He's just joined so he has to learn the system and he doesn't have too much match fitness as yet. The manager might be under a bit of pressure already. Cardiff play some dire football so I suspect his skill will make them look better. There were positive comments about his League Cup appearance. 

So my AA of the week are circati and Ballard both played full matches in good results against good teams 

Room for improvement 
Mcgree stop getting injured lad 
Silvera needs to score or assist 


Next up tomorrow is ange and Nestor might feature in a friendly for bayern 

Robertson only just transferred in and has been recovering from a serious injury. I don't think there is anything to be concerned about. 

Not making Serie B match day squads but is holding out for Italy?

I love all the unhinged saying how when Volpato went to Italy it was a sign that a-league sucks and clubs don't know what they are doing.."what a joke' blah blah blah..looks like they know more than the Serie a or b lol 

And frankly, the few highlights I've seen of Volpato don't excite me in the slightest. It's all hype over reality so far ... unlike Irankunda.

Balard had a fantastic year for the Mariners last year. A big season at NAC could massively raise his profile.

I think we've seen over the last few years that the best prospects seem to be coming from the A League and the guys that are going to overseas academy's aren't breaking through as much. 

Obviously there's a few outliers, Robertson, Irvine, Circati etc but I think overall just making a European academy is no guarantee of professional success. There are many more who were in top level academy's who haven't done as well. 

To me the key players for the Socceroos are

Goodwin
Yengi
Souttar 

Circati (will be important)
Irvine (still important only if he stops his cheap turnovers)

The rest are whatever 

Not sure its got to do with where they came from the guys doing well who are19/20 have been playing full pro football for a few years now. THAT is the big difference, normally its 23-25.

This is my favourite thread, now that season has started, every week I come here to see how the Aussies are doing O/S.

Kalik played full game for Hajduk in a win 

Need players dominating and leaving for europe just 1 to 2 years earlier to get back to where we were. A league graduates are getting younger and better but not quite there yet

Highlights of Portsmouth v Luton showed Silvera looking sharp but on their fans forum opinion about him is divided.

Balard looked very good in the NAC Breda v Ajax game.That was a very good win for NAC.As others have already stated his tackle and crossfield pass leading to the first goal was very classy.

online scouts and analysts for portsmouth love him but other fans are starting to scape goat him. 

mabil apparently had 8 goal involvements in a cup game

we have quite a bit of competition for places

Holy cow, Mabil had 3 goals and 5 assists in a 9-0 rout for Grasshopper in the Swiss Cup(?)

Can only beat what's in front but it was an amateur side. Still good for confidence.

It isn't the best footage (ground level) but Balards assist for NAC Breda:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/TGFdMK1NK9tYkcjs/?mibextid=oFDknk

NAC Breda v Ajax highlights. Balards assist from 2:00. 
https://youtu.be/_4ErWIbsAA0?si=64dbdDtV1M0609hr

Circati full game for Parma is massive. I reckon he and Souttar have great potential as a CB pairing. It's a shame Rowles can't play RB. 

Geez Ballards assist was a thing of beauty. I admit I never noticed him last season but he's putting his hand up to start in the socceroos midfield 

It's a dilemma now because if he's defensively sound and can pass well then he should be played at RB to compensate for the issues there. If he's not going to advance up the wing then that region would be a perfect balance for now. Just because a player is listed at RB on a team sheet won't mean he'll stand there for a full 90min. In turn we don't have to waste spots on Jones and Miller and Circati/ Baccus/ Metcalfe/ Leckie can be the right back cohort allowing us to select more heavily in attacking positions. The same goes for Rowles at LB. Rowles, Bos suffice. We don't need Behich

Rowles didn't play this week so may have lost his spot? Burgess won't play now unless Greaves is injured. I'm not sure we can afford to play Circati at RB if those two aren't playing. 

I really wonder if we should try Stensness who is playing and in good form albeit in a different position. Another left field idea, if Triantis can play DM, can he play RB? Again would need to be playing though. 

I reckon we'll get Gethin and Miller. 

Scottish League cup rotation. Nothing to worry about.

Stensness scarred me from his national team games.

Was a cup game. Rowles played regular season

That's good to know re: Rowles. I was worried. We're cooked at RB until Strain gets fit again. 

Bos - Rowles - Souttar - Circati isn't the worst. 

But I do hate the idea of taking our brightest young player out of his best role to plug a hole. Seems silly. I'm hoping we can plug it some other way haha.

Ipswich loan Cajuste on loan from Napoli. Another centre mid. That's 5 good mids now for a wider campaign and the future. Why do I have the suspicion that Luongo will get a deadline day loan to The Championship? 

Sebastian Esposito made the very long bench for Lecce as they were defeated 4-0 by Atalanta in the opening game of their Serie A campaign.

their benches are so depressing

I know, it gave me a glimmer of hope for a second until I saw there were 14 other people on it.

Triantis played as a DM in a 1-1 all draw for the Sunderland academy team