Although I am optimistic for a good season I am struggling to see that our squad is substantially, if at all, better than last year so far.
I believe that Kennedy is a capable keeper but he needs to be challenged by a number 2, will either Pearce or Gauci be able to provide that challenge? On what I have heard from watchers of our NPL side Pearce is still a long way off being A-League ready. Will he improve once he ages out of the NPL? We cannot afford to have a developing keeper, a la 15/16 Izzo, in our side. Gauci looks promising considering he played top level NPL SA at 16 but is he ready to of challenge Kennedy to start?
A lot is riding on Cisse in our defensive line Mulvey has clearly had experience with him before so I hope he proves to be a good signing, if Jonathan Aspropotamitis does not return to the level he was at the Wanderers or if Golec struggles after missing a pre-season through injury, I fear we will struggle. Rowles has potential but it is not clear whether he will fulfill that, I have never been impressed by Clisby especially considering he is not a natural left full back but a converted centre half, he was torn apart by Blacktown when the Wanderers almost went down in the FFA Cup last season and routinely gives up the ball. I am fearful that McGing will regress and we will be left without a workable right back option, who is our youth right back and are they capable of stepping up if McGing was injured or out of form? I personally wouldn't mind Shelford Dais or Jeremy Walker as an inexpensive back up. Our backline is wafer thin if we get injuries or players do not perform to the required or expected level. I would advocate strongly for a visa left or right back, the talent pool here for fullbacks is very shallow, and Raul Llorente last season for the Wanderers showed what a foreign full back can do even when hamstrung by background machinations.
Assuming De Silva is gone or on the naughty boys list, McGlinchey and Shabow will be our creative midfield options. I doubt either is an improvement on De Silva even with his problems. While McGlinchey chances were limited by insane game plans and infighting at the Wellington Phoenix he did show glimpses of his quality when given an opportunity. He is still a reasonable quality A-League player but, in my humble opinion, not at the level of De Silva when De Silva is at his best. I am mildly concerned at using a visa spot on him, I hope he was cheap. Shabow has played a total of 115 minutes in the A-League, I have not seen enough of him to make a comment, but he does have a good record with the Young Socceroos. I hope that we did not sign him out of desperation and that record alone. Hiareij, Melling and Berry are our three defensive midfield options. With Hiariej already the clear lock in starter, I hope both Berry and Melling are pushing to acquire a starting position. Melling was tenacious if often aimless player last season, I hope with better coaching from Mike Mulvey he can return to the terrific energy and form he once had for Melbourne City. I do not know what to make of Berry, I haven't seen enough of him to make a fair comment but numerous contributors on here obviously rate him very highly. In the short cameos I have seen he has seemed to lack the defensive grit and strength required of his position even when coming on as a substitute. He played a total of 12 minutes last season and the one thing that our national curriculum seems good at is churning out very good defensive midfielders. With seeing the performance of Kearyn Baccus and other defensive midfield players developed in the NPL system and various A-League academies I do wonder if we would be better off with a top level NPL player. I don't think investing a visa spot is necessary for this position as there are numerous quality Australian free agents to chase in this position.
Unless both Andrew Hoole and Connor Pain improve substantially under Mike Mulvey's stewardship I don't believe that we will make the top six with them as our starting wingers. Hoole is frustrating beyond compare, he has the talent and aptitude to succeed at this level and probably beyond but cannot seem to ever consistently impact a match, worst still the gulf between his best and worst is a gaping chasm and he can often bring down the whole team if he has an off night. In his time with us I think Pain has substantially improved, his efforts to track back and provide cover for Josh Rose was terrific and his work effort was top notch last season. But he too often does not see the objective as scoring a goal. Too often he settles for a simple trick or intercepted cross to win a corner when he was often isolated with the opposition right full back. If he is not capable of winning 1v1s against A-League level full backs, probably the weakest position overall in our national league, then there are many better options at NPL level. I am excited to see what Kekeris can offer, but have only seen his six minute cameo in the A-League, he did not look out of place however. Two quality visa wingers, in the mold of Sergio Cirio, Eric Bautheac or Fahid Ben Khallfallah's stint with Victory, would strengthen our squad significantly. With rather limited crossing ability from both McGing and Clisby we will rely heavily this year on the crossing of our wingers.
Gamerio and Simon are tremendous improvements already on our strike force of last season. I'll admit that I have always been a fan of Gamerio and thought he would be our next Socceroos leading man, I hope that his injuries have not wrought to much damage to his goal scoring instincts. If he can return to anywhere near his form at Sydney before his injuries we will have made an astute signing, if not I doubt he is more expensive than Powell. Simon struck a rich vein of form near the end of the season for Sydney, he was given starting duties in the A-League during Sydney's ACL campaign and flourished. With good service I think he will be a dangerous striker. I personally would not opt for a visa signing here, recruiting one of Deni Juric, Scott McDonald or David Williams would, in my humble opinion, serve our striking needs.
Mike Mulvey, Ray Junna and Nick Montgomery all have a tremendous task ahead of them if we want to be in the top six let alone challenging for silverware. It is crucial for the club's future, and position ahead of likely implementation of promotion and relegation, that we build a solid foundation this season. Another year of dismal results and further disengagement from less rusted on fans will not help us survive when expansion teams come in. We need to show that we are turning a corner, the future is bright, or it probably won't be.