CITY INSIDER: City v Adelaide - Sunday 29 January

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CITY IN THE NEW YEAR

Melbourne City will be hoping it can come away with all three points when it returns to home soil to face Adelaide United this afternoon.

After two matches on the road that saw the team come away with two draws, the Men’s squad will play in the first leg of the City double-header at AAMI Park, as they look to return to their winning ways.

Despite being unable to come away with a win in either of its most recent away fixtures, City has been in total control of both games, merely unable to convert that impressive brand of football into the full three points.

City had over 66% possession and created more chances in front of goal in the games against the Wanderers and most recently the Roar, but have been unable to land the decisive blow.

After five straight games of rolling out the same starting XI, City was finally forced to make a change in the game against the Roar, with skipper Scott Jamieson replacing Jordan Bos at left back after the talented youngster was ruled out through concussion protocols.

Scott Galloway also came into the side, replacing Callum Talbot at the opposite fullback position.

As City turns its attention to the 5th placed Adelaide United today, it’s yet to be seen whether Head Coach Rado Vidosic will look to bring the two young fullbacks back into the fold or stick with the XI that took on the Roar in Brisbane.

City has still only lost the one game this season, currently holding a record of 8 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss which sees it clear on top of the table.

Meanwhile, Adelaide is coming in off a 1-0 win over Macarthur FC with Zac Clough’s goal in the 6th minute enough for them to hold on to the full three points at home.

A-LEAGUE MEN PREVIEW

DANGER PLAYER

While City fans may have been cheering him on not too long ago linking up with our very own Mathew Leckie in a Socceroos shirt in Qatar, Craig Goodwin certainly won’t be getting too many cheers at AAMI Park today. The Adelaide captain has been in some great form back home either side of the World Cup too, having scored five and also added another four assists. Whether its Callum Talbot or Scott Galloway who ultimately gets the nod at right-back, one thing for sure is they’ll have their work cut out for them.

CRAIG GOODWIN

Richard van der Venne

Raphael Borges Rodrigues

SQUAD

James Delianov

Joe Gauci

Nick Ansell

Lachlan Barr

Javi Lopez

Alexandar Popovic

Louis D’Arrigo

Ryan Kitto

Isaias

Zach Clough

Ben Halloran

Josh Cavallo

Juande

Johnny Yull

Ethan Alagich

Hiroshi Ibusuki

Craig Goodwin (c)

George Blackwood

Panashe Madanha

Nestory Irankunda

Coach:

BACK FROM THE BREAK

Melbourne City will be looking for back-to-back wins when it takes on Adelaide United at AAMI Park this evening.

The Women’s clash will be the second leg of a double header for City fans, with the match to follow on from the Men’s fixture that will take place at 3:00pm.

City recorded a gritty 1-0 win over the Western Sydney Wanderers last Saturday thanks to an early Hannah Wilkinson goal and will now turn its attention to its second match-up against Adelaide inside the space of a month, having won 3-0 on January 11.

The squad is edging closer towards full strength with the likes of Karly Roestbakken, Emma Checker and Hannah Wilkinson now getting a handful of games under their belt after returning from injury.

Fresh off a clean sheet against the Wanderers, Melissa Barbieri will hoping to replicate that kind of performance in what would be her 100th A-League Women’s game today.

There is no guarantee that Barbieri will be in goal though, with James being cleared for a return to action and being named in Sunday’s squad after missing the past couple of fixtures due to a finger injury.

After navigating injuries, short turnarounds and a new Head Coach, City has done extremely well to find itself sitting in 2nd place on the table coming into this Sunday’s fixture.

City currently sits on 22 points (10 games played) trailing the first placed Western United who are on 24 points (9 played) while Sydney FC find themselves in 3rd on 18 points but do have two games in hand.

With a big game against Sydney FC also on the horizon, City will be eager to secure the full three points at home against Adelaide to ensure it keeps some distance between themselves and the Sydneybased outfit.

