Squad Development 2017/18 Part 2

[Upthehill]

8 hours ago, StringerBellend said:

I with hawks on this one the guys head just screams Sydney FC for that reason I’m out 

Whilst I'm with you, though I'm out for a different reason. I want to see Llorente sign on for another 2 seasons. I couldn't therefor abide using another foreign spot in our back line.

Gombauball requires more than what most Aussie have to offer. We will need to source 4 (3 if Riera stays) foreign players who can adapt fast to Gombau.

Whilst Roly played admirably tonight, I believe Baby Baccus has just as much, if not more, to offer than Roly. However I did like watching Baby and Roly playing in tight spaces tonight for a few minutes, they looked the goods. My fear however is that the other 8 teams wont give them the time in the midfield.

[wswtragic]

9 hours ago, luisenrique said:

Any centre back we sign should have written into their contract that they have to do Thwaite's celebration every time they score.

Or not.

[Spotty]

Cejudo on the right wing and Christopher Ikonomidis on the left with Riera in the centre and Carrusca feeding and add Llorente and Risdon ovelapping makes for a pretty good attacking team and of course Roly and Junior Baccus backing up  .

I am excited

[wswtragic]

2 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Cejudo on the right wing and Christopher Ikonomidis on the left with Riera in the centre and Carrusca feeding and add Llorente and Risdon ovelapping makes for a pretty good attacking team and of course Roly and Junior Baccus backing up  .

I am excited

Ikonomidis looked well at home on the right - if Cejudo comes good from injury and plays as sharply as his first couple of outings, I'd like to see him linking with Llorente down the left.

[DeeDee]

10 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Cejudo on the right wing and Christopher Ikonomidis on the left with Riera in the centre and Carrusca feeding and add Llorente and Risdon ovelapping makes for a pretty good attacking team and of course Roly and Junior Baccus backing up  .

I am excited

More quality and looks a fitter side.

Bridge makig cameos off the bench or playing the first 60-70 in rotation with Cejudo keeps them fresh and able to press all game and defend.

our biggest issues around second half drop offs tend to revolve around how fatigued our wingers get and faikure to drop back, Bridge simply doesnt have the legs for it. Whilst Ikon is tailor made to keep hasling with his speed which is great. Cejudo had some bote in him too.

 

Roly on the weekend relished the space at dm and was hitting all his diagonals sweet. Hope he keeps at it against better pressing sides.

 

i wonder how Herd is going to fit back in. Could work in the bigger games in place of Lustica, or play him at CB over Hammil, but Hammil deserves his spot after his last 2 games.

Edited February 12, 2018 by DeeDee

[wswtragic]

2 hours ago, DeeDee said:

More quality and looks a fitter side.

Bridge makig cameos off the bench or playing the first 60-70 in rotation with Cejudo keeps them fresh and able to press all game and defend.

our biggest issues around second half drop offs tend to revolve around how fatigued our wingers get and faikure to drop back, Bridge simply doesnt have the legs for it. Whilst Ikon is tailor made to keep hasling with his speed which is great. Cejudo had some bote in him too.

 

Roly on the weekend relished the space at dm and was hitting all his diagonals sweet. Hope he keeps at it against better pressing sides.

 

i wonder how Herd is going to fit back in. Could work in the bigger games in place of Lustica, or play him at CB over Hammil, but Hammil deserves his spot after his last 2 games.

I still think Herd currently offers more than Roly - his distribution is cleaner and more direct, where Roly gets lost occasionally and plays a few scrappy passes that put us under pressure.

[Edinburgh]

Is Herd just not getting picked or is he injured?

[mack]

Not getting picked I reckon.

[StringerBellend]

3 hours ago, wswtragic said:

I still think Herd currently offers more than Roly - his distribution is cleaner and more direct, where Roly gets lost occasionally and plays a few scrappy passes that put us under pressure.

Everyone has different opinions for mine while Roly has been disappointing this year, I still think potentially he is a key play for us he was excellent on Sunday, hopefully given a run of games in a settled side he’ll come good. Herd is battling with Lustica and the Bacci for other spot

[mack]

I'd be using Herd instead of Lustica if I were Gombau.

[StringerBellend]

21 minutes ago, mack said:

I'd be using Herd instead of Lustica if I were Gombau.

He'll go mini Baccus

[Burgerman]

I'd pick Herd too but he is borderline on getting red/yellow carded weekly and is a liability hence why he is not being picked.

Good to see carus at 10 as Roly is better off at DM and I don't mind seeing Bridge or Cejudo slip in at 10 when using subs.

Still very concerning is the cb combo and still baffled by getting rid of cornflakes without a replacement or maybe we had something lined up but fell through. 

Give Ikon a few more games under his belt then try get him signed up or we could see a club like $ity come in and swoop in, still think it's to early to sign him off his parent club but signs are good so far.

If we can somehow get Spiral back at cb who can fit Gombau tikki takka style then we can go for a strong 10 foreigner.

