Melbourne Victory’s introduction of Khalid Ben Khalfallah to the public a couple of weeks back was met with more intrigue than fanfare. Not exactly a household name, but no slouch either, the 32-year-old from Ligue 2 side Troyes was once a €5 million acquisition for Bordeaux. The Tunisian international – with 14 caps and a French Cup to his name – joins Besart Berisha (29), Mathieu Delpierre (33), Carl Valeri (30) and Daniel Georgievski (26) as Victory’s new signings this season – all highly experienced additions at an average age of 30.
On the flipside, Victory have an abundance of young players waiting in the wings, some boasting more first team experience than others. Connor Pain, Andrew Nabbout, Jesse Makarounas, Nick Ansell, Jason Geria, Scott Galloway, Rashid Mahazi and Dylan Murnane are eight contenders for first team positions in the squad, all under 22 years-old, with Jordan Brown another youth player with some first team experience.
What implications will Victory’s recruitment drive have on the younger players pushing for a first team position this season? On first glance, their prospects don’t look great.
Based on pre-season, Victory will line up a 4-2-3-1 formation, with two holding midfielders in front of the back four, a central-attacking midfielder, two wide players and a striker. Khalfallah becomes Victory’s fifth recognised wide attacker, joining Kosta Barbarouses, Archie Thompson, Pain and Nabbout. At this point, it looks like Barbarouses will start on one side, with Khalfallah on the other. Thompson seems to have been relegated to a rotation starter or super-sub anywhere along the front-third. This leaves Pain and Nabbout down the pecking order, though Pain’s strong pre-season has him banging on the door for a starting XI spot.
In defence, 33-year-old Delpierre – former Bundesliga winner with Stuttgart – replaces Pablo Contreras as Adrian Leijer’s partner at centre-half, who signed a contract extension at season’s end. The Frenchman brings less international pedigree than the Chilean, but at 6’4 seems more physically suited to the A-League. It’s hard to imagine Ansell starting over his more experienced counterparts if all three are fully fit, and will likely remain the first choice back-up if either are unavailable.
Full-back Daniel Georgievski is an Australian-born Macedonian international from Romanian club Steaua București, which played in the UEFA Champions League last season. He will most likely play at right-back. Scott Galloway, who has played on either side in the past, will battle Murnane for a left-back spot, or Geria for right-back backup. The transition to full-back for Geria has often been awkward. A natural centre-back from his days as Brisbane Roar’s youth captain, he has never played in that position for Victory.
All the young defenders’ backup roles, however, may come under threat from the ever-versatile Leigh Broxham, who will also deputise Mark Milligan and Valeri in defensive midfield, leaving Mahazi as fourth-choice midfielder. This season may be the former Independiente youth’s crossroads, with compatriate James Jeggo – a Melbourne local – now turning out for Adelaide United after a lack of opportunity back home. His performances for Victory in the latter part of last season, particularly in the Asian Champions League, suggested he could cut it at A-League level given ample opportunity. 18-year-old Jordan Brown will also be scratching about for some senior football.
Jesse Makarounas is the final youth piece in Victory’s puzzle, Gui Finkler’s understudy at central-attacking midfield. While there’s no doubting Finkler’s quality, his inclusion leaves Makarounas as perpetual substitute, disappointing for the Perth product who left the Western Australian club two seasons ago seeking more first team opportunities.
Kevin Muscat has built a genuine title-contending team this season with considerable depth across the park, and a more settled squad than in previous seasons. The prospect of seeing Socceroos pairing Mark Milligan and Carl Valeri pull strings in midfield, with Finkler and co. feeding Berisha, is tantalising for the navy blue fans. However, of the nine Olympic-aged players in Victory’s senior squad, only one will be a guaranteed starter come the first round. One out of 10 if you include ‘keeper Lawrence Thomas.
In a 27-game season, there won’t be much opportunity for a fringe player to make their mark, bar injuries or international duty. Victory won’t have Asian Champions League to contend with either, and has mostly played a full strength side in its FFA Cup fixtures.
That’s not to imply that a senior or foreign player hasn’t justified their spot in the side, nor that a young player should be entitled to game time. There will always be discussion about the foreign quota and what level of standard overseas players should bring to the A-League, with arguments that if a young player is good enough he will be selected, and foreign players will push them to improve and push harder for a first team place.
However, coaches in a results oriented environments can be inclined to take the conservative option of experience over untapped potential – the ‘you can’t win with kids’ approach, or favour new signings as a reflection of their recruitment. It goes without saying that while juniors may not always hit the ground running in their transition from youth to senior squads, experience does not guarantee results either, and an injection of youth can be the spark a team needs.
At this point, the most impressive young player in the pre-season has been Connor Pain. Victory’s new system with a proper striker should, in theory, suit him more. His strength always lied in his speed and getting in behind defences, but often struggled with the final ball. Now he has a target man in Berisha to cut the ball back to, rather than seeking out the opposite winger or a deeper sitting dual 10. His pre-season has yielded goals and assists, which deserves a vote of confidence from his coach come the 2014/15 A-league campaign.
With the current batch of 18-22 year olds in Melbourne’s squad all having a season or two under their belt, it will be interesting to track their development this season. The hope is that they will push on to greater heights, but in a squad as deep as Victory’s, the possibility is that some may stall. In a league seeking a reputation of forging young careers – one providing a sound pathway for junior Australian footballers into senior action – should the Victory take extra steps to best nurture their catalogue of young talent?