There are those who steal the headlines and there are those who quite simply, fly under the radar.
Throughout the opening few weeks of the Isuzu UTE A-League season, a number of players have done exactly that, with their performances not getting the same notoriety as some of the star players they line up alongside for one reason or another.
KEEPUP took a deeper look at those who are some of the league’s most underrated players.
Nicolas Milanovic
It’s been a tough season thus far for the reigning champions, but if there’s been any solace in the opening few weeks, it’s been the form of Nicolas Milanovic.
The young attacking-midfielder has made his mark in the opening five weeks of Western United’s season, scoring three goals to be the club’s leading goal-scorer, with two of those coming as impact substitutes.
With Aleksandar Prijovic still missing and Dylan Wenzel-Halls still yet to fire, Milanovic has made his mark in the attacking third, building off the promise he has shown in his few and far between cameos since debuting in 2020.
By all reports, Milanovic had an impressive pre-season and has more than backed that up early in the campaign, but surprisingly, it has only yielded the one start – in which he scored against Central Coast Mariners – when James Troisi missed due to injury.
However, each time he has come on, the 20-year-old has threatened to break the game open, just like he did the following week in their 4-2 loss to Adelaide United, where he scored almost instantly after coming on.
His coach John Aloisi said it’s up to him to “manage” his integration and utilisation in the team, but his case for regular starts is becoming more difficult to ignore with each passing week.
And the stats are there to back it up.
Incredibly, no player has scored more goals (2.0) and shots on target (3.3) per 90 minutes in the entire competition – while his current goal tally has him equal second alongside Ben Waine, Robert Mak and Sam Silvera.
Not bad for a midfielder who has only played 134 minutes this season.
Calem Nieuwenhof
A big part of Marko Rudan’s rejuvenation of the Western Sydney Wanderers this season has come from not only their strong defence, but their newly forged midfield duo.
While Romain Amalfitano arrived with the extensive European resume, it’s been his counterpart Calem Nieuwenhof who has been the player on Wanderers’ fans lips for his impressive performances in the middle of the park.
Arriving at Wanderland off the back of an injury ravaged tenure at cross-town rivals Sydney FC, the 21-year-old’s impact in a short period of time has been nothing short of profound.
His work may not show up on the stats-sheet, and in turn may get unnoticed by ‘box score analysts’ who have focused much of their praise on the miserly defence, but his ability to control the tempo with a cool, calm head under pressure that has stood out the most – playing with a maturity well beyond his years.
This was on full show in the Wanderers 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory back in round 2, where he was close to, if not, their best player on the night.
“He’s been superb, he’s been fantastic… He’s still young and he’s got a really good head on his shoulders, really mature,” Rudan said after the game.
Now, all the eyes will be on the young midfielder as he takes on his former employers – who actually wanted to retain his services – in what promises to be a huge Sydney Derby on Saturday evening.
Callum Talbot
Another ex-Sydney FC player who is flourishing in a new environment is Callum Talbot, who has made the right-back position his own since arriving at Melbourne City.
With much of the focus centering around City’s Socceroos hopefuls and foreign off-season acquisitions, Talbot’s early season form has flown significantly under the radar.
The 21-year-old fended off Scott Galloway for the starting position during pre-season, filling the hole left by the outgoing Carl Jenkinson and becoming an important cog in City’s league best back-line.
Since earning his spot in round one, Talbot hasn’t looked back and has taken his game to another level in a new shade of blue, going head-to-head with the likes of Chris Ikonomidis, Nani, David Ball and Connor Pain and performing with aplomb.
While much of the attacking has been saved for his left-back counterpart in Jordan Bos, Talbot has at times, shown what he can do when he’s given license to get forward, none more so than when he won the penalty for City’s second goal against Brisbane.
Nectar Triantis
You could almost plug and place any of Central Coast’s players under the label of being ‘under-rated’.
And while much of the focus has been around Garang Kuol, Jason Cummings and Danny Vukovic’s call-ups to the Socceroos, Nectar Triantis has quietly flown under the radar for his performances in the heart of defence.
Triantis looks set to be the latest in a pipeline of young talent who have thrived in Gosford, following in the footsteps and filling the hole left by Kye Rowles and surging ahead of fellow promising defender Dan Hall and off-season signing Kelechi John in the pecking order.
The 19-year-old started his first game in the Isuzu UTE A-League two weeks ago in the Mariners’ come from behind 4-2 win against Western United and backed it up with an eye-catching performance in their romping 3-0 win at Wanderland last week.
While his defensive attributes have won plaudits in his first two starts, it’s been his technical ability that has got the football public talking – especially his long-range passing, as seen in his ‘hockey assist’ for Cummings in their victory over the reigning champions a fortnight ago.
Javi Lopez
Can one of the Isuzu UTE A-League’s top full backs be one of the most under appreciated games in the game? Perhaps.
Javi Lopez has flown under the radar ever since he touched down in Adelaide two seasons ago and has rarely ever put a foot wrong – becoming an integral part of their back-four, which has chopped and changed throughout his time in the City of Churches.
The 36-year-old Spaniard’s work largely goes unnoticed as he’s not the flashy kind of player that will steal the headlines. But his defensive attributes, coupled by his leadership has made him arguably one of Adelaide’s most important players – even at the twilight stages of his career.
Lopez isn’t afraid to get forward and offer a helping hand down the right hand side to support the ever-talented Ben Halloran, and the rest of United’s attack either – as seen with his assist for Craig Goodwin on the weekend.
Or as shown last season in the same fixture, he can hit them too!
Josh Brindell-South
“He is like a Ferrari in the garage. When he wants to take it out for a spin, he is some player.”
These are the words of Brisbane Roar coach Warren Moon regarding Josh Brindell-South after his absolute rocket in his side’s 3-1 win over Sydney FC. The right-back has well and truly flown under the radar for much of his career, making four appearances for Wellington Phoenix before plying his trade in NPL competitions across the country for five years.
And even since returning to the Isuzu UTE A-League for Brisbane in 2020, Brindell-South has never made more than 20 appearances in his three seasons at the club.
But Moon knows his quality and brought out his sports car when he needed it on Sunday, and his faith in the 30-year-old paid off enormously.