[Carns]

I cannot see Ikonomidis staying beyond his loan spell (as much as I would love him to stay). He wants to play in Europe, he is good enough to play in Europe (perhaps not for Lazio/Serie A at this stage, mind you). I see him playing back in Aus for game time, and if he does well, maybe a World Cup spot. And he will use that as a springboard to either another team in Europe, or to try and impress Lazio.

[btron3000]

Agreed Carns.

Re: Roly, he is what he is.  He's a mixed bag and is never gonna change. Not good enough for a visa spot.

[mack]

I think Roly has done better now that's been 'rescued' from having to be our attacking focus (not sure what Popa was thinking signing him to play that role) by Carrusca. Between Baccus Jnr & Roly & Herd I think we've got good depth at the defensive midfield spots.

[Stokz]

Krishna as one of the wingers in Gombaus system could be a good get. 

Provided he wants to stay in HAL.

[wswtragic]

55 minutes ago, Stokz said:

Krishna as one of the wingers in Gombaus system could be a good get. 

Provided he wants to stay in HAL.

Isn't the drama that he wants to play in the US?

[beatsurrender]

52 minutes ago, wswtragic said:

Isn't the drama that he wants to play in the US?

he's bloody quick though. A real 'Hare' Krishna

[Zelinsky]

6 hours ago, Stokz said:

Krishna as one of the wingers in Gombaus system could be a good get. 

Provided he wants to stay in HAL.

I hear Barnaby Joyce might be a free agent soon. He'd be alright on the right wing for the Nix as a Krishna replacement.

But I just remembered: he gave up his NZ citizenship, so there goes that idea...

[Paul01]

Wtf.  Najjar off to Heartless.

[Upthehill]

1 hour ago, Paul01 said:

Wtf.  Najjar off to Heartless.

[DeeDee]

7 minutes ago, Upthehill said:

John Roberts too

Huh? We just got Roberts of City.

 

[luisenrique]

10 hours ago, beatsurrender said:

he's bloody quick though. A real 'Hare' Krishna

Lovely stuff.

[mack]

Quote

 

Melbourne City FC can confirm it has signed two Australian youth products to its Hyundai A-League roster.

Current 21-year-old Scholarship Player Christian Cavallo has been elevated to a full A-League contract until the end of the 2017/18 season.

Cavallo has been a consistent contributor in City’s youth system over the past two seasons, having made his debut for the Melbourne City senior men’s team in October 2016.

City has also signed 17-year-old striker Moudi Najjar on an A-League Scholarship Player contract for two seasons from Western Sydney Wanderers.

An exciting forward, Najjar emerged through the Wanderers’ youth system, scoring 19 goals In 18 matches for the team’s U18s team.

Najjar was later promoted to the Wanderers’ U20s and National Premier Leagues 2 squad, before earning a Y-League contract last season, making this his first senior deal.

 

We've already got 4 Scholarship players. You're allowed to have 6, perhaps we don't think he was worth it. Or we've given them to other players who will be NPL players this year.

[Upthehill]

32 minutes ago, DeeDee said:

Huh? We just got Roberts of City.

 

Yeah, I went looking for the Najjar article and found an old one and stupidly didn’t check the date

[Paul01]

4 minutes ago, mack said:

We've already got 4 Scholarship players. You're allowed to have 6, perhaps we don't think he was worth it. Or we've given them to other players who will be NPL players this year.

Najjar was the top scorer at the AFC u19 qualifying Tournament held last year. Perhaps too many CFs with Santa, Scott.

[hawks2767]

City are becoming the new Mariners always looking for our youth.

they probably baffle them with bullshit about being part of the CFG and how they'll get noticed.

[Carns]

City are looking for more future "Mooy like" players that they can on sell in the future if the players ever reach their potential. The sale of Mooy to Huddersfield basically paid for CFG buying Heart.

It's a relatively low cost/high reward venture (with a high failure rate).

[Upthehill]

2 hours ago, Carns said:

City are looking for more future "Mooy like" players that they can on sell in the future if the players ever reach their potential. The sale of Mooy to Huddersfield basically paid for CFG buying Heart.

It's a relatively low cost/high reward venture (with a high failure rate).

I mean everyone would love to churn out a new Socceroo. Everyone is trying to cultivate something

but what MCFC wasn’t exactly low risk. They spent a fairly big slab of cash on a guy who was relatively and proven and not exactly young

[Carns]

27 minutes ago, Upthehill said:

I mean everyone would love to churn out a new Socceroo. Everyone is trying to cultivate something

but what MCFC wasn’t exactly low risk. They spent a fairly big slab of cash on a guy who was relatively and proven and not exactly young

Not really my point. The point was that they can try and poach all the young(er) talent with the hope that every now and then they bag one that'll pay off many times over. Their network of clubs is already a bigger draw card than other A-league teams, and they can point to what they did with Mooy as an example of what they can do for a young Australian player.

Mooy had already played in Scotland and 2 years in the A-league before City got him, and he wasn't young (compared to these guys). He was a solid A-league player with WSW, but went to another level with City.