Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi is confident David Williams will rediscover his best form after a disappointing debut season.
Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi is confident David Williams will rediscover his best form after a disappointing debut season.
Williams’ career has reached a standstill since making the switch from the now defunct North Queensland Fury to Melbourne in June last year.
The versatile attacker, who has two international caps to his name, appeared destined to become the new face of Australian football following a successful period with Danish outfit Brondby.
But after finding game-time difficult to come by toward the end of his contract, Williams opted for a move back home, where he flourished at the Fury.
Williams moved to Melbourne after a loan-spell with Sydney FC in the Asian Champions League but he could only manage seven starts under the guidance of John van ‘t Schip.
And with the 2012/13 A-League set to kick off on October 5, Aloisi is expecting an improvement from Williams.
“He knows that he struggled last year and he didn’t perform as well as he would have liked or what we expected of him,” he said.
“So he has a point to prove this year and he’s looking sharp and fitter than ever.
“He’s been doing all the right things during preseason and hopefully that will carry on into the season.”
The eighth instalment of the A-League is being tipped as one of the most exciting ever with the high-profile signings of Alessandro Del Piero (Sydney FC), Emile Heskey (Newcastle Jets) and Shinji Ono (Western Sydney Wanderers).
Del Piero headlines the list of marquee acquisitions, given his accomplishments at club and international level, where he won the 2006 World Cup with Italy and six Serie A titles with Italian giants Juventus.
And Aloisi believes the calibre of these players will only help improve the league further.
“If we are going to have this marquee system then it’s important we get top marquee players and Del Piero and Heskey are – they’ve played at the highest level,” Aloisi said.
“So it’s great to be attracting these sorts of players.”
Western Sydney Wanderers became the latest club on Friday to acquire the services of a marquee player with Ono, a former Japanese international, making the switch from J.League outfit Shimizu S-Pulse.
When asked about the possibility of Heart signing a marquee of their own, Aloisi insisted the club would only do so if the player ticked all the boxes.
“Look if the right one came around and it’s financially viable then I’m sure they will,” he said.
“But we aren’t going to sign someone for the sake of signing them.
“It has to be the right person for the team but I’d love to have the money Sydney have got and spending it on the likes of Del Piero, that wouldn’t be bad.”
