05 Oct Football Nation Season Preview: Melbourne City
OVERVIEW
It was a fantastic start for City last season, Tim Cahill and Bruno Fornaroli were co-existing up forward and the team looked dominant early on in the season and won the FFA Cup against Sydney FC in October.
As the season progressed City coach John Van’t Schip had to quit the club after Christmas due to family reasons, and they began dropping points as well.
They sneaked into the four, but ultimately got eliminated by their bogey team Perth Glory in Melbourne knocking City out of what should’ve been their season.
They bring in Warren Joyce who was under the tutelage of Manchester United great Sir Alex Ferguson, and are without two of their power strikers in Fernando Brandan with an ACL injury, and captain Bruno Fornaroli who is out with a broken ankle until at least December.
INS AND OUTS
INS: Warren Joyce (Manager), Eugene Galekovic, Scott Jamieson, Iacopo La Rocca, Stefan Mauk, Ross McCormack, Bart Schenkeveld, Marcelo Carrusca and Marcin Budzinski
OUTS: Ivan Franjic, Corey Gramiero, Steve Kuzmanovski, Josh Rose, Nicolas Colazo, Paulo Retre, Thomas Sorenson and Anthony Caceres
It’s been a busy off-season for new coach Warren Joyce who has brought in former Aston Villa and Fulham striker Ross McCormack as an injury replacement for Fornaroli. McCormack was out of favour in the Championship under Steve Bruce, and there was in-fighting which saw the striker depart Villa for Australia.
City bring in Polish midfielder and international marquee Marcin Budzinski from Polish side Cracovia to bolster their midfield stocks, they also bring in Adelaide’s midfielder Iacopo La Rocca and Argentine playmaker Marcelo Carrusca which will be the strong part of City’s game.
Dean Bouzanis was a fantastic first string goalkeeper last season after taking over from the aging Thomas Sorenson, but with Joyce bringing in former Adelaide captain Eugene Galekovic will give Dean some competition as both want to start on the park.
City lose central midfielder Anthony Caceres who had a consistent campaign last season, he has gone to the UAE Pro League to play for Al-Wasi.
Argentine midfielder Nicolas Colazo has gone home after his yearly stint with the club last season, and he has returned to the Argentine Primera League Gimnasia.
PREDICTION
Melbourne City have bolster their stocks through their midfield, and a welcome relief of bringing back in Stefan Mauk, as well as bringing in Budzinski, La Rocca and Carrusca which gives their engine room more speed.
Their defence is going to look fantastic with a potential partnership between Dane Michael Jakobsen and Dutchman Bart Schenkeveld, which saw a team that could’ve gone all the way concede too many goals last season which saw their downfall heading into the Finals Series.
City could surprise a few people this season, and potentially could knock off either arch-rivals Melbourne Victory or last seasons champions Sydney FC in the Finals Series, and with the right gameplan and consistency could go all the way.
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