Football Season Guide

On paper City lost several regulars over the summer, but they strengthen very well and the common opinion is that the squad is much stronger and with greater depth this season compared to last. Coach Joyce will start his second year in charge and after already making City very solid at the back he now targets to improve the scoring record of his team. This shouldn’t be too hard with captain and arguably the best centre forward in the entire A-League Fornaroli fit and raring to go. The Uruguayan missed the majority of the regular season last term when he was injured, but a year earlier he broken all kinds of records in the A-League when fully fit and if this is the case again City will be scoring lots of goals. Goalkeeper Bouzanis might have left this summer, but Birighitti was signed to replace him, plus City are probably the only team in the competition to have two vastly experienced shot-stoppers as veteran Galekovic is also an option. In defence Schenkeveld was a revelation last season, as well as youngster Atkinson who proved to be very effective both as a right-back and right winger, but City added two more very good players for their back line over the summer. Good is a solid centre-back, while De Laet is a right-back, which suggests that this term Atkinson will be used higher up the pitch. Caceres and McGree arrive on loan to boost even more the impressive options in midfield, Brattan and Vidosic already have certain starting roles there. City also refreshed their options down the wings where Berenguer, Wales and O’Halloran were signed to replace Arzani and Kamau. Using 4-2-3-1 as a formation seems the most obvious choice for City, with the key for them being the health and form of their captain Fornaroli, who already established as the most effective player in A-League history with his major contribution (goal or assist) every 76 minutes he spends on the pitch.