Melbourne Victory’s new German striker Max Beister has taken a positive first impression of the Hyundai A-League after his eye-catching debut last weekend.
Victory’s 3-0 win over the Wanderers saw the debutant score his first goal for Kevin Muscat’s side, with the Mainz loanee looking lively in his second-half cameo.
Beister’s goal sparked a huge celebration around Victory’s bench involving all players and coaching staff.
Beister buzzing after ‘amazing’ Victory debut
And Victory keeper Lawrence Thomas revealed the 26-year-old German had been blown away by the response.
“I think him [Beister] coming on and scoring was probably the best thing for him to feel a part of the club and feel welcome.
“So that’s why I sort of ran the whole way up the field – I was pretty tired running back, actually – but I thought it was important to share that moment with him,” Thomas said.
“I think he was really excited and maybe partly surprised by the atmosphere there.
“I don’t know if he expects that from Australian football but he came in and said ‘wow, it’s really loud’.”
And like Beister, Thomas wants to take his game to the next level this season – his first Hyundai A-League campaign as the number one goalkeeper at the club.
Thomas has been Victory’s reserve gloveman in his previous five seasons but having worked his way past Danny Vukovic in 2015/16, the 24-year-old has been made the number one by coach Kevin Muscat this term.
Thomas is set to play his seventh game in Victory’s next fixture, which would equal his best Hyundai A-League campaign in the 2014/15 Season, when he took over from the injured Nathan Coe to help the Big V claim the premiership-championship double.
Having earned his first clean sheet of 2016/17 last week in the triumph over Wanderers, Thomas is looking forward to improving throughout the season and being pushed to retain his spot by back up keeper Alistair Bray.
“I’m really glad and happy to have that opportunity now to critique my game every week and that’s something you obviously miss when you’re not playing.
“You can train all you want but to do that under stadium lights and in front of a crowd is a completely different thing,” he said.
“So just the opportunity to play every week and really pick on my game and hopefully refine it every game and see where it takes me.”
