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2016/17 starting XI


strider
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7 hours ago, strider said:

Can confirm attacking third.

                Sorenson

Franjic Malik Chapman Clisby 

           Brattan Caceres

              Ronaldinho 

    Cahill               Kamau

                Fornaroli

Enjoy lads

this will probly be just about spot on
other 2 visa's to be injured 

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5 minutes ago, silva10 said:

I would use Gamiero as the back up striker to Bruno.

Maybe. But he needs game time. Bruno played nearly every minute last season and barring injury he probably do the same. 27 games plus finals isn't a huge load for late 20s hardened pro. 

Kamau for me is still an unproven kid that has a huge potential but I'd be playing him or Gamiero for that wide mid role.

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14 minutes ago, silva10 said:

I would use Gamiero as the back up striker to Bruno.

Agreed.

Actually i think Gamiero could be to us what Santalab is to the Wanderer's. A good striker to bring off the bench  in the last 20-30 minutes.

Finally a quality player we can bring off the bench.

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8 minutes ago, Jovan said:

Maybe. But he needs game time. Bruno played nearly every minute last season and barring injury he probably do the same. 27 games plus finals isn't a huge load for late 20s hardened pro. 

Kamau for me is still an unproven kid that has a huge potential but I'd be playing him or Gamiero for that wide mid role.

I know Cory needs games, but we also need to be careful how hard we push him. Also, I didn't think he looked like a true wide player when I saw him for us. Admittedly I didn't see him before he joined us, so he may have played as a wide player before.

 

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Just now, silva10 said:

I know Cory needs games, but we also need to be careful how hard we push him. Also, I didn't think he looked like a true wide player when I saw him for us. Admittedly I didn't see him before he joined us, so he may have played as a wide player before.

 

He is much better suited in a formation playing 2 up front.

If we get Cahill I would hope that means we'll play 4-4-2 to be able to play Cahill and fornaroli at the same time That way  gameiro can come on as a sub or start if Cahill is on international duty

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Still early days with a few more signings to be announced but i think something like this atm:

 

                       Sorensen

Franjic    Chapman       VISA CB    Muscat

                         Brattan

Brandan                                     Kamau

                  MARQUEE VISA

                    Cahill

                              Fornaroli

SUBS : Bouzanis Malik Gameiro Caceras Melling

OMIT : Fitzgerald Clisby Retre Kuzmanovski Arzani

Thats a seriously strong side assuming the marquee visa becomes our best midfielder. Even if you take out those unsigned visas and slot Malik and Caceras in, its a pretty competitive team. Good season ahead imo.

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5 hours ago, bt50 said:

Still early days with a few more signings to be announced but i think something like this atm:

 

                       Sorensen

Franjic    Chapman       VISA CB    Muscat

                         Brattan

Brandan                                     Kamau

                  MARQUEE VISA

                    Cahill

                              Fornaroli

SUBS : Bouzanis Malik Gameiro Caceras Melling

OMIT : Fitzgerald Clisby Retre Kuzmanovski Arzani

Thats a seriously strong side assuming the marquee visa becomes our best midfielder. Even if you take out those unsigned visas and slot Malik and Caceras in, its a pretty competitive team. Good season ahead imo.

I know I have said this countless amounts of times before, but surely even JVS cant fuck up too badly with a squad like that

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We still need an attacking midfielder (Mooy replacement), center back and left back.  With two visa spots remaining, we should be getting a visa marquee as the attacking midfielder and visa center back.  I don't see the club signing another left back as we have Muscat and Clisby who can play there, expect this to be the weakest part of our starting XI. 

-Deleted Image-

 

Edited by haz
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7 hours ago, haz said:

We still need an attacking midfielder (Mooy replacement), center back and left back.  With two visa spots remaining, we should be getting a visa marquee as the attacking midfielder and visa center back.  I don't see the club signing another left back as we have Muscat and Clisby who can play there, expect this to be the weakest part of our starting XI. 

