City turn to Teague to fill Trewin-shaped hole in midfield

Aurelio Vidmar believes Kai Trewin is a “shoo-in” for the World Cup if he can log regular minutes with New York but that, in Ryan Teague, Melbourne City has a player ready to step up.

As disappointed as Aurelio Vidmar was to lose Kai Trewin, the Melbourne City boss believes the defender is a “shoo-in” for the Socceroos’ World Cup squad if he can log regular minutes in New York. And in Ryan Teague, the coach feels that the defending champions have a player ready to step up and fill the void at the base of the midfield.

As first reported by ESPN, Trewin completed a move to MLS side New York City FC this week, moving across the City Football Group in a deal reported as being worth more than a million Australian dollars and signing a contract until at least the 2028/29 season, with an option for a further year.

As much of a blow as it is to lose the 24-year-old, it’s been a move long in the offing for the versatile defender: Trewin making 47 appearances and scoring three goals across all competitions since leaving Brisbane Roar to sign in Melbourne ahead of a 2024-25 A-League Men season in which he helped City to its second title.

“Disappointed as I am that we’re losing him, because I would have preferred to lose him at the end of the season, I’m pleased for him. I think everyone here at the club is,” said Vidmar. “Because after several years in Brisbane, he took a punt by leaving an area where he was really comfortable because he wanted to improve, and he thought this was going to be the best fit for him.

“Since the first day that he came in here, his attitude has been first class. He was always the first guy at the front of the group. He always wanted to improve. He was always processing what he was doing at training and asking a lot of questions.

JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.

“He came in here with some areas that we thought that we could improve, that were a bit of a liability for him, and he certainly improved those out of sight and had an amazing season last year. He started this year off very, very well. He’s a winner. He always wants to improve. He’s the perfect player to highlight or to show off. To say, here is someone who’s played 100 games before he came to this club with the appetite to be better, with the appetite to take the next step in his career, and he’s achieved a lot quicker than probably he even thought.”

Trewin’s progress in Melbourne was capped off in November when he started his Socceroos debut in a Texas-staged friendly against Venezuela and then backed that up by starting in an illness-hit Australian outfit that fell to Colombia in a New York-based friendly.

Able to play in both the midfield, where he has been deployed by City this season, and as a centreback, where he played with the Socceroos, the move to the MLS will likely boost Trewin’s chances of forcing his way into the World Cup; the Canberran getting a chance to play alongside Socceroo regular Aiden O’Neill, in a league national team boss Tony Popovic has often called players up from.

And Vidmar is of no doubt that, if his now-former player gets regular minutes, he’ll be part of the 26-player Australian squad named for this year’s FIFA World Cup — a statement carrying extra weight given what has been his general reluctance to comment on who Popovic should or shouldn’t be calling up for the national team

“Absolutely,” said the coach. “We don’t know what’s going to happen when he gets to New York. That’s a different discussion. But if he continues to play, he’s a smart player. He can play in a number of roles, as a six and definitely a central defender. If he continues his form, he’s able to play on a weekly basis. I think he’s a shoo-in.”

Trewin’s move to the Big Apple, however, leaves a significant gap in City’s midfield. Absent for just the two games this A-League Men season, those fixtures saw his side suffer a 4-1 defeat to Adelaide in November, as well as a 6-2 thumping by Macarthur on Saturday. In the 13 games he’s featured in, conversely, City have given up just eight goals, while keeping seven clean sheets.

Newly signed loanee Ryan Teague appears set to be entrusted with the significant task of filling this void, the 24-year-old landing in Melbourne on a short-term loan from Belgian Pro League club Mechelen earlier this month, searching for the regular football he needs to press his own case for the World Cup.

JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.

Though clearly showing signs of rust from almost six months without any kind of competitive football, the former Sydney and Melbourne Victory representative has started his first two games for his new side and looks set to be deployed at the base of the midfield when City travels to face Wellington on Friday evening.

“That was the reason, when he became available, and we had an inkling that Kai was probably going to be on his way, that he was the best player available for us,” Vidmar said on Teague stepping in. “He’s played that role, and maybe he’s played with a partner next to him; he’s probably used to playing in a team with two sixes, but he’s a very smart player.

“He’s got a lot of weapons in his game. He’s proven over the last couple of years, before he went away to Mechelen, that he can do that. Maybe our dynamics change a little bit, because we do play with the one six, but he’s a smart player. He reads the game really well. He’s aggressive.

“He’s not at the level where he wants to be. But that’s also understandable, because he hasn’t played any game, any games this season until he came here. With the extra weeks of training and more game time, he’s going to be absolutely fine for us.”

Sitting eighth on the table as they prepare to face ninth-placed Wellington, Friday evening looms as a crucial fixture for City.

Sitting on 20 points, they remain just three points back of third-place Macarthur (albeit with one more game played), but after that thumping by the Bulls last week now possess a negative goal difference: their miserly defence this campaign hampered by an equally profligate attack.

Vidmar, who has spoken of the need for the group to ensure its standards and behaviours don’t slip this season, said there had been robust, coach-led decisions following the defeat to Macarthur, but that the mood wasn’t too downtrodden after that defeat.

“We had a really robust discussion [on Tuesday],” he said. “And [against] Macarthur, the effort and everything was there, but we really got punished with our simple mistakes, our basic mistakes. If you have a look at all the goals, they were just very simple mistakes, which is very uncharacteristic for us.

“We’ve obviously got to do better in that area. They were really basic mistakes. Unfortunately, in awful games, mistakes are going to cost you, and Macarthur really punished us on all those occasions. Absolutely, you’ve got to be better.

“But we’re resolute as ever. It was a really disappointing result. But we can’t sit there and cry about it. We’ve got to adjust a couple of things, we’ve got to make ourselves better and always be looking and wanting to improve. That’s important.

“We are in a really good headspace, and sometimes you get a bit of a jolt when it’s a heavy defeat like that, but we’ve got to just keep coming back and keep showing ourselves.”