Countdown 22-23: Melbourne City’s pipeline of academy talent is giving head coach Patrick Kisnorbo a welcome headache. Nick D’Urbano reports.
It’s a cold Saturday morning in the middle of winter at Casey Fields in the south-east of Melbourne.
Under the watchful eye of head coach Patrick Kisnorbo, Melbourne City’s star-studded senior men’s side are in the midst of another rigorous session preparing to launch into the new season.
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But toiling away in the background are a group of young players with dreams to chase. They can see the first team and they want to follow them in becoming professional footballers.
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Since its opening in 2015, the Etihad City Football Academy (CFA) has been a breeding ground for some of the last decade’s best Australian talent – following an ethos put in place by Premier League giants and partner club Manchester City.
Many of their graduates have gone on to not only represent City and other ALM clubs, but secure overseas moves and ultimately, represent their country at the highest level. Think Connor Metcalfe, Daniel Arzani, Nathaniel Atkinson and Denis Genreau. Others such as Stefan Colakovski, Dylan Pierias and Ramy Najjarine have since jumped ship to other ALM teams on the back of glimpses of enormous potential.
“We are very committed to producing players that not only one day hopefully play for Melbourne City but can go beyond that and maybe, play for Australia one day or have a great career in a good club overseas, if they are able to,” Melbourne City Director of Football Michael Petrillo tells KEEPUP.
So that’s maybe what sets us apart. We have a world class curriculum, in terms of coaching. We get a lot of that from Manchester, we tweak a few little things for our own Australian based players but it’s basically similar to what they are doing in Manchester, in their academy. Our coaches follow that methodology and the coaching curriculum.
At a club as well-resourced as any in the A-Leagues, every player in that pipeline of talent knows they must compete with the Socceroos and foreign stars that City can afford, to earn a place in the first team. If the bar is set high, it’s deliberately so – meaning only the best will clear it.
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When the City Football Group (CFG) took over the struggling Melbourne Heart franchise in mid-2014, a reported $15million was poured in to build their first base of operations at LaTrobe University in Melbourne’s north.
But in early 2021, City moved their base of operations to the much-larger Casey Fields – the mooted HQ of the ‘Team 11’ bid which fell short in the last round of A-League expansion in 2018.
Working with the City of Casey to expand upon the four-pitch, $18m regional football centre constructed in 2019-20, the brand new CFA – once complete mid-next year – will have had a reported $40m invested into it in a partnership that will benefit both club and Council.
Upon completion, the facility will feature a one-and-a-half-sized elite training pitch, four full-sized floodlit pitches and a two-storey administrative and elite performance building. Space for a sixth pitch adjoining the main building is also vacant for a future 4000-capacity ALW and ALY venue, components of which – such as the grandstand base and meeting rooms doubling as matchday facilities – have also been incorporated into the current build.
“It’s massive for us (the move to Casey),” Melbourne City Academy Manager Simon Zappia told KEEPUP.
“The facility has four academy pitches and is likely to expand again. What that means is, we can train all the teams at the same time which makes it a lot easier. So, a nice 6pm start time which is not too early for parents to get from school and not too late that they’re getting home late. It sounds like something simple, but when you don’t have four pitches, you can’t do that.
“When you look at the holistic development of a player, those little details are really important. They can go home from after school, get something to eat and then come out to training, not get home too late and not be tired the next day for school.
“So one morning at Casey you’ll have everyone from five years of age to the A-League boys training at the same time, which is really cool and it’s a great experience for the kids because you may see Jamie Maclaren walk past and head to the gym.”
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On-field success, as a result, from top to bottom is no surprise, given the bucketloads of investment into their player pathways and well regimented structure.
The senior academy side, who are playing exclusively in NPL VIC, for the time being, due to the A-League Youth’s hiatus, were promoted to the second tier of Victorian football (NPL2) after finishing second in NPL3 – only three points behind Preston Lions.
The Under-21 outfit were also crowned champions, while the U18 team won the premiership and the U15s finished in second.
