CITY VIEWS | Opportunity Lost

Yet another Melbourne City season has been squandered after the team was out pointed by a very good, very well drilled Adelaide team.  Three goals was the final margin, coincidentally the exact same way our 2014/15 season ended.  Last season a semi-final appearance was a bonus, this season a minimum expectation.  Whilst I am proud of some aspects Melbourne City has achieved this season you cannot judge this season as anything but a failure.

Members will receive emails throughout the week highlighting the standout moments throughout the season as well as a gentle reminder to renew their memberships but I cannot and will not take part in any club propaganda email bombardment.   Let’s not dress up the 2015/16 season as anything but a failure, anything else would be selling the club and supporters short.   

Convincingly losing a semi-final for the second year running shows the club hasn’t progressed and shouldn’t be overselling this point.  We might have played some scintillating football at times but the squad needs to accept blame for the failure of the season.  John Van’t Schip was given a golden opportunity by the City Football Group and has blown it for the second successive year.  We have the best facilities in the league, and this season we had the best domestic player by the length of the Flemington straight and a hidden gem in Golden Boot Bruno Fornaroli.  If any manager cannot win a title with Mooy, Fornaroli and the resources available at his disposal needs to take a seriously hard look at if they’re the correct man for the task at hand.

You cannot point to youth development as a positive aspect of the club because the argument of Stefan Mauk will get thrown in your face.  Take a player and see him develop over a few seasons and as soon as he even looks like reaching his potential trade him for a useless holding midfielder in Osama Malik.  Losing the semi-final only magnifies this point and the person directly responsible for this player trade has to leave the club with immediate effect.   Malik is a constant ball watcher and every glaring mistake he makes is only highlighted by the dramatic improvement of Mauk at Adelaide.  I only hope Mauk wins the title next week so he can further pour salt into the wounds of the individual who made the horrendous error in judgement.

When you consider Aaron Mooy won’t be at the club next season you come to the realisation that Melbourne City has let success slip through their hands and will once again have to rebuild a squad.  This current squad is nowhere near good enough and almost laughable when you take Mooy and Fornaroli out of the equation.