Start planning for 2016-17 now

[n i k o]

So do we play another aleague team before the season starts? Or is this yet another preseason where we fail to beat an aleague team.

[Dylan]

Play ccm in lismore and Adelaide in Alice Springs.

 

Pre-Season Friendly

Saturday 23 August 2014

Adelaide United vs. Melbourne City FC

Anzac Oval, Alice Springs, NT

Kick-Off: 3pm

 

Pre-Season Friendly

Tuesday 2 September 2014

FC Bendigo vs. Melbourne City FC

Epsom Reserve

Kick-Off: 6pm

 

Pre-Season Friendly

Saturday 7 September 2014

Melbourne City FC vs. Central Coast Mariners

Oakes Oval, Lismore, NSW

Kick-Off: 2.30pm

 

I dare say there will be a few more after the 7th

Edited August 14, 2014 by Dylan

[Deviant]

good to see we're playing at home vs ccm

[n i k o]

Of course, I forgot. Thanks for that.

[Tonyboozeadams]

Surely villa will play at least one friendly

[KD.]

Surely villa will play at least one friendly

i don't even think there is a slight chance of that happening Edited August 14, 2014 by Demon_Heart

[hedaik]

Surely villa will play at least one friendly

Yeah he's playing 10 for us

[Murfy1]

Good article:

 

Gameiro shines for Sydney, big-spending City lack quality

 

By Michael Huguenin

 

14 August, 2014

 

 

Analysis: The Sky Blues' high-profile attacking recruits have a genuine rival in the form of the homegrown forward, while the John van 't Schip has plenty of work still to do

 

Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold sounded a warning to veteran forwards Marc Janko, Shane Smeltz and Alex Brosque on Tuesday.

 

'Get fit or watch Corey Gameiro take your starting spot.'

 

After an injury-affected first season in sky blue, Gameiro is flying ahead of his second A-League campaign in the harbour city, scoring the opening goal for Sydney in their 3-1 FFA Cup win over Melbourne City to take his tally to seven in five games.

 

Janko, Smeltz and Brosque all missed the game with Arnold not interested in risking the trio - who are all in their 30s - as they work towards full fitness with a long season ahead.

 

But those forwards may need to demand more game time ahead of Sydney's A-League opener on October 11 or risk starting the campaign on the bench.

 

Gameiro's speed was a clear highlight of Sydney's victory, as he outpaced City goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne to give Arnold's men the lead in Ballarat.

 

With City dominating possession, Sydney focused on counter-attacking and Gameiro's pace and eye for goal made him a regular threat.

 

The 21-year-old could have wrapped up the win in regulation time but failed to get past Redmayne in a one-on-one situation, although the former Wellington Phoenix striker made up for it in extra time, getting away from City defender Jason Hoffman to win the penalty that put Sydney ahead.

 

"If he [Gameiro] keeps playing like that, he'll play every week," Arnold said in Ballarat.

 

"As I said to the players [on] day one, they have the opportunity to select themselves.

 

"If they perform well on the training pitch and in the games then they'll play. There's no favouritism, even if we've got marquee players in - they've got to be part of the team and they've got to perform as well - and Corey, so far, has been outstanding."

 

It was hard not to consider Gameiro as emblematic of the difference between the two teams at Morshead Park, as the former Fulham youth player regularly displayed the kind of quality and cutting edge in the final third that John van 't Schip's City lacked.

 

For all the money the City Football Group (CFG) - owners of Manchester City, Melbourne City, MLS expansion club New York City and Japan's Yokohama F. Marinos - have pumped into the team formerly known as Heart, the side van 't Schip sent out against Sydney looked frustratingly familiar.

 

This was last season's team minus Orlando Engelaar and Aziz Behich, now featuring Damien Duff and Aaron Mooy.

 

City controlled possession well in Ballarat, regularly winning the ball around the half-way line to keep the pressure on Arnold's side, but the hosts failed to break down Sydney's defence often enough to win the match.

 

While Duff and Mooy looked sharp, and marquee Robert Koren and New York-loanee David Villa will undoubtedly make a difference, there is still a sense City lack enough quality to be genuine A-League contenders.

 

Remember, Villa will only play 10 games before returning to the United States.

 

As Arnold prepares for a season where he knows Janko, Brosque, Smeltz, Gameiro and Bernie Ibini will all have to spend time on the bench, van 't Schip will still be forced to rely on the likes of the inconsistent Mate Dugandzic and the promising yet unproven James Brown and Ben Garuccio in the forward third.

 

What would van 't Schip give for a ready-made young Australian forward like Gameiro to complement the likes of Villa and Koren?

