Football Season Guide

Sydney United 58 FC

In


Kyle Clementi (att), transfer from Marconi Stallions FC. Noah Blazeka (def), transfer from Raiders. Marco Arambasic (att), transfer from NWS Spirit. Finn Ballard-McBride (att), transfer from Welling United. Adrian Knez (mid), transfer from Macarthur FC. Ayouk Mow (mid), transfer from Central Coast Mariners. Dylan Rose (mid), transfer from Sydney FC. Koya Nakano (def), transfer from Northern Tigers. Vedran Janjetovic (gk), free transfer.

Out


Tariq Maia (mid), transfer to Sutherland Sharks. Alessandro Lacalandra (att), transfer to Hurstville ZFC. Cristian Gonzalez (def), mutual termination. Patrick Antelmi (att), mutual termination.

Despite starting their NPL New South Wales campaign in somewhat uninspiring fashion, they ended it incredibly well, sneaking into 6th place to at least make the play-offs. From there, they fought their way to the final itself, only eventually losing out on penalties against Marconi Stallions FC. Very much a campaign of 'two halves', if you will. Attack is a worry for them ahead of this competition. Mason Benco Wells is the only one that got into double figures for them this season - or even close to, for that matter. Therefore, it was unsurprising to see them recruit the likes of Ballard-McBride, Clementi, and Arambasic, although none of them really fit the profile of what they need. Defence is their strong suit; they give very little away. Adding Nakano in defence and veteran shot-stopper Janjetovic in goal was more of a luxury/depth thing to do; they weren't essential. That said, Janjetovic was always a goalkeeper for a higher level so even at his advanced age, he's pretty much Gianluigi Buffon whilst playing in the NPL. He's saved them on more than one occasion. It's unclear at this point if de Oliveira can play in their opener or not; he may be suspended after being sent off in the New South Wales NPL play-off final. With midfield incredibly important if they're to change their fortunes around via chance creation for their relatively uninspiring attack, that could be a problem to begin with. In general, this is a decent squad. It's not a particularly pleasant group to be in though - they've got a big Sydney derby against Wests APIA FC, and a long trip to Perth to boot. The draw certainly could have been kinder to them. If they can find a way to score goals though, then they have a chance of making it through to the knockout stage. A big club like this will always attract fans too, so they should be better-supported than most in this tournament.

Target


Qualify from the group.