A-LEAGUE WOMEN PREVIEW

DANGER PLAYER

FIONA WORTS

0 3

While Adelaide hasn’t exactly been banging the goals in this season having scored just seven goals in 10 games, one player who certainly can cause damage is Fiona Worts. Although she may’ve scored just once so far in 2022/23, Worts is the reigning Golden Boot winner having found the back of the net 13 times last season – including five coming in one match alone. City will take solace from the fact that she didn’t score in either of the meetings between teams last season or in the one earlier this year, but its defence will again have to be at the top of its game to keep her quiet.

HOW DO WE SQUEEZE ALL OF OUR STARS INTO THE XI?

Melbourne City has enjoyed a strong start to the 2022/23 A-League Men season, sitting top of the table thanks to the contribution and efforts of the entire squad across the opening 12 games.

While boasting big names like Jamie Maclaren, Marco Tilio and Matthew Leckie, City’s incredible wealth of depth coming off the substitutes bench is what makes it such a dangerous and dynamic unit for any opposition.

City has been able to call on the likes of Scott Galloway (8 appearances

off the bench), Scott Jamieson (5) and Andrew Nabbout (7) to come in and either close out a tight victory or add much-needed spark when chasing the game.

With such experienced heads coming off the bench most weeks, it means Head Coach Rado Vidosic constantly has a like-for-like replacement ready to go should a player be struck down with injury.

We saw this in City’s most recent game against the Roar, youngster Jordan Bos was ruled out due to concussion protocols and skipper Scott Jamieson was able to seamlessly step into the starting role.

When City have gone ahead early in a game, the likes of Jamieson and Galloway have often been called up to shore up our defensive lines while Andy Nabbout has brought plenty of impact even in limited minutes, recording two goals and an assist already this season.

Last year’s Player of the Year, Florin Berenguer, has also been eased back via the substitutes bench, with the talented Frenchman offering a quality option through the midfield should Vidosic call for a change.

With Vidosic having such quality options to choose from each week, it ensures the workload is spread across the entirety of the squad to ensure the players remain fit and firing come the pointy end of the season.

As City look to carry on its strong start to the season and go all the way in 2023, they’ll be hoping they can continue to call upon these unsung heroes to help them go all the way.

THE REALITY IS THAT A VAST MAJORITY OF THE CITY BENCH WOULD BE MORE THAN A WELCOME ADDITION TO ANY OTHER A-LEAGUE CLUB’S STARTING XI

HEADACHES APLENTY FOR DARIO AND THE ALW STAFF

The depth at Melbourne City is evident across both squads, with competition for spots about to intensify even more in the A-League Women.

After finishing second on the table last season, City has started the season in some good form with Dario Vidosic’s squad sitting in that same position after 10 matches.

While the squad was affected by injuries earlier in the season, it still managed to chalk up plenty of important early points.

As the squad has slowly edged closer to full strength, it has caused some selection headaches for VIdosic – just what any Head Coach would ask for.

Maria Jose Rojas was City’s starting number 9 early in the season but only originally being part of the squad as an injury replacement for Hannah Wilkinson, her contract came to an end when the Kiwi returned in late December.

Although she may’ve taken a few games to get back amongst the goals, Wilkinson has now found the back of the net in each of her last two games.

Rojas will return to City following national team duties after Emina Ekic’s unfortunate injury, while 2021/22 Player of the Year, Holly

McNamara, is also closing in on a return to action.

After a breakout campaign that also saw her debut for the Matildas last year, McNamara’s season came to an unfortunate end due to an ACL injury. The now 20-year-old has been burning up the training pitch in recent weeks and looks set to be back in the selection mix very soon.

The inclusions of Karly Roestbakken and Emma Checker to the starting line-up in recent weeks has seen Bryleeh Henry lose her place in the XI, while Caitlin Karic hasn’t been part of the matchday squad for two consecutive games.

Those headaches are going to get even bigger for VIdosic with both McNamara and Rojas soon to be thrown back in the mix and with so many strong performers in the midfield and final third, we could be set to see a bit of rotation towards the back end of the season.

With the race for the Premiers Plate well and truly in full swing and plenty of names in the City squad on the fringes of the Matildas squad ahead of this year’s World Cup, expect there to be plenty of healthy competition for spots over the remainder of the season!