What injury crisis? City's youth continue to step up in win over Western.
Much has been made about Melbourne City's extensive injury list but after a 2-0 win over Western United, their youth are increasingly demanding the limelight in their own right.
In the wake of Melbourne City’s 2-0 win over Western United, perhaps the question isn’t so much when the likes of Mat Leckie and Marco Tilio are going to be fit enough to return to this side and, instead, how they’re going to force their way back into what is arguably the most in-form side in the A-League Men.
As while much of the discussion surrounding Aurelio Vidmar’s side in recent weeks has surrounded the cavalcade of injuries befalling effectively every senior member of his attack, there’s the little matter that in recent weeks City have also put together a six-game unbeaten run across this period and will head into their meeting with Brisbane Roar this Saturday sitting second on the A-League Men.
And while pontificating on two World Cup Socceroos being forced to the outer by this carries an obvious air of facetiousness, what isn’t tongue in cheek is that this run of results has been ably delivered by an unheralded and young group of players that with every passing game look more and more like they’re capable of competing with anyone in this league on their own merits.
On Tuesday, against a United side that could have mounted their own case to be considered the most in-form side in the competition with four straight wins, City again cruised to three points. Their opponents were nowhere near as close to insipid as Wellington had been the Saturday beforehand – and Vidmar didn’t feel his side, sapped by their busy schedule, were at the level from that game either – but there was never any sense that they were in danger of being overrun by their foes, who didn’t produce a credited shot until the 40th minute.
City went out there with a plan that didn’t ask any of the XI to do anything fancy but did everything they needed to do to win. They pressed, they ran, they kept the ball, and they created enough chances to take the win.
Now, as is also the case with Auckland’s strong start, a broader picture here is the way the A-League is at the moment, where pretty much every side has some form of a question mark hanging over it and none of the top sides have shown signs that they’re capable of streaking away with the competition, this relatively unglamorous method is all one needs to do right now to get results. But given you don’t need a cavalcade of Socceroos and international players to accomplish it, either, one can’t exactly pick holes in a heavily depleted City lineup adopting such an approach because its merits were on full show on Tuesday.
Tapped to start his first-ever A-League Men appearance with the hope that he would help restore some of the creativity lost with Andreas Kuen’s injury, Lawrence Wong, all of 17 years old, became the latest youngster to help carry the load. He flashed signs of promise and excitement before his day was brought to a premature end by cramping in his calf – the pratfalls of last playing a competitive game during the 2024 NPL season – and played a role in City’s opener; swinging in a 32nd-minute corner that Ben Mazzeo headed onto the post before it was turned in by Harry Politidis, his second goal in as many games.
Just on the hour mark, City made it 2-0 with a goal that almost exemplifies their recent form: Politidis, 22, forcing United to spill the ball to Arion Sulemani, 19, deep inside their half before he then laid the ball onto a plate for Ben Mazzeo, 19, to blast beyond Matt Sutton and into the roof of the net.
While both sides were coming off a four-day break, that United also had to contend with travel back from Perth and the emotional drain that came with their furious late comeback – something that City avoided with their simple dispatching of the ‘Nix – perhaps should have given a clue that something of a down game was coming. Just like City, United are in the midst of a youth-driven revival at present and this will inevitably come with ups and downs in form. Aloisi didn’t try to sugarcoat the reality in his post-game remarks, acknowledging that City was the better side, the more energetic one, and possessed a level of sharpness his side didn’t have.
With a visit from Roar meaning that their unbeaten run should go to seven games over the weekend – albeit, stranger things have happened in football – City are now increasingly shaping as perhaps the most intriguing side in the league heading into 2025. Mostly because adding the likes of Tilio, Leckie, and Max Caputo into a squad that’s already flying should boost their championship credentials significantly. But it’s also because that elevation actually can’t be taken for granted.
Right now, forced to adapt to a young side that doesn’t bring the same package of technical ability, nouse, and physical development as other players, Vidmar has found a way to put his side on a strong path. Given this, he’s probably the front-runner for coach of the year. But what changes when the senior players come back? Does the attempt to re-integrate them lead to changes in what is an increasingly winning formula? 1+1 doesn’t always equal two in football, after all, and dynamics and utilisation can both help sides function at a level greater than the sum of their parts, but also lesser than them.
Admittedly, City won’t have to worry about that at least a month; Vidmar said post-game that Caputo was the closest of his injured cohort to returning but that the teen likely wouldn’t be back at least until a January 25 clash with Macarthur. And that this is even a point of discussion — how City will need to carefully manage the return of some of the league’s best players due to their form — is a problem most clubs would dream of.
And until then, City’s kids will continue to try and show just why we should spend last time talking about the players not on the park and more about the ones on it.