And their talent is not only catching the eye internally, with five of their academy products – and another two as emergencies – called up to the Joeys U17 training camp squad ahead of next month’s AFC U17 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
“We have a really good bunch of young players coming through the system, right down through to our under 14s and even our pre-academy, some of the boys who have come through there are outstanding talents,” Petrillo said.
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“To see them go on and come through the ranks, and then hopefully make it, first of all into the NPL seniors which is an important milestone for them because they’re young players. The average of our NPL seniors is around 17, maybe even a little bit younger in some of the games.
“So for them to be able to compete with senior players and get promoted was an outstanding achievement and to see them cope with the physicality of playing against men week in, week out. It hardens them, it gets them ready for senior football.
“We had that policy where we push young players up. They play well above their age group. Whether it’s one years or two years, if they’re talented enough and physically can cope, we push them up to challenge them.
We’re not necessarily interested in winning championships in under 14s, under 15s, under 16 level and to be honest, even our NPL team. Yeah, it’s great to get promoted but that’s not our main focus. Our main focus is always on developing the individual player and making sure we can get the best out of each player so they fulfill their potential.
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Still, the final step will always be the hardest, in cracking the first team. Going into this season, Kisnorbo has eight players on scholarship contracts at his disposal, with four of them already seeing league minutes in the past. Another crop of youngsters are knocking on the door.
Midfielder Jordi Valadon, who isn’t a scholarship player just yet, saw some minutes in City’s AFC Champions League campaign. Among those who have made their ALM debuts including promising winger Raphael Borges Rodrigues, defender Kerrin Stokes, NPL goal-machine Max Caputo and the ever-versatile Jordan Bos.
Among the scholarship boys, Bos has recently seen the most minutes at senior level.
Bos joined the academy in 2016 at 14-years-old after playing his junior football for Hoppers Crossing. From there, he became a regular in the NPL team, where he caught the eye of the senior set-up and was rewarded with a long-term scholarship deal in November 2021.
“It’s been good. They have good processes there (about the Academy),” Bos told KEEPUP.
“It’s really organised very well…There’s obviously a certain way City play. They have their own rules so as long as you follow that, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to climb the hierarchy and hopefully play for the A-League team as well.”
The left-back has made quite a seamless leap to senior football, featuring 22 times in all competitions, including a run of starts towards the end of last season in both the ALM and AFC Champions League.
However, Bos truly announced himself when he filled in brilliantly for Scott Jamieson after the captain was struck down with injury. His best performance came in City’s 4-0 drubbing of Sydney FC, where he scored an incredible maiden goal and impressed with his work in both defence and attack.
His form was rewarded with an Olyroos call-up for the AFC U23 Asian Cup, where he featured in five of their games (including four starts). Now, Bos hopes to build on this going into his second season in the senior set-up and become more of a regular contributor.
“The more game time you get, the more confident you’ll be when you get on the pitch, especially when you have a good couple of good games. The nerves pretty much settle and you just want to show what you can do,” Bos said.
But this is where – to put in a glass-half-full kind of way – Kisnorbo has a nice problem to have. Silverware is an expectation, and City will sign star players to that end – but also want to blood the cream of their own crop.
When asked if it’s been difficult to achieve this, Petrillo believes it has “to a certain extent”, but said some youngsters’ cases for senior selection are almost undeniable, hence their parachuting into the set-up.
“We are lucky we have really talented kids who almost pick themselves because of what they do and how they perform,” Petrillo said.
“We’re always conscious of making sure we’ve got five or six really talented players that are in and around our first team, training everyday with our first team so they can learn and then be ready if the opportunity is there for them to play.
“We’ve found that it has worked really well in the past and we aren’t afraid to throw them in if they are ready. But, yeah, you would love to give more players the opportunity but at the end of the day it’s the very best talent that comes through our academy who gets the opportunities.”
I’m really excited about the next two to five years about the type of players who we will keep producing and bringing through the ranks.
“Ideally, my vision, I’d love to have seven or eight of our starting XI to all have come through our academy, actually. That would be a fantastic achievement and there’s no reason why that can’t happen.”
