We have lots of guys who are only borderline (or less) A-League level 'attacking' players: Sasse, Kosta, Ball, Old; none of them really score goals. Kraev seems to be degressing back to their level too.
We sold Waine but never replaced him. He would score the sitters (and more) that Kosta misses. Behind Zawada he was the only guy in the squad (maybe Kraev) who could consistently score. Van Hattam coming on as the impact striker is just depressing, and he's signed through to 2025.
An aging Wootton and Ball taking up 2 visa slots means we aren't likely to make lots of big signings to improve next year. Lewis is our best midfielder and he's off to McArthur. Payne is only 29 but has been looking sluggish (and good for an error or two each match) for the last year, and he's only going to get slower.
We are still mid table and a chance of making the six, but the concerning part is we are rapidly getting worse rather than peaking... losing Australians or imports to other A-League clubs is bad enough (no issue with guys leaving to bigger overseas clubs, like Waine) but when you can't even keep NZ guys like Lewis and Sail who are off to the Bulls and Perth it's looking very grim.
There also aren't any young players coming through (or at least they aren't given a chance by Talay). For a club with an academy and a good recent history of developing players (Waine, Cacace, Singh) that is concerning, we don't seem to have anyone coming through who looks up to standard? Sutton and Old (admittedly carrying an injury) haven't improved on last year, and Surman has hardly been seen. Mauragis has had minutes but he's only on a loan from a rival for this season.
We sold Waine but never replaced him. He would score the sitters (and more) that Kosta misses. Behind Zawada he was the only guy in the squad (maybe Kraev) who could consistently score. Van Hattam coming on as the impact striker is just depressing, and he's signed through to 2025.
An aging Wootton and Ball taking up 2 visa slots means we aren't likely to make lots of big signings to improve next year. Lewis is our best midfielder and he's off to McArthur. Payne is only 29 but has been looking sluggish (and good for an error or two each match) for the last year, and he's only going to get slower.
We are still mid table and a chance of making the six, but the concerning part is we are rapidly getting worse rather than peaking... losing Australians or imports to other A-League clubs is bad enough (no issue with guys leaving to bigger overseas clubs, like Waine) but when you can't even keep NZ guys like Lewis and Sail who are off to the Bulls and Perth it's looking very grim.
There also aren't any young players coming through (or at least they aren't given a chance by Talay). For a club with an academy and a good recent history of developing players (Waine, Cacace, Singh) that is concerning, we don't seem to have anyone coming through who looks up to standard? Sutton and Old (admittedly carrying an injury) haven't improved on last year, and Surman has hardly been seen. Mauragis has had minutes but he's only on a loan from a rival for this season.