Back to the grind of the League. Brillante is NOT selected, which basically confirms that he will be going to Korea in the next two weeks (when their window closes), so Retre will presumably have to fill in in midfield:
SDJ would go close to making the top 10 list of the worst business (form + ability + cost + injury/itness being some of the cumulative criteria/factors) we’ve ever done post season 1.
Other esteemed company would include the likes of Lovrek, Fabio, Warren, Bojic, Cisak, Emerton, Neill, Anderson…
4 goals from 13 appearances I think makes him instantly better than that list. It was a gamble that could have worked out, but clearly didn’t. Obviously in hindsight it’s not been great and he has proven a poor use of the marquee slot, but I do think that the club ultimately can’t take all of the blame here. We also aren’t sure on who else we could have gotten instead and if they were any better ultimately.
If we knew Bobo was going to be shipped for 6 figures and replaced in cap then we could’ve offered the marquee wages to that Adrian guy. But yeah, hindsight etc
De Jong missing is more obvious because of issues in front of goals. Our other foreign signing is on the bench and not included in the ACL but our relative solid defense is working out. Excited for Tratt’s return though an actual player who can attack a ball aerially in Sydney FC seems a distant memory.
Do Jong missing is more obvious because he is a marquee, and that means that one of our best 2-3 players is absent a lot, hurting us much more than someone like Jop who can be replaced by a similar local product.
For this reason, SdJ is a shout for one of our least productive signings. I’d not be keen to use the word “worst” because he’s made some great contributions, and been really unlucky, particularly with how the last injury came about.
De Jong is 30 and was in the EPL 2-3 years ago and without his injury record he would probably still be there. Considering our budget for marquees is completely uncompetitive vs MLS, Gulf leagues, Japan and China there is no other option to get players of his quality unless there is an issue with them (age, injury history, crush on TMac or Ogalos addiction). Considering we have such an excellent track record with sports science (albeit with Clarkey now gone) we can go for players that the Tards wouldn’t; see Crea #sad, and have a reasonable go at getting the best out of them. De Jong has a good attitude and is clearly applying himself so it’s not like he is at fault. When he has played he has showed amazing glimpses.
But nah, lets bitch and moan that he has struggled. We should have signed Neymar. FFS.
Bit over an over reaction, don’t think anyone is saying he’s shit… the general feeling is more disappointment that he’s injured. Stuff like saying he’s the least productive is just stating the facts. I’d say the same about Buhagiar. Everyone though SDJ was a good signing it just sucks that someone of his caliber has gotten injured.
We’ve made similar risks in the past that have payed off, just hasn’t worked out this time and no one is really at fault