MelbCity XI.JPG

In before JVS converts Fitzy to a left back

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On 7 July 2016 at 0:19 AM, bt50 said:

Still early days with a few more signings to be announced but i think something like this atm:

 

                       Sorensen

Franjic    Chapman       VISA CB    Muscat

                         Brattan

Brandan                                     Kamau

                  MARQUEE VISA

                    Cahill

                              Fornaroli

SUBS : Bouzanis Malik Gameiro Caceras Melling

OMIT : Fitzgerald Clisby Retre Kuzmanovski Arzani

Thats a seriously strong side assuming the marquee visa becomes our best midfielder. Even if you take out those unsigned visas and slot Malik and Caceras in, its a pretty competitive team. Good season ahead imo.

Can Kamau and Brandan defend?

Both would need to do a lot under that formation, especially given Brattan is not the most solid defender.

Looks like a fantasy football team. I expect that team will lose a lot of games 3-4.

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12 minutes ago, Shahanga said:

Can Kamau and Brandan defend?

Both would need to do a lot under that formation, especially given Brattan is not the most solid defender.

Looks like a fantasy football team. I expect that team will lose a lot of games 3-4.

Very true. The Diamond midfield requires 2 box to box hard working mids. Kamau and Brandan  (without watching them) seem more wide players/wingers. 

So if we were to play them both I reackon we would go 433 and they being alongside Bruno as the front with Caceras Brattan and Malik playing behind them.

Even still we're  cooked at the back.

Edited by Jovan
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13 minutes ago, Dylan said:

I think JVS will try to make the 3--5-2 work this season.

With emphasis on try.

If he is planning on playing 3-5-2, why have we got 5 wingers in the squad? Assuming Timmy has signed, we have to play 2 up front. But if we are going to play with wide midfielders (an assumption based on our squad so far, including Brandan) that only leaves a flat 4-4-2. But where does our marquee number 10 fit then? I have no idea how we will line up. 

Unless Kilkenny is our marquee...

As has been mentioned many times, we need a CB, LB and an AM, but we only have 2 foreign spots left and no standout Australians in any of those positions. Maybe we are chasing James Meredith for LB? Who knows.

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Sorensen

Chapman, Malik, XXXX

Franjic, Brattan, Careras, XXXX

XXXX
Fornaroli, Cahill



Sorensen

Franjic, Chapman, XXXX, Clisby
Fitzgerald, Brattan, Melling, XXXX
Fornaroli, Cahill
 

 

We just need to sign a centre back, maybe a left back/winger similar to what Zullo and Garrucio were and a replacement for Mooy, that could be that Brandan signing which is rumoured. Kilkenny seems to be to much like Brattan for my liking. 
 

 

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         Sorrenson

no one cares about defence

        Bratten Kilkenny

Brandan   Cahill    Kamau

              Fornaroli

 

Or

         Sorrenson

no one cares about defence

        Bratten Kilkenny

Winger     Brandan   Kamau

          Fornaroli Cahill

 

Or

         Sorrenson

no one cares about defence

    Kilkenny Bratten Someone

         Brandan     Cahill

                Fornaroli

 

That last one is interesting, maybe there is a reason we don't have wingers?

 

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How I'd line us up:


Thomas Sorenson
Ivan Franjic - Connor Chapman - ????????? - ?????????
Luke Brattan - Anthony Caceres 
Bruce Kamau - Tim Cahill - ?????????
Bruno Fornaroli 

- If we're serious about going for the title we need to bring a natural left back, we've got cover there with Muscat and Clisby who can put in a shift but neither are natural left backs or good enough to be starters in a side that should be winning the title. Need to bring someone in.

- Like I've said above on the left back we've got plenty of depth for the centrebacks we've got Malik who will now probably play most of his football as a CB this season after the recruitment of Brattan. Young Ruon Tongyik looks a really promising prospect on paper but he's going to have to earn his spot into the side and that wont happen over night. Muscat and Clisby can play there but I'd only want to play them if we were desperate. Let's be honest we've got plenty of defensive options we just don't have heap of top options. I feel we must land a top new CB and I'd have no problems if we used a marquee spot on signing one, they don't need to be a big name player but they do need to be proven and at the top of there game. I feel it has to be a priority. 

