valkanis now on

5 W 4 L 1 D

creeping ahead of the schiptwrecked 33 %

its interesting that city have the lowest membership to attendance ratio by quite a bit in the AL so far this season.  

it would be interesting to compare it to SFC in the first year of ADP to see if there some kind of hype membership drive with a big name. the kind that doesnt turn into attendance.

what kind of players do you want to see bought in next year?  

i stand by my earlier comments that selling fornaroli now would be wise.  something i would push for if the owner where a smaller bunch of folk and not the current mix of oil money/chinese government and nrl club.

i would love to see taggart or maclaren poached in to lead the line.  this is who i would keep for next year.

----------------------------------------------------booze
franjic--------------------jakobsen--------------------------------NEWB------------------------NEWB
------------------------malik/kilkenny--------------------brattan
----------------------------------------------MARQUEE
kamau/fitz-------------------------NEWB/Fornaroli-----------------------------Brandan

im not sold on tongyik.  we need to bring in a defender.  they should have a go at bringing Jurman back to aus.  we could build a defence around him for the next 5 years.  

i would like to see a young left back bought in/promoted.  we should have kept garrucio.

we desperately need to bring in a creative midfielder.  this is where the marquee money must go next year. i would like to see city start using us to give some of their english based youth a run.  imagine getting a 17 year old silva or de bruyne in....  it would be great for the game and a nice change from some of the retirees the AL gets.

No need to poach Maclaren - we'll even pay his air fare.

Seriously though, wouldn't get rid of Fallnrolli, just get a new captain

that's the thing.  there's a bit of cultural issues in the club and i think fornaroli or cahill might be the issue.  i suppose a new coach - ekspecially if they in someone with experience or a big name - will just captain whoever the fk he wants.

fornaroli is great.  i have no real issue keeping him as a player.  i would just like to be one of the clubs with an australian striker.  feels like we are giving back to aus football that way instead of crippling our own development for a foreign import.

we def need a midfielder, centre back and left back.

Have you sorted out a manager yet?

3 names that I can think of managers I have seen


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrik_Larsson


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Miller (If he hasn't retired)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Gustavsson

like ive said 100 times.  mikel arteta is coming to melbourne.

they offered him big things to lure him to work with guardiola.  he is doing his apprenticeship now and will get his training wheels off with us next season.

although there are other names coming up now.  namely ante milicic.

Storm consortium isn't a part owner anymore

home A-League elimination final weekend venue availability for Melbourne City,

AAMI Park – Melbourne City v Perth Glory:
Friday April 21st - available,
Saturday April 22nd - available 
Sunday April 23 - available

AAMI Park – Melbourne City v Brisbane Roar OR Western Sydney Wanderers:

Friday April 21st - available 
Saturday April 22nd - available
Sunday April 23rd – unavailable due to AFC Champions League commitments for both Brisbane Roar & Western Sydney Wanderers in Bangkok & Saitama on Wednesday April 26th

just oil money and the chinese government then.

Yes. Like every other A-League owner that gets their money from businesses outside of football.

Manchester City's owners have bought Uruguayan side Atletico Torque.

The club play in the Second Division of the Uruguayan league and have had two top-six finishes in two years.

The City Football Group already owns clubs in Australia, Japan and the United States and the purchase of Atletico Torque is seen as a way of increasing scouting in South America.

City have also entered a collaboration agreement with Atletico Venezuela of the Primera Division of Venezuela.

CFG chief executive Ferran Soriano said: "We are pleased to take this next step in our football development operations.

"The investment in CA Torque enables our organization to build on existing connectivity in Uruguay and helps to expand the options for identifying and developing local and South American talent.

"This move also provides us with an administrative hub for our pre-existing scouting operations in the region and provides a footprint for City Football Group in South America."

CFG owns MLS outfit New York City, A League Melbourne City, and J League Yokohama F Marinos.

i can only hope it is not with a view to coach..

it's clear there are issues within the club.  dragging a fresh set of eyes across the operation might help clear out some of the shit.  at least when a name as big as hodgson points it out people might actually act.

the mistake CFG made when they bought out heart was not clearing out the coaching team and bringing someone in to rebuild it. nope. they went with JVS and got what they paid for.

i would gladly take the golden boot off your hands...

Cahill has now outscored fornaroli from open play.  Cahill has also a better strike rate than fornaroli for all goals (including fornaroli's 8 penalties which anyone could have taken). Cahill has also done this from midfield.  Cahill is only second to Castro in goals scored from midfield but his goals come much quicker. It's time to cash in on fornaroli and bring in taggart or maclaren.

