It’s only Round Nine of the A-League season and already betting agencies are slightly red-faced at starting Melbourne City equal favourites to win the competition. They can still triumph in 2014/15, but one win from eight suggests another long season for fans in sky-blue (or red) and white.
A lesson City Football Group are quickly learning early in their tenure is that investment in a salary capped league requires calculation and measure. Money can be thrown at facilities, marquee players, backroom staff and youth development, but the core squad still has to be sourced shrewdly with an understanding of the local game.
And right now, one of Melbourne City’s drawbacks is its imbalanced squad.
The biggest weakness lies in both full-back positions, because City do not have recognised players for those roles. After Aziz Behich returned to Turkish club Bursaspor, winger Iain Ramsay was thrown in to replace him at left-back (which was his intended position before Behich came back to Heart on loan). Kosta Barbarouses, Bernie Ibini and Nathan Burns have all had his measure throughout the campaign.
Jonatan Germano, a defensive midfielder by trade, lasted a few minutes in that position against Adelaide in Round 4 before succumbing to injury. Youngster Ben Garuccio, another natural winger, struggled to contain Awer Mabil and Tarek Elrich in the same game.
On the right-hand side, Jason Hoffman has admittedly not disgraced himself, but the former striker hasn’t been a defensive rock either. Ross Archibald – a centre-half by trade – also seemingly converted into a right-back, struggled against a rampant Roy Krishna against Wellington last week. City’s insistence on playing converted full-backs is crippling.
In the centre of defence, 36-year-old Rob Wielaert has committed a number of costly errors this campaign, including the pass straight to Marc Janko for a goal against Sydney in Round 7. Captain Patrick Kisnorbo is a hard man that plays with passion, but has also seemed off the pace and struggled against direct opponents. Both players are droppable, but with the previously unavailable Connor Chapman as their only ready made back-up, they retain their positions relatively safely each week.
Behind the back four stands Andrew Redmayne, who doesn’t exactly make glaring errors, but won’t fill fans with confidence either. His reflexes, aerial ability, command and distribution aren’t top A-League quality, and it’s unlikely he would displace any first choice ‘keeper at another club. John van ‘t Schip also seems hesitant in playing Tando Velaphi, who probably deserves a chance to prove himself in the side.
After that analysis, it’s understandable why City have conceded the most goals in the A-League so far.
For their lack of defensive options, Melbourne possess a glut of midfielders. Come Round 1, City had Erik Paartalu, Jonatan Germano, Paolo Retre, Jacob Melling, Nick Kalmar, Robi Koren, Mass Murdocca and Stefan Mauk on their books – eight players vouching for three central positions. Injuries have taken their toll, and Kalmar has been dismissed to permanently accommodate injury-replacement Liam Miller, who ironically has also been sidelined. Yet considering City’s 4-3-3 formation doesn’t necessarily require a number 10, his signing seems an unnecessary band-aid solution. The centre of midfield is generally the least of City’s worries right now, with Mooy outstanding, Melling improving and Paartalu finding his feet.
In attack, Josh Kennedy will join in January to replace David Villa, who was the subject of CFG’s farcically shortened guest stint. Whilst on paper Kennedy is a good signing, the Australian marquee target man is also injury prone and a different type of player to what City have been used to up-front. His signing won’t guarantee results.
Until then, David Williams has been leading the line, with Mate Dugandzic also used as striker. The latter – a winger – should never be played in a number 9 position again. Both are as frustratingly enigmatic as the other, either pulling off the spectacular or fluffing gettable chances. Marc Marino has shown promise as a sub, but needs time to grow into the team. Newcastle Jets reject James Brown has shown only a few momentary flashes of promise off the bench. After breaking through at Gold Coast with nine goals, the 24-year-old didn’t score any at Newcastle, and doesn’t look like featuring prominently at City. Damien Duff is a quality signing, yet at 35 years old, his retirement may force City into another long quest to find a quality replacement after just one season.
The coach is under pressure, too. It seemed a logical choice to go back to the future and replace John Aloisi with John van ‘t Schip to salvage last season, considering his knowledge of the club and players. But now the same core of individuals have become so deeply engrained in a losing culture (one win in the club’s last 15 competitive fixtures), with question marks over style, formation and selection, that the only solution for CFG may be to phase them out sooner rather than later and form their own building blocks to success.
For long suffering fans, the wait may just have to be a bit longer. As Sydney FC, Central Coast and Western Sydney Wanderers proved for various reasons throughout recent seasons, money and marquees may win games, but a balanced squad will win silverware. Solving that conundrum may go a long way to quashing other persistent grumblings regarding City’s identity, status in Melbourne, and priority within CFG’s hierarchy.