With just under 50 days to go until the start of the Isuzu UTE A-League season, clubs are running out of time to fill squad gaps with new personnel.
A grand total of 89 players have either joined a new club or risen from a team’s youth ranks to sign a professional contract this off-season; some sides have elected to enact a mass-overhaul of their playing list, others appear to be comfortable making minor adjustments to last season’s squads.
Former A-Leagues defender Robbie Cornthwaite has kept a close eye on the arrivals and departures at all 12 clubs across the off-season. He gave his verdict to KEEPUP on how each squad is shaping up, and answers the question: which club is “winning” the window?
READ: COMPLETE LIST OF INS AND OUTS AT ALM CLUBS
ADELAIDE UNITED
They’re probably as strong as they were last season, when they went one game from the Grand Final again. I think three of the last four years they’ve been in that position.
As for the signings, I think [Ben] Halloran and [Craig] Goodwin – although they’ve been at the club before, and Goodwin signed on a permanent deal – they have to be the two biggest signings of the off-season.
To be able to retain those two, two of the best players in the league, that attacking front third looks so dangerous now.
I think they’ve got cover in just about every position. The only area I think may be a little concerning is the middle of the park. [Zach] Clough will probably play as the number 10, Bernardo and George Blackwood can play there as well, but they don’t really have that out-and-out creative player in the middle of the park. With the likes of Juande and Isaias Sanchez in the middle – who are great players, but they’re getting on a little bit – I would like to see them sign maybe one more really good quality midfielder.
But on paper they have got a very, very balanced side.
BRISBANE ROAR
In terms of big signings, Riku Danzaki who has come back, was one of the best players in the league when he was here. He created a lot of opportunities.
Then there’s Charlie Austin, who is one of the biggest signings in the league this season, and comes with a really good CV at a good age. It looks like he’s going to be a real character off the field as well, and add plenty to the league.
In terms of the team, I think maybe the midfield is – I wouldn’t say weak, because Jay O’Shea is probably one of the best midfielders in the league – but Connor Chapman if he does play as a defensive midfielder, we haven’t seen him do that a lot in Australia.
I think they’re going to be really reliant on their wingers in wide positions and full-backs getting forward to create chances for Austin.
I just feel like in the middle of the park, they could do with a bit of a spark.
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS
Massive loss with Marco Ureña leaving for family reasons. He was one of the best foreigners in the league. Also, I think Kye Rowles and Mark Birighitti departing have left a hole in defence. I don’t think that’s an area they’ve strengthened anywhere near enough; I would’ve liked to have seen them go and get a really experienced centre-half or potentially even a foreign signing there to add some stability.
I’m excited to see the striker Paul Ayongo who had interest in Asia and Europe as well. He’s at a really good age, so hopefully he can add something.
He’s not new, he only signed midway through last year, but obviously Jason Cummings is going to be the main man there again. He had his name spoken about for the Socceroos in the lead-up to the last qualifiers, and I’m sure he’s wanting to start the season really, really well and see if he can get himself into that World Cup squad, which is probably going to be very difficult.
MACARTHUR FC
I think their biggest signing is Dwight Yorke. He’s actually the only coach that’s going to be new… he’s the only coach that’s starting the season as a new coach. I’m really interested to see how he goes in his first opportunity.
They’ve made some good signings in Daniel Arzani and Anthony Carter, the striker who we don’t know a lot about but it’s a role – and maybe it’s a bit of a club philosophy – to go with that type of striker.
They’ve had Tomi Juric, Apostolos Giannou and Matt Derbyshire and now Carter who are all very similar, big number nine type strikers. That seems to be a bit of a theme with what they’re going through. I’m really interested to see how they go.
In terms of weaknesses, they look pretty balanced to be fair. The left-back position is a little bit of an issue, Ivan Vujica is not a bad player but you’d maybe want to see a youngster coming through and getting an opportunity in that position.
Off the top of my head, there’s not really a glaring problem in my eyes.
MELBOURNE CITY
The only thing you could say about City is maybe they haven’t yet brought in enough reinforcements.
We know it’s a strong squad, they’ve got a couple of new players but I would have maybe liked to see them sign another keeper to challenge Tom Glover. He’s been their number one for some time.
They look pretty settled, and you can expect them to be up there again.
MELBOURNE VICTORY
Luis Nani has come in and looks to be in really condition, and a good mindset to add something to the competition. The cameo we saw him play in the Australia Cup was really impressive.
But look at the names they’ve lost: Jason Davidson, Brendan Hamill, Ivan Kelava, Marco Rojas, they’re four players that played a lot of football in that team.
The only area of concern for me is maybe the centre-back position. Matthew Spiranovic is another year older, I don’t think he had the best semi-final performance, and Hamill who played a lot of games last year and was close to one of their best has moved to India as well.
They brought in George Timotheou who has played a lot of football and didn’t really set the world on fire in Adelaide – but if anyone is going to get the best out of players, it’s (Tony Popovic).
NEWCASTLE JETS
They’ve had a big turnover. There’s no sort of star player they’ve brought in, but the signing for me is Reno Piscopo. He did wonderful things at Wellington Phoenix and is a really dangerous type of player, someone you think will really be able to flourish in the Arthur Papas style of football.