 

With one more import position and an Australian marquee spot still open in City's squad, CFG and van 't Schip should be looking to sign two top-line players before the A-League season begins.

 

Apart from Villa, City only have one lead striker in the squad in David Williams, who scored 12 goals in 26 matches last season, well above his overall A-League scoring ratio of less than one goal every four games.

 

Was that Williams' breakthrough campaign or an aberration? Only time will tell but either way, van 't Schip cannot afford only two options up front when one is set to leave after just 10 games.

 

A natural goal-scorer is a must, while van 't Schip should allocate the rest of his recruiting focus on a versatile, creative midfielder.

 

At times in Ballarat, Mooy seemed to be let down by incidents of poor control and passing of his fellow central midfielders - Massimo Murdocco and Nick Kalmar.

 

If City could sign another player like Duff, who can play both out wide and as a central midfielder, it would provide the Dutch coach with enough quality players to tweak his formation and personnel to account for injuries and fluctuations in form.

 

The hype surrounding City, Villa and Koren has ensured the Victorian rebranded outfit are most bookies' favourites to win the A-League but CFG's work is not complete if they are to make that a reality in their first season in charge.

 

The chequebook must come out again.

 

http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4021/a-league/2014/08/14/5033200/gameiro-shines-for-sydney-big-spending-city-lack-quality

[Tonyboozeadams]

He's right

[mulhollanddrive]

Right until proven otherwise.

 

Really we've had a good 2 month period and a good 1 month period in our history. 

 

We need some substance, I don't see our back 6 giving us that.

[Dylan]

Good to have some honesty.

[Murfy1]

One thing I really want the club to do that Manchester City does, and I have wanted this even before the takeover (and might even have written about it), is sign a lot of firepower. It is better to have too many strikers (which Man City arguably has), rather than too few. And right now it is just obvious, we have far too few goal-scorers, and Sydney FC is pretty much where I think our club should be in terms of signing strikers/goal scorers. They have, right now, Janko, Brosque, Smeltz, Ibini and Gameiro. We have Villa (for 10 games) and Williams, and if things pan out we might have  Villa (for 10 games), Williams and Josh Kennedy. So IMO we need at least 1 more striker (further, BTW, we have no certain strikers/goalscorers coming through the NYL, and even Sydney arguably do, despite their striking stocks).

 

So all up, with the 4 spots we have left, I believe the club needs to sign:

 

- A salary cap LB

- An Australian marquee striker (i.e. a real centre forward and goal-scorer)

- A Visa CM/DM. A player who can give our defence more protection (more than any of our current midfielders individually provide), & who's comfortable on the ball

- And another striker (who can play centrally), or perhaps a versatile attacking player like Jeronimo Neumann (Nathan Burns is another example. I think he would have been a useful signing for us in this sense)

 

And if this club was to actually try and reach a new and higher standard with recruiting, we should use up most if not all of our available youth spots (the ‘youth/senior contracts’).  So the likes of Steve Kuzmanovski and Marc Marino, that is all the best young Australian players we can get, should be snapped up before other A-League clubs sign them.

 

As for the GK position and the RB position, I believe we won’t have the ability to strengthen these positions ahead of next season, so we’ll have to ride out next season and strengthen those positions ahead of the season after next (i.e. the 2015/16 season. And BTW, both of our keepers are out of contract at the end of next season, so we’ll very much be able to strengthen such squad weakness by then). The CB position will also likely be strengthened by then (with Wielaert and Kisnorbo out of contract at the end of next season), and I believe there will be significant further strengthening as well, as I’m pretty certain all 23 players of our 2013/14 season squad will have had their contracts expire ahead of the 2015/16 season, and we’ll be able to have a whole squad of players signed in the Man City era by then. And once the team is entirely composed of players signed under the new management of CFG, things should be distinctly different and superior when compared to teams assembled during the Sidwell era (where Aloisi also had a significant say in recruiting, especially with the 2013/14 season squad).

[Dylan]

Kuzanovski was trialing at WSW so seems like we passed him. Unless it was because we went to manchester and he decided to trial elsewhere.

[billyheart]

Offensively I think we'll be ok, especially if we sign JK, there were some lovely balls into the box Tuesday, but unfortunately that's not Willo's bread n butter. I don't think Dugandzic best best XI and that garuccio and willo should be selected as a winger before him along with the Duff man. Defensively we are weak. Robbie & paddy are solid but prone to mistakes. But they're our only proper defenders at the moment. We'll concede more then we score more often than not.

Completely agree Murf, what's required is a cap LB, Aus Marq 9 and fifth visa DM who can provide coverage to the back 4. Only thing is I'd rather fill the rest I the squad with defensive reinforcements than another attacker.

