Footballers on the fringes never know when an opportunity will arise. The challenge is staying ready, both physically and mentally, for when that chance comes. The next challenge is to take it.
It’s exactly what Melbourne City’s Taras Gomulka and Western United’s Jerry Skotadis have achieved in recent weeks, forcing themselves into the plans of their respective coaches in time to play key roles in the Isuzu UTE A-League finals series.
Now the pair of young Australian central midfielders are pushing to start in the A-League Men’s Grand Final at AAMI Park on Saturday night, opposite one another in the battle for control in the engine room.
BE THERE FOR THE A-LEAGUE MEN’S GRAND FINAL!
For Gomulka, 20, his rise to prominence in head coach Patrick Kisnorbo’s thinking came in April when Aiden O’Neill succumbed to a lower back injury in the Melbourne Derby.
Gomulka came on for O’Neill in the first half of that game. Then, City travelled to Asia for the group stage of the AFC Champions League.
“Fortunately I was able to start all six games over in Asia,” Gomulka told KEEPUP. “That’s where I started to get a bit of regular game time. I did well over there, and then carried it back into the A-League season, into the finals, and have been in the starting XI for the two semi-finals.
“I think it just (comes down to) hard work. I’ve been at the club for two years now, I’ve been working hard and PK has been telling me what to do, how to play the system correctly, and just putting in the extra work after training, fixing my first touch up, passing.
“I think all the hard work has just recently been coming off.”
Gomulka returned from Thailand with six consecutive starts under his belt, benefiting from what was a difficult situation for the club with both O’Neill injured and key midfielder Connor Metcalfe contracting COVID-19.
From City’s struggle came Gomulka’s opportunity.
He would return to the bench for City’s first game back in the A-League Men’s on May 5: a 2-0 loss to bottom-placed Perth. He’s since made three consecutive starts, helping City defeat Wellington to lift the Premiers Plate before facing Adelaide United – his boyhood club – over a two-legged semi-final.
Gomulka’s friends and family packed the stands at Coopers Stadium for leg one – a 0-0 draw – before City overpowered the Reds in the second leg to progress to the Grand Final.
It’s a game Gomulka has every chance to play from the start. The counter-argument to his selection is for Kisnorbo to bring Marco Tilio into the midfield three at Gomulka’s expense, sat in front of Metcalfe to provide a second creative outlet in the midfield alongside Florin Berenguer.
It’s a toss up between two young City stars; housemates, and companions on the hour-long trip to the City’s Elite Training Pitch at Casey Fields.
“It’s an hour with no traffic – with traffic it’s an hour and a half to get to training every day,” Gomulka said.
“It’s a bit of a commitment – but I love doing it. We go together. We take it in turns driving every day. A bit of company is always nice.”
“Last year when we were at the old facility in Bundoora, I was living in a shared house there. Then I moved in with Tilio at the start of this season. Because it was all rushed we stayed at his place. We have thought of moving for next season, but at the moment we just want to finish this season off and win the Grand Final. Maybe when we come back for pre-season we’ll look at moving a little bit closer – because it is a fair drive.”
Gomulka was left out of Kisnorbo’s squad entirely for the first six games of the season. When he did get into the squad, he started just four of his first 16 A-League Men’s appearances of the campaign. Now, he’s clocked three in a row on the way to the Grand Final.
“It was a very frustrating time,” Gomulka said, reflecting on his start to the season. “Doing top-up training the next day is hard but you’ve got to keep mentally strong.
“When I looked to the players in front of me, we had a stacked team I’d say. A lot of good players fighting out for the same positions here. It’s good in a way, everyone’s competitive and everyone wants to play. I think over time I’ve been working hard and managed to get my way back into the squad.”
Gomulka added: “Going into every game, everybody has a few nerves, especially at the start of a game. But I was also ready to jump at it and take my chance. It was both nerve-wracking and exciting I guess.”
As for Gomulka’s exceptions for the Grand Final: “We’ll have to see, there’s the week of training ahead then it’s up to the coach to pick the starting XI.
“I’ll train hard this week, put my front foot forward and hope for the best. It would be a surreal experience, really. I’m having my family come down from Adelaide as well to watch in the stands, it will be an amazing feeling and a proud moment for my family.”
Whilst Gomulka’s family travel across from Adelaide to Victoria for the title decider, Western midfielder Skotadis’s relatives will make the journey from Sydney to get a glimpse of the 22-year-old midfielder in action on the big stage.
Skotadis, like Gomulka, has jumped at the opportunity to make himself a regular Western starter of late after injuries to Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Steven Lustica; the former’s foot injury meant that the versatile Rene Krhin was called upon to plug the hole in Western’s defence. Skotadis was in turn utilised alongside Neil Kilkenny in midfield.
“The last month or so since the last game of the regular season I’ve been in, which has fortunately come for me at a good time,” Skotadis told KEEPUP.
“The first game in Adelaide I started, I wasn’t nervous but confidence-wise I wasn’t up to scratch. But the last three games my confidence has improved. It’s been really good for me.
“Playing next to Kilkenny, It’s surreal, because he’s such a good player. I look up to him, he’s got so much experience on and off the pitch.
“Even the little things on the pitch, like where to head a ball out, not inside but in wide areas, where to piston myself. It’s really good to look up to him, because he’s a top player. He’s very talkative to everyone in the team.”
Skotadis is just 22 years old, but is one of the longest-serving players at Western having signed on for the club’s inception season in 2019-20.
“I think the first two seasons were pretty hard,” he said. “We were just starting off as a club.
“I think as a team this year, the boss (Aloisi) signed players who want to play for the club and want to win, together as a team.
“Everyone wants to work for each other, we work hard, we train hard every day, we’ve got smiles on our faces because we’re happy as a team, happy as a whole.
“(Aloisi) is a top coach, and all the boys look up to him because of his great goal to qualify for the World Cup, when he took his shirt off. He’s good to be around, all the boys love him.”
BE THERE FOR THE A-LEAGUE MEN’S GRAND FINAL!
Skotadis has learnt many things from being amongst the likes of Kilkenny, Krhin and Topor-Stanley, of Aleksandar Prijović, Leo Lacroix and Jamie Young; but he’s taken one particular piece of advice to heart as Saturday’s Grand Final draws closer.
“They’ve been telling us all season: you might not get moments like this for the rest of your career, so for us young boys it’s exciting,” Skotadis said.
“I want to do everything I can as an individual to win for the boys. We’ve had a good season, a good pre-season as well. I think we all really want to win, it’s been a battle this season for us.
“The boys who were here last year when we came 10th, this year it’s a big step up. I think we just want to win, and make people behind the scenes of our club proud, and all of us proud as well.”
