributor in the early weeks of the season, as he was ill.
German centre back Georg Niedermeier was another absentee, Victory medical staff opting not to risk him after he sustained a head injury in the previous week's 2-1 win over Sydney in NSW.
It didn't matter one iota.
Ola Toivonen again started, this time making his home debut and playing some 85 minutes, Keisuke Honda was at his imperious best, Kosta Barbarouses buzzed, dribbled and threatened every time he got forward, while Terry Antonis conducted affairs from the centre of the park, Raul Baena and veteran Carl Valeri providing an anchor.
Without two first teamers, Victory didn't miss a beat, an indicator of the strength of the squad Muscat has put together this season.
Often it takes some time for new players to gell, but this Victory outfit, after a stuttering start in which they lost their first two games, have really got into the groove.
Toivonen's height makes him look like a target man, but the lanky Swede is much more than that.
His game awareness, positional sense, the clever runs he makes and his ability to bring others into the play make him as much a link man as an out and out striker.
Last week he warned fans not to expect him to be a 25-goals-a-season man, but his contribution to setting up Victory's opening goal and their finish – a smashing drive by the excellent Antonis -were just as valuable. If he continues to provide assists of that calibre for others to score, no one at Gosch's Paddock will be complaining about his strike rate.
Victory fans support their side at Marvel Stadium.Credit:AAP
And the teamwork and camaraderie so essential to a winning combination seems to have been developed quickly.
Honda is now Victory's regular penalty taker, but when Barbarouses was upended by Tarek Elrich's clumsy challenge just before half time the Japanese superstar allowed the Kiwi international to get up and take the spot kick himself.
Later Honda, who had powered home an early header to give Victory the lead, said he didn't care who scored the goals and was happy to give the penalty up as Barbarouses hadn't been on target yet this season and he felt his teammate could do with getting his name on the scoresheet.
Muscat was, not surprisingly, delighted with his side's performance, especially after the win in Sydney six days earlier.
''Collectively as a group I thought it was excellent,'' he said, before sending out a warning to the rest of the league.
''I still think the players will want to improve on things.''
He was particularly pleased that Toivonen played almost a full game, and with the contribution of those who came into the starting 11.
''Ola is a different type of player to what we had in the first four rounds, we changed things structurally tonight to give us a little bit more of a threat going forward.
''The most pleasing thing is that Nick [Ansell] and Raul [Baena] come into the team, and the [immediate] understanding of what's required of them and their contribution to the team.''
Muscat said the perfect summary of what Toivonen adds was the way he set up the final goal for Antonis. Many strikers would have taken the pass from Barbarouses, controlled the ball and shot themselves. The Swede didn't.
''When that ball comes across for the fourth goal and he has the composure in the box to lay it off for Terry. Terry anticipated that, he immediately just took off [when he saw Honda find Barbarouses with the pass that started the move], expecting Ola to do what he did.''
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