Including penalties:

Cahill             11 goals 119 minutes per goal  (+1 assist)
Fornaroli         17 goals 137 minutes per goal (+1 assist)
Castro            12 goals 172 minutes per goal (+6 assists)

Without penalties:

Cahill          11 goals 119 minutes per goal
Fornaroli      9 goals 258 minutes per goal
Castro         7 goals 294 minutes per goal

The numbers speak for themselves.

@ Broadmeadows Brah.

I don't get Fornorolli this season, not great but he still scored 17 goals. Second season syndrome and maybe being captain didn't help? And let's face of the loss of Mooy would dent anyone's performance.

As for Maclaren, Aloisi plays Roar in a 4231 formation and Maccers doesn't do that well as a lone striker, sure he wins the golden boot but that's not the trophy Roar aim at every season, nor is third place and an ACL playoff spot. Roar need to change formation or change striker, the latter one is lowest risk

its not the formation or the striker.  it's the other members of the team.  

@ Broadmeadow Brah

In what way is it "the other members of the team" ??

The other members of the team are clearly creating enough chances for him to score, he's missed way more than he's scored (27 goals wouldn't have been an unreasonable return for the chances created). And Roar finished third, again, and did that with long term injuries to DeVere, Holman, Oar, Mackay, Kristensen and played an additional 6 ACL games in an already hectic schedule. There's clearly nothing wrong with the team - it's not like we spent $9 million on salaries and had one more squad player than everyone else is it??

tell me one striker that sinks every "chance" they are given.  you've got a striker that picked up the golden boot from a team that just scrapped into 3rd.  clearly the striker is not the issue.
im pretty sure ive gone through the list on the roar page.  but your squad has some serious issues. not your striker.  

@ Broadmeadow Brah

I can't believe in a MCFC supporters page your discussing Roars "squad problems" - what does it say about City's then and why aren't you discussing them?

Last season Victory/Sydney finished 6th/7th while they battled in the ACL. Roar just finished third for the second season running, you just don't do that with squad problems.

And the issue with Maclaren is comparability to the teams style - he touches the ball in a game way less than Berisha/Fornorolli, creates way fewer assists, and is a poor passer of the ball - in a side that likes to play possession based football that combination is a real handicap which 19 goals does not make up for. We can put a kid up front and get 5 penalties and ten tap-ins from him. But if that kid doesn't contribute to Roars overall game plan then it's like having only 10 1/2 men - it's why most Roar supporters are relaxed about Maccers moving on (whereas Berisha was a crisis in the making and in the two seasons before he left he was taking pens and scoring only 13 and 14 goals a season). Roar don't need a single goal scorer, that's a team effort!

Seriously, I think you've got a bit of a downer on Roar and it's maybe clouding your judgment a bit??

you keep bringing it up. not me.  im just saying i would take maclaren.  he's a great striker.

After finishing the regular season there are a few  mistakes the City coaching panel made.

1. Selecting Fornaroli as the incumbent central striker instead of Cahill. HAL CBs have started to to sit off Fornarolli allowing him to turn, as opposed to rolling them from sitting tighter. Fornaroli has been outscored as a poacher by Jamey MacLaren and Santalab from minutes played on the pitch and excluding penalties in one's tally.  The ageing Cahill was forced to do far too much donkey work that Caceres did much better when he was on the pitch.


2. Selecting both Kilkenny and Brattan in defensive midfield. They are great when the team has the ball, but both have less ability to break up attacks. Selling Melling  has turned out to be a huge mistake, who is a great ball winner. Caceres is also busier. He breaks up more attacks and creates and wins more 1v1 contests. Malik added  much needed steel as a DM when played there. Recruiting both Brattan and Kilkenny to play in the same team has proved to be a huge mistake.


3. Using Josh Rose as LB , having sold Zullo and Garrucio on. The recruitment of Muscat and Rose, whilst letting Clisby, Melling, Wilkinson, Garrucio and Zullo go, is perplexing. If City had kept Wilkinson and Zullo, along with the excellent Jakobsen, and used Malik as a DM, City could've had a very effective defence.



This isn't so much a coaching selection issue, but Franjic and Colazo have probably underperformed, as has Brattan.  The whole City team showed its potency in the second round against Victory but faded after that game. 

I was in Europe last year for the Euros.

Hodgson seems like a lovely bloke and might be a good player manager, but his England team really underperformed in the Euros.

Hodgson is a big name from an English coaching milieu of unsophisticated mediocrity.  I'm sure he can pass on tips, but not tactical ones.