- I know I've got Caceres in a more defensive midfield position but we need him to have a really flexible game. We can't have Cahill (presuming he signs) playing as a CAM/second striker with Bruno and still use Caceres as an attacking midfielder, it's simply just to attacking. Cahill is turning 37 he's not going to play every game so when Cahill isn't playing or when Bruno isn't playing and Cahill is the sole striker I would then use Caceres as an attacking midfield. However I'd love to see Cacerers master the role of a deep lying playmaker, setting the game up from the back, utilizing his passing range & ability, having him set up counter attacks and setting up players further down the pitch. I'd also really want to see him intercepting opposition passes, putting pressure on the oppositions ball carrier and making some tackles in the defensive half. If he can spend the summer working on those last three more defensive aspects I've mentioned there's no reason he can't become the perfect midfielder for us and even one of the best in the comp. He does have the right tools.

- Presuming we sign Cahill I'm really hoping we use him behind Bruno, I don't want to start them as both strikers. He's almost the complete opposite CAM that Mooy was, we're not going to see through balls, a heap of attacking passes or many assists but we will get is a lot pressure on the opposition defense, a real goal threat with good link up play and most importantly he will make the most of opportunities and get himself into the right positions. I know he mainly plays as a striker for the Socceroos but he's played behind the striker for almost of his club career. Let's just hope Bruno still plays just as well without a true playmaker sitting behind him.

- Kamau is a signing that I'm over the moon to have and I want to see him stamp himself as one of the best players in competition next season. He needs to take that right flank at AAMI Park and make it his own. We've got plenty of depth on the wings. We've already seen what Fitzy can do, Gamerio (I'd like to see him given a chance to play as a striker as well) is returning from injury and we've got some promising young kids in Zinni, Kuzi and even Arzani, But I still feel we need to bring in another class winger to replace the loss of Novillo except play on the left wing. Fernando Brandan is a man we've been linked with quite strongly, is he a left winger though? He appears to be more of a CAM which makes me question whether we really need him.

I feel our squad depth is quite even among all potions with some very good options outside of the line I've posted. Presuming we sign Cahill I feel we have four key needs:

- A top center back, I'd have no issues using a marquee and visa spot here on the right player.
- A left back, whilst there's not a heap of options out there James Meredith would be the obvious one if we could bring him in. However If we can find a really good visa player I'd have no worries using an international spot on a LB due to the lack of good Australian LB's available. 
- A central midfielder, I know people will say we've already got plenty of central midfielders but most of those people will count Malik as a CM which I don't. We'll also have an attacking mid and two central mids playing so when you've got three midfeilders on the pitch at once you're going to need plenty of options. I probably wouldn't use a marquee or visa spot to find a new CM however. Antonis or Kilkenny would be perfect.
- A first choice winger, I feel we've got plenty of options and we've signed Kamau but I'd like to bring in another starting winger to start on the opposite flank. Using a visa spot here could allow us to bring in a class option, wouldn't rule out using a marquee spot here either. If Fernando Brandan is a true winger then I think he appears to have what it takes to be a top signing.

I don't know how many spots that'd leave us with but add a promising kid or two with any remaining spots and surely we will have a squad that can go and bring the club it's first trophy.

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8 hours ago, Jozzy said:

How I'd line us up:


Thomas Sorenson
Ivan Franjic - Connor Chapman - ????????? - ?????????
Luke Brattan - Anthony Caceres 
Bruce Kamau - Tim Cahill - ?????????
Bruno Fornaroli 

- If we're serious about going for the title we need to bring a natural left back, we've got cover there with Muscat and Clisby who can put in a shift but neither are natural left backs or good enough to be starters in a side that should be winning the title. Need to bring someone in.

- Like I've said above on the left back we've got plenty of depth for the centrebacks we've got Malik who will now probably play most of his football as a CB this season after the recruitment of Brattan. Young Ruon Tongyik looks a really promising prospect on paper but he's going to have to earn his spot into the side and that wont happen over night. Muscat and Clisby can play there but I'd only want to play them if we were desperate. Let's be honest we've got plenty of defensive options we just don't have heap of top options. I feel we must land a top new CB and I'd have no problems if we used a marquee spot on signing one, they don't need to be a big name player but they do need to be proven and at the top of there game. I feel it has to be a priority. 

