Here are some of the key talking points from this week’s episode of the Official A-Leagues Podcast, where Daniel Garb, Amy Chapman and Robbie Cornthwaite discuss Sydney FC’s Isuzu UTE A-League woes, Clare Hunt’s form for Western Sydney Wanderers in the Liberty A-League and Australia’s Mathew Leckie conundrum.
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They’ve not had their best midfielder on hand for any of the 2021-22 Isuzu UTE A-League season to date, and they won’t have him for the remainder. In Luke Brattan’s absence, Sydney FC are struggling to replace the qualities he brought to the fore on a regular basis.
Speaking on The Official A-Leagues Podcast, Amy Chapman said a lack of aggression and tempo in the centre of the park has been telling in recent times – and ahead of Tuesday night’s Big Blue, the Sky Blues need to decide how best to move forward without their injured midfield general, or risk being left behind in the race to the postseason.
“They’re just not on the same page, and I think you can’t speak about it enough: Brattsy, the level of aggression he brings and the tempo he brings to that midfield, I think they’re really, really missing that,” Chapman said. “They’ve not found it (again).
“I think the only player playing with that guts and arrogance is Caceres. I think he’s been for them – week in, week out – their only player playing at another level.”
It’s been difficult for Sydney FC to get going in 2021-22 with mounting injuries and COVID cases preventing Steve Corica from playing his strongest XI at any stage this season. But in their shock 3-0 win over Macarthur FC on Boxing Day, Robbie Cornthwaite saw a potential way forward for the Sky Blues: trusting in youth.
Patrick Wood (19) and Trent Buhagiar (23) both put their names on the scoresheet, with Patrick Yazbek (19) and Adrian Segecic (17) joining recently called-up Socceroo Joel King (21) in featuring in the surprise victory.
“The young boys, they’re the ones that sort of started the revival,” Cornthwaite said. “They’re the ones who got us excited about them again.
“To think Burgess had a good game, Wood was scoring in that game against Macarthur everyone thought they were probably going to lose.
“You associate Sydney with star power… I’m going back a bit but you look at players like Jordy Buijs, (Filip) Holosko, Alex Brosque, Brattan, Rhyan Grant, Ryan McGowan, they’ve all got that Riley McGree factor, that air of arrogance, that star quality that when you step on the field you’re like ‘oh s***, here we go, this guy’s the real deal’.
“I look at the team now, that starting XI, and it’s just soft. I think the loss of Brattan in the middle was massive this season but I look at the names and think ‘soft team’. I’m not scared to go and play that team, this is not a Sydney FC type of team.”
‘They can’t score’: Clare Hunt the ‘fringe Matilda’ keeping Wanderers alive in ALW
Western Sydney Wanderers have the second-best defensive record in the Liberty A-League, but sit in eighth spot on the table.
Two goals scored down the other end offers the explanation for Catherine Cannuli’s side slipping out of finals contention.
In the heart of the Wanderers’ defence, however, a shining light has emerged. Clare Hunt, the 22-year-old defender is continuing to grow in stature in the Liberty A-League after a nightmare run with injuries.
The former Canberra United defender tore her ACL during training in January 2018, before injuring her other knee along the road to recovery to extend her absence from the game for two seasons.
Hunt returned to Canberra last season before moving to the Wanderers, where Chapman has seen the bright young defender put her name into Matildas contention.
“Western Sydney’s defence, absolutely no troubles,” Chapman said. “I think if I had to say who was the best centre-back in the league right now, it’s Clare Hunt for me. She’s a standout.
“She’s coming back from a couple of ACL’s, a really tough journey, but she’s excellent.
She is fringe Matildas in my opinion.”
Cornthwaite added: “I think Cath Cannuli deserves a lot of credit, because (the Wanderers) can’t score. They haven’t got the talent or the quality in the front third unfortunately to find the back of the net, but the way she’s set them up defensively, they’re so hard to break down. I think she deserves a lot of credit for that.”
Does Leckie start for Socceroos? The ‘big question’ before Vietnam showdown
As the Socceroos prepare for their meeting with Vietnam on Thursday, Cornthwaite believes usually nailed-on starter Mathew Leckie might be edged out of the preferred XI to play from the outset at AAMI Park.
Australia will be targeting maximum points from their seventh qualifying fixture in Group B before traveling to Muscat to face Oman on February 2 (AEDT). But Leckie, who has 67 Socceroos caps to his name, could be edged out of the starting frame for the all-important Vietnam clash on home soil due to his recent dip in form at new club Melbourne City.
Cornthwaite believes fellow Isuzu UTE A-League wide-man Craig Goodwin, who scored a brace in his most recent A-Leagues hit-out for Adelaide United looms as a genuine contender for his spot in the line-up.
“The other big question mark in the squad is Mathew Leckie,” Cornthwaite said. “For me, Leckie is a number nine now, he’s not a winger. He plays as a number nine for the Socceroos. But at club level Jamie Maclaren is the number nine and he scores.
“So do you play Leckie at nine who has been playing as a winger all season, and has probably only hit his straps maybe in the last game or two, or do you go with Jamie Maclaren who is a proven goalscorer?
“Garby and I have been having a running text message battle over the last week about Craig Goodwin, because he called it early, he said Craig Goodwin should be in that squad and I probably didn’t agree at that point.
“I think he’d scored goals, scored penalties slowly finding his form but I don’t think he’s been dominating games of football – until yesterday, when he probably had his best game against Brisbane.
“I don’t know whether the Socceroos call-up gave him a bit of confidence or not. But that game against Saudi Arabia, I know they played another game against China after that, but when you look at Grant and Boyle down the right compared to Aziz Behich and Awer Mabil down the left, the balance just wasn’t there.
“The right was so energetic, so good going forward and the connection on the left was missing. So I think Craig Goodwin, it looks as though it might be his spot for that game against Vietnam.”
The current Socceroos squad includes young A-Leagues trio Kye Rowles, Marco Tilio and Joel King who all received their first respective call-ups to the senior squad by head coach Graham Arnold, who is currently unlikely to be present pitch-side on Thursday night after contracting COVID-19.
It’s the inclusion of young players who have yet to establish themselves in the squad who Cornthwaite says will push regular Socceroos to ensure they lift their game.
“The players that have been left out: (Bailey) Wright, (Callum) Elder, (Kenny) Dougall, these are players who have had little to no impact on the team in recent camps.
“But when you bring in a Tilio, or Arzani in the past, who is fearless… you start to wonder ‘at some point: ‘He’s coming on, if I don’t have a good first half or good opening hour I’m coming off on the hour mark’. I do definitely think there’s a bit of that.”