I think one that’s gone under the radar is Brandon O’Neill as well, who didn’t have a lot of joy at Perth Glory. He was a big signing when he went there and was named captain but for whatever reasons, injuries and whatnot, he didn’t see a lot of game time. He’s going to be a really important player shielding that defence.
They also haven’t replaced Daniel Penha, who was one of, if not the best player in the league last year.
The issue for me last year was defence, they let in a lot of soft goals and had one of the worst defensive records in the league. They haven’t really strengthened other than the signing of Carl Jenkinson. I’m wondering if Jenkinson could play as a centre-half. Matt Jurman and Jordan Elsey are both experienced players, but I don’t think they had the best of times last year. I would’ve really liked to see Newcastle strengthen that area as well.
PERTH GLORY
They’ve signed an experienced centre-half in Mark Beevers who has played almost 550 games in the UK. He’s got plenty of experience. They’re obviously wanting that commanding presence at the back alongside Darryl Lachman – you wouldn’t really want to be mixing it with those two centre-backs.
The one I’m most excited to see is Stefan Colakovski. He was in the shadow of Marco Tilio a bit at Melbourne City, got his opportunity here and there and did quite well, but when you turn to the bench and you’ve got Tilio, Mathew Leckie or Andrew Nabbout, he found it a little bit more difficult. Hopefully he can kick on, have a really good season and show what he’s made of.
Bruno Fornaroli is another year older, Andy Keogh left, it didn’t work out for Daniel Sturridge, I think they may be a little bit light in the striking department. They’ve got a bit of a target man striker in Ben Azubel, but there’s an element of unknown with these foreign arrivals. As we saw with Newcastle last year, some of them set the world on fire and some of them don’t, and for Perth hopefully they’ve found a good one.
SYDNEY FC
The signing of [Jack] Rodwell is the one that has grabbed most of the headlines. If he plays at centre-back alongside Alex Wilkinson, then there’s question marks over whether they’ve got enough pace at the back. Last year they were defensively pretty poor.
They’ve signed the Spanish left-back Diego Caballo, they’ve had Michael Zullo and Joel King who have been two of the best left-backs in the league over the last decade, and now they’ve opted for a foreign signing who looks good on paper.
We know Sydney are going to score goals, they’ve got plenty of talent up front. Joe Lolley comes from the UK in the Championship at a really good level, and Adam Le Fondre is still there as well.
I think they’re going to be scoring plenty of goals, it’s just whether they can keep the ball out of the back of the net.
WELLINGTON PHOENIX
I think one of the best signings this off-season is Steven Ugarkovic, a lot of experience and he’ll look to lock up that middle of the park.
The Phoenix are always a surprise, I think most people including myself quite often tip them at the bottom of the table but they’re always there or thereabouts. They made a really good run to the finals last year and didn’t quite get there.
This year they’re going to be at home; they’re going t be playing a lot of games at home which they haven’t done for a few seasons.
I’m really keen to see their Bulgarian Bozhidar Kraev who’s come over from Denmark at a really good age at 25. He’s got 24 caps for his country, and hopefully he can deliver. Kosta Barbarouses is back as well who is hopefully going to be providing a lot of opportunities for them to fid the back of the net.
Defensively again – and I think it’s a bit of a theme this year – a lot of teams are spending on the front half of the field, looking to score and play attacking football – but they didn’t have a great defence last year and have done very little to change the personnel back there.
WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS
It’s been a massive turnover. They’ve been down in the dumps now for a number of seasons, but some of the videos we’ve seen coming out of the club, the morale looks really high, it looks like they’re having a lot of fun.
They look tighter and more together than what we’ve seen in the last four or five years. That’s a really positive sign.
I’m excited to see the likes of Oliver Bozanic, who is one of the best players in the league, Brandon Borrello who comes back as well, which is great for Australian football, and a young defender Gabriel Cleur, I saw him play in some of the junior Australia tournaments over the last couple of years and looks really impressive and one for the future.
They’ve got their Brazilian defender Marcelo Guedes; age is a bit of a concern at 35, but he’s won trophies in four different countries. He’s a winner, he knows what it takes to win and having that kind of player driving the team, I think that’s really important.
They look really good across the park, but they have done for the last few years and haven’t delivered.
WESTERN UNITED
In terms of weaknesses, I just think they haven’t signed anyone, really. I know they signed James Troisi, who isn’t at the peak of his powers anymore, but for a team that’s won the league, you would’ve really liked to see them go and strengthen things, and keep players on their toes by bringing in a couple of big names or a couple of players in key positions – which there’s still time to do.
I think Wenzel-Halls played his best football when he was up there with Aleksandar Prijović, so for him to lead the line on his own, I think that’s a little too much. I think his best football is when he has another focal point in and around him, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they go and find a striker. That’s probably the area they need to strengthen.
But which club are winning the window?
I know people are going to call me biased – but I think Adelaide have won the window so far.
The fact they’ve been able to retain 90% of their squad, added Halloran and re-signed Goodwin – and the only player of note they’ve really lost is Kusini Yengi.
I think for me they look to be the most settled going into the season, there’s not much you’d really change. I think the Jets and Brisbane have had an okay window, and Western Sydney have brought in a lot of players as well.
I think as a manager, all of the clubs that have any cap space and foreigner spots left on their roster are going to be looking to bring in all players if they can – but they’re only going o bring in players who are going to improve things for them.
They’re all going to be targeting key positions now, and really looking to strengthen with two months to the season kicking off.