- I know I've got Caceres in a more defensive midfield position but we need him to have a really flexible game. We can't have Cahill (presuming he signs) playing as a CAM/second striker with Bruno and still use Caceres as an attacking midfielder, it's simply just to attacking. Cahill is turning 37 he's not going to play every game so when Cahill isn't playing or when Bruno isn't playing and Cahill is the sole striker I would then use Caceres as an attacking midfield. However I'd love to see Cacerers master the role of a deep lying playmaker, setting the game up from the back, utilizing his passing range & ability, having him set up counter attacks and setting up players further down the pitch. I'd also really want to see him intercepting opposition passes, putting pressure on the oppositions ball carrier and making some tackles in the defensive half. If he can spend the summer working on those last three more defensive aspects I've mentioned there's no reason he can't become the perfect midfielder for us and even one of the best in the comp. He does have the right tools.

- Presuming we sign Cahill I'm really hoping we use him behind Bruno, I don't want to start them as both strikers. He's almost the complete opposite CAM that Mooy was, we're not going to see through balls, a heap of attacking passes or many assists but we will get is a lot pressure on the opposition defense, a real goal threat with good link up play and most importantly he will make the most of opportunities and get himself into the right positions. I know he mainly plays as a striker for the Socceroos but he's played behind the striker for almost of his club career. Let's just hope Bruno still plays just as well without a true playmaker sitting behind him.

- Kamau is a signing that I'm over the moon to have and I want to see him stamp himself as one of the best players in competition next season. He needs to take that right flank at AAMI Park and make it his own. We've got plenty of depth on the wings. We've already seen what Fitzy can do, Gamerio (I'd like to see him given a chance to play as a striker as well) is returning from injury and we've got some promising young kids in Zinni, Kuzi and even Arzani, But I still feel we need to bring in another class winger to replace the loss of Novillo except play on the left wing. Fernando Brandan is a man we've been linked with quite strongly, is he a left winger though? He appears to be more of a CAM which makes me question whether we really need him.

I feel our squad depth is quite even among all potions with some very good options outside of the line I've posted. Presuming we sign Cahill I feel we have four key needs:

- A top center back, I'd have no issues using a marquee and visa spot here on the right player.
- A left back, whilst there's not a heap of options out there James Meredith would be the obvious one if we could bring him in. However If we can find a really good visa player I'd have no worries using an international spot on a LB due to the lack of good Australian LB's available. 
- A central midfielder, I know people will say we've already got plenty of central midfielders but most of those people will count Malik as a CM which I don't. We'll also have an attacking mid and two central mids playing so when you've got three midfeilders on the pitch at once you're going to need plenty of options. I probably wouldn't use a marquee or visa spot to find a new CM however. Antonis or Kilkenny would be perfect.
- A first choice winger, I feel we've got plenty of options and we've signed Kamau but I'd like to bring in another starting winger to start on the opposite flank. Using a visa spot here could allow us to bring in a class option, wouldn't rule out using a marquee spot here either. If Fernando Brandan is a true winger then I think he appears to have what it takes to be a top signing.

I don't know how many spots that'd leave us with but add a promising kid or two with any remaining spots and surely we will have a squad that can go and bring the club it's first trophy.

If we were serious we would not have JVS as a coach.

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Ka4y0D4.png

What I expect our defensive set up up to look like.

QbiSiSh.png

Our attacking set up, or when we have possession. 

With Muscat being a right footed left back, more than likely he will look to play inside, either off Bruno or one of the midfielders, might become very predictable as the season progresses. Caceras could be our most important player, he will most likely be the spare man in midfield that we look to get onto the ball when playing.

Doesnt look to bad on paper, perhaps a better quality centre back is needed. For me Malik, Brattan and Kilkenny are all the same type of player. Malik can at least slot into defence, be interesting to see how Brattan and Kilkenny go together

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Get a feeling with the signing of Cahill it may shift JVS's thinking back to the 3-5-2 that he employed with mixed success, particularly with our lack of wide men and an over abundance of centre midfielders.

 

Sorensen

Malik - Chapman - VISA

Franjic - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - VISA

Brattan - Brandan - Kilkenny

 

Cahill - Fornaroli

 

Manny Muscat can cover all positions in the back 5, Clisby gives cover at full back and centre back. Caceres, Melling and Fitzgerald cover the midfield and Gamiero and Kamau are the attacking options particularly if we need to revert back to a front 3. If we get an experienced centre back who can organize a defence and a quality left wing back we have the players to make the system work.