What are the figures now after 27 rounds including MacLaren, Brah?

thems the figures

The city squad is really really unbalanced.  Some hard decision need to be made and IMO the wrong recruitment was made because it was probably not in the coaches hands.  They need a coach with a big enough presence to command the right recruitment and to keep the team disciplined.  valkanus has improved the team, maybe giving him a full season including recruitment might be a reasonable move.  at least he is an australian coach.

letting zullo and wilko go was about the worst thing any club has ever done.  i suspect they needed to fit kilkenny and brattan into the cap and this is how they did it.

franjic has improved as the season progressed.   rose has also had his moments.  muscat needs to be sent away.  colazo is not worth the marquee spot.  malik is no central defender, but does well in CDM.

kilkenny, brattan and cahill are all different types of players but they are all essentially only offering the same role - the number 8.  when we need a 6, 8 and 10 under the systems we play. cahill can play up front. so to me kilkenny or brattan needs to go.  if it was up to me it would be kilkenny - because that also clears out some of the bad discipline and brattan will improve while kilkenny has peaked.

aside from my personal preferences, all we really need next year is a creative midifelder of quality (i would like to see someone like amini bought in) and a central defender to play next to jakobsen (maybe we could make a move on jurman if korea doesnt work out). and most importantly a decent manager.

It is these figures which highlight City's coaching staff's collective mistake in how they utilised Fornaroli and Cahill over the season.

It is not only scoring goals that a central striker should be evaluated as the team build ups, creating assists and contributing to team goals is also important.

Fornaroli was worked out by opposition HAL coaches after one outstanding season in a career - last season's HAL.  Meanwhile, Cahill has had many solid scoring seasons over a sustained period - usually at a higher level.

Fornaroli lost confidence as his inability to score manifested as the season progressed. City paid out good money for a needy marquee to take a lot of penalties with intermittent success.

On the other hand,  Cahill has such outstanding mental strength, even if he isn't scoring as long as his team is winning  he is contented. On TV he explained how many of his near post runs drag defenders out of  position, creating space for a trailing midfielder to shoot.

Interesting points here.

Even though  I dislike Kilkenny as his attitude on the pitch  annoys me no end, his composure on the ball , fast handling speed and range of passing has been very, very impressive. He gets through a lot of work in sustained possession and  opens passing lanes well when the team has the ball by presenting effective passing options for his team-mates .

In the last game for one  of the only times this season, I saw Kilkenny win a block tackle against Keogh. It is one of the only times this season this has occurred. He usually either loses the tackle, or fouls the the opponent in frustration, then gets indignant  with the ref. Meanwhile Malik often wins the tackle or muscle on muscle duel,  or flattens players, acknowledges he has conceded  a free kick,   calmly picks them up off the turf and gets on with the game.

Against Glory at least two goals were scored form free kicks that Kilkenny conceded. This guy cannot defend.

Brattan drifts in out out of games more than Kilkenny. As the season progressed, he faded. Brattan wins mo re1v1 does than Kilkenny  when  he gets to them, but he doesn't read the game well enough to make intercepts, force turnovers and create enough  1v1 contests.

A midfield of Malik, probably Kilkenny instead of Brattan, and the busy Caceres would have been better - with Cahill playing as the central target striker. This would have been a better defensive option screening the defence, with Tongyik being Jakobsen's CB partner.

No coach had the guts to bench both Fornaroli and Brattan and leave them out of the starting eleven. It cost City dearly.

The  other mistake  over the season was the use of Colazo. Surprisingly in the FFA Cup Final, Colazo was one of the best on the pitch at LB instead of Rose. This should have occurred more often, with Brandan on the  left wing. 

agree with colazo at left back.  brandan should be first pick for lw.  he works his guts out. pacey, reads the game well and creates opportunity with his movement and positioning.  he would have hit a fair few more goals if we had a decent 10 to create play.

so you would rather kilkenny stay and brattan go?  i really think the call needs to be made - 3 of the most expensive players all essentially play one position.  this is very unbalanced.

i think brattans deficits would be cleared up if he was supported by a better defender like malik and their was a proper number 10 on the pitch.  then you have cahill v brattan pushing to start and cahill v fornaroli as well.  this is good for the team and a lot clearer.  personally i think brattan is one of the most interesting and underachieving talents in the australian game. this is why i want to keep him. he was sensational at brisbane.  but drifted in and out of the game.

I'm saying that Kilkenny is probably a better first team choice ATM.

Brattan is a fabulous player at times, creative, with an excellent first touch. However, one has to look at City's weaknesses. The midfield didn't break up the attacks like SFC's midfield did. Kilkenny has more 'possessions'. 

With Malik as the DM, City wouldn't be so good on the ball in possession. Though having Colazo as LB provides a lot more technical class in the defensive half of the pitch for playing out than Rose.

With Tongyik and Jakobsen as CBs  screened by Malik at DM, this provides City with three excellent ball winners.

Cahill is wasted doing defensive donkey work. These days he is  far more effective playing as a striker than AM.

Retre has looked okay when on the pitch and Melling has been a loss.

It has been a waste having Cahill and Fornaroli, and, Brattan and Kilkenny, all at the same club with similar talents.