Season 3: Sydney

Squad

Goalkeepers: Clint Bolton, Ivan Necevski

Defenders: Tony Popovic, Mark Rudan, Iain Fyfe, Jacob Timpano, Nick Tsattalios

Midfielders: Juninho Paulista, Steve Corica, Mark Milligan, Ufuk Talay, Robbie Middleby, Terry McFlynn, Ruben Zadkovich, Michael Enfield, Adam Biddle

Forwards: Alex Brosque, Brendon Santalab, David Zdrilic, Patrick Roberto Daniel Da Silva, Adam Casey, Ben Vidaic

Vacancies: 1

Player Movement

In: Juninho Paulista, Popovic, Santalab, Patrick, Casey, Enfield, Necevski, Tsattalios, Biddle, Vidaic

Out: David Carney, Alvin Ceccoli, Sasho Petrovski, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Jeremy Brockie, Justin Pasfield

Comments

Key Man: Brosque - so much potential and yet so much waste - he was just about the biggest disappointment in the league last year, yet showed glimpses at times of his brilliance. Seems to respond best to being sat on the left wing, but needs to be freed mentally from the challenge of having to score often. If someone rises to the occasion and tucks some of his quality crosses and through balls away, then maybe we can talk about a top four finish.

High Expectations: Juninho Paulista - what can you say, the guy's a champion; if he fires, Sydney will create a lot of chances, but can they finish them?

'X' Factor: Santalab - returning home from Europe where he enjoyed some quality pitch-time in Belgium before a lay off in Hungary. Nobody's seen him for a while; perhaps he's learned something; clutching at straws.

Young Gun: Casey - given the weakness of the striker talent ahead of him, possibly has a chance to make an impact up front this season.

Consistent Performer: Corica - how he adjusts to a new role in support of Juninho will be most interesting - he ought to remain the incisive key supplier from last season and profit from the extra attention being given to the Brazilian, but is he gets pushed too wide his effectiveness might diminish.

Problem Child: Zdrilic - it's the bane of so many teams slumped in mediocrity: a highly paid striker who can't score. With talk of shunting Zdrilic to stopper, his confidence must be at an all-time low. His quite reasonable performances for the national team now seem hazy memories. A shame.

Prediction

6th.

Maybe this is too low, considering the fact that Sydney did rather well in the Asian Champions League and has plenty of star attractions to keep them in with a chance for most matches. But over-reliance on those stars could prove a major issue, with quality a massive problem in attack, depth an issue at fullback and the effects of age likely to take their toll on a midfield orchestrated by two guys in their mid-30s. In fact, there doesn't appear to be very good balance in the team at all, with players already being featured out of position in the first round. If a goal-feasting striker doesn't materialise soon or if Bolton has a bad patch, things could get very bleak real fast.