But we have JVS, he'll probably try and play Kamau as left back, transform Brattan into a ball playing centre back and shift Bruno out to a wing so Cahill can play up top.

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Something I've been pondering is: will we have a better midfield next season than last season?

 

An associated question is: how important is one player? Is it better to have one class midfielder (e.g. Mooy) or a whole midfield of quality midfielders?

 

The funny thing about last season is that despite having a midfield that helped the team produce a lot of goals (the record number of goals scored in A-League history), there was a big amount of chopping and changing with Melbourne City's midfield last season. Mooy was the only constant in midfield, as a look at the number of starts for players in midfield last season reveals:

* Mooy - 25 starts

* Paartalu - 14 starts

* Melling - 12 starts

* Malik - 11 starts 

* Caceres - 9 starts

* Retre - 6 starts

* Mauk, Koren, Zullo, Fitzgerald - 3 starts each

* Trifiro, Ali Eyigun - 1 start each

 

I'm pretty certain we didn't play the same midfield 3 games in a row last season, and we barely played the same midfield 2 games in a row once or twice.

 

At the moment I reckon next season will have a much more stable midfield, with Brattan, Kilkenny, Caceres and maybe Brandan starting most games in midfield. Players like Melling and Retre (and definitely youth players, e.g. Arzani) will be lucky to get starts, and will most likely have to be content coming off the bench for most of their appearances.  

 

IMO, especially if we sign a high quality no 10/playmaker to replace Mooy, we will have an even better midfield than last season (I'd say Brattan, Kilkenny, Caceres, Brandan aren't pure playmakers, that can often produce killer passes and clock up 10 or 15+ assists like Mooy). However, if we don't sign a marquee midfielder to replace the departed marquee Mooy, I'd say it's a 50-50 call on whether next season's midfield will be better than last season's midfield.

 

Either way, it'll be interesting to see how the midfield lines up next season, and how having a more stable midfield effects the team (unlike last season, where our main midfielders over he first half of the season, Paartalu, Mauk, Koren [in theory], were replaced over the second half of the second by Malik, Caceres, Fitzgerald).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Current squad

                               Sorenson/Bouzanis                                                                     

Muscat/ Franjic       Chapman        Malik/Ruon        Clisby                

                           Brattan/Melling

      Brandan/Caceras             Kilkenny/Retre

Kamau/Gameiro                    Fitzy/Kuzi/Arzani

                              Fornaroli        

 

Looking at the squad we are very competitive in midfield and up front. I think we have an overall stronger squad then last year with a lot of young promising players.

The 3 cm positions look finished and we are undoubtedly the strongest in this area in the competition. There is very good competition for places and i'm confident they can cover the loss of Mooy with the attacking mids chipping in with goals and assists between them and Brattan directing play behind. 

The attack is led by the king Fornaroli but he will have a lot of pressure to score and it will be difficult to replicate last seasons tally so we need some of the younger promising players (fitzy/kamau/gameiro) to chip in along with the midfielders. We don't have a backup for Fornaroli besides Gameiro so unless Cahill signs if we pick up some injuries here we could be in danger. The wingers are all good players in their own right but we really need Fitzy/Kamau and Gameiro to step it up and to be chipping in with 5-10 goals each this season and some consistent assists. The competition for places here could push them to a different level if they can all stay fit as the 3 are on similar levels. We could use a big marquee flashy winger with pace and a presence to dominate big games and put some fear into opponents because I don't think our wingers would frighten to many defences on paper and Novillo's presence will be a big loss. 

The defence needs a big left footed CB who can also play left back when needed. If Cahill signs rumour has it we will go 3 at the back so someone with experience who will have a presence and push Chapman and Malik. The right side of defence is looking strong but on the left side we could use an addition particularly a left footed CB to create a better balance when playing out from the back. 

If we can get two good visa players in the above key positions and Cahill we will have a very, very competitive squad, maybe even the best aleague squad of all time on paper. I would genuinely feel for JVS having to make team selections each week if the squad can stay fit.

 

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