Can't see us topping the league, but get these signings right and top 4 should be realistic.

[heart_fan10]

agree with post the article and murf

 

we're not too far off being a good team IMO. We're about 2-3 players away (left back, defensive midfielder, centre forward). It's just a matter of JVS actually signing the right players to fill those spots.

 

As i posted in another thread, i saw Tom King there with the other players on Tuesday night so i would assume he will be signed. 

 

The Visa spot is apparently for that "defensive minded" player in the midfield so we'll have to wait and see with that.

 

And obviously it's bee said that Kennedy will be the aus marquee, whether it's before the season or to join us in december we don't know yet. Ideally i would've wanted him here from round 1 though

[belaguttman]

He's right

I really hope that the franchise agrees with him.

[mulhollanddrive]

Would like a DM. 

 

That would give us some better depth:

 

DM - International + Melling + Germano

RB - Germano + Hoffman

[n i k o]

The one problem both Kisnorbo and weilaert have in common is they're too slow for this league.

[Victards]

Marc Marino has been signed taking up a spot, and 1 more signing will be made prior to the season starting (Visa Spot) rest of the slots will be made in January.

[hakz7]

Marc Marino has been signed taking up a spot, and 1 more signing will be made prior to the season starting (Visa Spot) rest of the slots will be made in January.

Source? And what position is he?

EDIT: Never mind, he's a striker/winger.

Edited August 14, 2014 by hakz7

[Torn Asunder]

So as we get closer to the season starting, CFG's global network of scouts has paid dividends for Melbourne City - how many signings have we made through this resource again ???

[Jovan]

So as we get closer to the season starting, CFG's global network of scouts has paid dividends for Melbourne City - how many signings have we made through this resource again ???[/

Koren.

[Dylan]

Marc Marino has been signed taking up a spot, and 1 more signing will be made prior to the season starting (Visa Spot) rest of the slots will be made in January.

Hopefully he turns out to be a great striker

[Torn Asunder]

I don't think we need a global network of scouts for a player like Koren.  

 

Where is the young player picked from obscurity who will smash it up in our league and make the club some $$$?

Edited August 15, 2014 by Torn Asunder

[mus-28]

Maycon was certainly plucked from obscurity. The whole smashing up the league bit, not so much.

[Victards]

Marc Marino has been signed taking up a spot, and 1 more signing will be made prior to the season starting (Visa Spot) rest of the slots will be made in January.

Hopefully he turns out to be a great striker There are huge wraps on the kid so hopefully he lives up to all the hype

[theresonlyonebzamora]

Maycon was certainly plucked from obscurity. The whole smashing up the league bit, not so much.

 

he definitely smashed it up, he just didn't actually provide much talent.

[tigerou812]

 

Maycon was certainly plucked from obscurity. The whole smashing up the league bit, not so much.

 

he definitely smashed it up, he just didn't actually provide much talent.

 

But a lot of laughs  . Still get a chuckle from him falling down clutching his head and calling for the trainers only to brush them aside to play on.

[cadete]

Maycon was certainly plucked from obscurity. The whole smashing up the league bit, not so much.

[Murfy1]

Williams hails Duff influence

 

15 August 2014

 

John Greco

 

 

Melbourne City star David Williams has no doubt new recruit Damien Duff will have just as big an impact on the Hyundai A-League as marquee stars Alessandro Del Piero and Shinji Ono.

 

The ex-English Premier League winger is one of a number of big-name signings for City who is assembling a star-studded squad under coach John van ‘t Schip.

 

Spanish whiz David Villa – who is on a 10-game guest stint - and international marquee Robert Koren have generated most of the headlines on agreeing to play Down Under.

 

But Williams believes Duff’s acquisition is just as big and says he has the drive and ability to take the league by storm.

 

“Damien’s been great. He’s a true professional and he just wants to show everyone he can still play football at the age he is,” Williams told www.footballaustralia.com.au.

 

“He might not always last the 90 minutes but he knows the time that he does get he’ll be on the ball and doing everything he can to help the team.

 

“He’s a good guy, he’s witty, good with the group and has fit in from day one. He’s got a lot of knowledge and advice to give.

 

“He’s all about the team and you can’t see any selfish part of him. He’s very focused, he’s not coming to Australia for a holiday, he’s here to play football.”

 

The 35-year-old former Irish international has settled into the new-look City set-up quickly, having joined up with the squad on their recent trip to Manchester.

 

Duff is still finding his way back to full fitness after an injury-riddled season with Fulham last year but Williams has seen enough to know the quality he has.

 

It’s why he is certain he can be just as effective in the A-League as the likes of Del Piero and Ono before him.

 

“I think so, especially from the performances he put on in England,” Williams said.

 

“He’d admit himself he’s not the sharpest just yet, only joining in team training with us once we got to Manchester. He’s knows he’s still got a bit to improve but he’ll have a massive impact.

 

“You don’t play at Chelsea for the years he did, Fulham and Blackburn if you’re not a good player.

 

“To be as good as he is, the amount of caps for his national team as well he just brings a whole package. We are lucky to have him.”

 

Despite being bundled out of the Westfield FFA Cup by Sydney FC on Tuesday night, Williams is confident City are on the right track for the new season.

 

He says their trip to Manchester – where they used the EPL champions state of the art facilities – sparked a big improvement in the group.

 

“We played some attractive football and once we get fitter, we’ll get sharper and hopefully score more goals,” Williams said.

 

“It’s exciting to be offered those facilities and offered a chance like that. To be flown over by Etihad and the way the treated us was amazing.

 

“The club’s in a very, very good position and it’s a no-excuse culture and mentality now which is brilliant and they are giving us everything we need to be successful. It’s up to us players now to turn it into results.”

 

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/williams-hails-duff-influence/eszmn12k2aki198bm58p2vglc

[Cinnamon]

Wait... No Hoff comments?

[Tonyboozeadams]

not worth reading then

[Shahanga]

So as we get closer to the season starting, CFG's global network of scouts has paid dividends for Melbourne City - how many signings have we made through this resource again ???

All we saw in England was the trialing of UK players.  Now given the disparity between football wages in the UK and Australia, it is pretty hard to sign a player within the cap from the UK, as if we can afford them there is a pretty good chance they simply aren't good enough.

 

Duff is an exception to that of course.  Signing him within the cap was a fantastic move but surely we don't need a network of scouts to know he is a good player? 

[Luke]

Genuine concerns over our back 4 and GK 

[HEARTinator]

So as we get closer to the season starting, CFG's global network of scouts has paid dividends for Melbourne City - how many signings have we made through this resource again ???

All we saw in England was the trialing of UK players.  Now given the disparity between football wages in the UK and Australia, it is pretty hard to sign a player within the cap from the UK, as if we can afford them there is a pretty good chance they simply aren't good enough.

 

Duff is an exception to that of course.  Signing him within the cap was a fantastic move but surely we don't need a network of scouts to know he is a good player?

This article is a couple of years old so add a bit for inflation buy it shows the difference between average EPL and Championship salaries.

http://soccerlens.com/finance-in-english-football-wage-disparities-between-the-divisions/92692/

Average EPL wage was £1.16m while in the Championship it was £211,068. So getting a youngster that is not EPL ready but more at the Championship level is a possibility but could still chew a hole our cap. We also have to be realistic in that anybody in the UK or Europe who reckons they have what it takes and are headed for one of the big leagues is unlikely to see as move to the A-league as a step in the right direction.

[M13]

Ah HEARTinator.. That´s where CFG might play the "we got a top premier league team as well" card to their advantage in several ways

[mus-28]

Surely we can find a ball winning midfielder who's played regularly at Championship level or League 1 Level without breaking the bank. Doesn't have to be a world beater, just someone similar to Montgomery at CCM with enough smarts to know when to break up play and do the dirty work to allow Mooy and Koren free reign in the middle of the park. Because without that player we're going to get killed on the counter like every other season.

[sheepdog]

Surely we can find a ball winning midfielder who's played regularly at Championship level or League 1 Level without breaking the bank. Doesn't have to be a world beater, just someone similar to Montgomery at CCM with enough smarts to know when to break up play and do the dirty work to allow Mooy and Koren free reign in the middle of the park. Because without that player we're going to get killed on the counter like every other season.

I believe that role should be filled with murdocca.

[marn11]

Surely we can find a ball winning midfielder who's played regularly at Championship level or League 1 Level without breaking the bank. Doesn't have to be a world beater, just someone similar to Montgomery at CCM with enough smarts to know when to break up play and do the dirty work to allow Mooy and Koren free reign in the middle of the park. Because without that player we're going to get killed on the counter like every other season.

I believe that role should be filled with murdocca.

I believe Murdocca is shit.

[kingofhearts]

Surely we can find a ball winning midfielder who's played regularly at Championship level or League 1 Level without breaking the bank. Doesn't have to be a world beater, just someone similar to Montgomery at CCM with enough smarts to know when to break up play and do the dirty work to allow Mooy and Koren free reign in the middle of the park. Because without that player we're going to get killed on the counter like every other season.

I believe that role should be filled with murdocca. I believe Murdocca is shit.

spot on. The bloke tries hard but he just isn't up to it. There's a reason Brisbane let him go and still won the league.