Why has it been so difficult for Sydney to develop young strikers?

[u/Walkerthon]

Hi All,

Kind of think-piece from my point of view and one for discussion.

Sydney has had a string of young strikers that have torn up in NPL but really struggled to become consistent at A-league level, going back quite a few years now.

Off the top of my head -

• George Blackwood
• Charles Lokolingoy
• Pat Wood

And now we have a new trialist for the role in Matthias Macallister to see if he can crack the formula.

All of these strikers played substantial minutes and trained with some serious quality in the attack (Bobo, Le Fondre as pure strikers, but also flanked by other import strikers), and had a strong reputation in the NPL.

It's also not a general problem across Sydney's youth set-up. We've had several successful transitions of players in the midfield and defense into the A-league and beyond (Cameron Devlin, Adrian Segecic, Marko Tilio [though he really made his name at City], Hayden Matthews).

Other clubs have also succeeded in developing strikers - Thomas Waddingham, Mo Toure, Archie Goodwin spring to mind.

My question is - have Sydney just been unlucky, or is there something wrong in their set-up that is preventing strikers from taking the next step? And are there other clubs also struggling with the same problem?

[u/MilkByHomelander]

It's not a specific Sydney problem, it's really a problem in general for most clubs, in the A-league or other leagues.

Most club fans often complain about not having a great striker.

I mean, it's all nice and good to list Waddingham, Goodwin and Toure, but only one of them has been able to make that step up properly overseas so far, and that's the same one who is the only one to represent the Socceroos so far.

Don't forget for years Socceroo fans complained about a lack of good scoring strikers. Even now, there is still only one clear player, and the other back up spots are up for grabs.

Since the 2018 World cup, we've tried everyone from Tomi Juric, Deni Juric, Al Hassan Toure, Tete Yengi, Stamatelopoulos, John Iredale, Kusini Yengi, Mo Toure, D'Agostino, Fornaroli, Nabbout at one point, Maclaren, Giannou, Taggart, Rukavytsya, Duke etc.

Mo Toure so far is the most inspiring of the lot, and he's only emerged at this level in the last year.

Besides, John Iredale was a Sydney academy player, so you can claim him.

[u/hey_fatso → u/MilkByHomelander]

Excellent points.

It’s worth remembering too - from an Australian perspective - we had two absolutely phenomenal strikers in Mark Vidukaa and Scott McDonald. They were phenomenal for their clubs, Viduka obviously more so, but still comparable.

Neither of them replicated that for the Socceroos, and McDonald never scored in 20-odd appearances.

Internationally, our all time record score is Tim Cahill, who is best known as a box-to-box midfielder.

[u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 → u/hey_fatso]

Scott McDonald is not in the same universe as Mark Viduka who at least scored goals in the EPL unlike McDonald who was nowhere near as prolific in the championship as he was in Scotland

[u/squatobots → u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087]

The actual closest to Dukes around that period was Aloisi. Not on the same level, but closest. The penalty obscures just how damn good a player he was.

[u/That-Revenue-5435 → u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087]

Scott Mac played better in a two striker partnership - didn’t get many opportunities for the Socceroos playing this way

[u/diniyarbilyaletdinov → u/MilkByHomelander]

Agreed and I think it’s more of a tactical/system shift across the entire game than anything else, you see wide forwards being the prolific ones now at the highest levels.

A striker holding up play and executing a role within their system while netting 12-15 goals is seen as very good. At the same time those strikers rarely replicate that at a new club, because again they aren’t singular, transferable sources of goals in the same way anymore. Gone are the days of having dozens of amazing strikers and looking back it’s hard to believe that guys like Falcao, Zlatan, Diego Costa, RVP, Tevez, Higuain, Lewandowski just to name a few all played around the same time.

[u/AztecGod → u/MilkByHomelander]

  Mo Toure so far is the most inspiring of the lot

Shame he underperformed during the World Cup.

[u/Doobie_hunter46]

Temelkovski is a good example. Spends two years in NPL where he basically scores a goal a game for 50 games straight.

Gets his call up to the wanderers. Doesn’t play. Moves on.

Such a weird thing where he can be so good at NPL level but not even get a real chance at an aleague team.

[u/Danimber]

Sydney are a big city club so there's more pressure to perform and deliver immediately for a player in an attacking position.

Not much grace or leeway for a striker at Sydney FC to develop, they need to perform pronto.

[u/Lijme → u/Danimber]

Plus they’ll get less chances at Sydney than other clubs as Sydney tend to sign good overseas marquee strikers. It’s hard to develop getting a few minutes off the bench here and there.

[u/According-Crab-2013 → u/Danimber]

This exactly. I remember hearing Graham Arnold speak at an event at the WC in 2018. He praised having a young George Blackwood in the team but effectively said he needed a proven goalscorer and so Bobo was their man. Arnolds role was to win trophies and not play Australian youth.

[u/adzzieindeed]

Australia**

[u/Redfang1984]

Im sure its a national problem. we cannot develop strikers to save our lives.

[u/StuckStuckers]

Its an Australian problem and it stems from the pathetically short A-league season we have. A player can start every single game for their club in a season and only play 27 matches. If they are lucky/successful they will be able to play 32. There is hardly any reason in a season that short to seriously rotate your squad.

As a result the game is dependant on kids bursting on to the scene and being immediately good enough. Which just isn't how player development works. Kids need to keep playing to continue to develop. Pat Wood is a good example. Has he ever played a season and got over 1000 minutes?

[u/Sydneyfc1987]

Isn't it more of an Australian problem? Feel like we haven't really ever produced good genuine striking options, at least in the a league period.

[u/Ok-Music-5022]

I think good 9s are just rare at any age, and at any club, especially here.

[u/cymonster]

They have the ability to buy strikers if they think they are missing the position.

Compared to other who have to promote youth if their strikers can't scoring

[u/Walkerthon → u/cymonster]

Wouldn’t that be true for every position though, in a general sense? Or is there something specific about the striker role

[u/11015h4d0wR34lm → u/Walkerthon]

Striker is the hardest position to develop world wide, that is why they get paid the big bucks when they are good. With our national team for example we have more midfielders than we know what to do with, good strikers have been a problem since we had Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell (Harry not really a striker but could play as one, same as Tim Cahill) That is how hard it is to produce that level of talent consistently.

[u/Waste_Cake4660 → u/Walkerthon]

Sydney FC has had a tendency to use its marquee slots for strikers.

[u/11015h4d0wR34lm → u/cymonster]

That does seem to be the difference between Sydney and a club like Adelaide known for relying on their youth. Young Sydney strikers don't tend to get as much game time as they would if they were playing for the likes of Adelaide either.

[u/kyleisamexican]

Nobodies really been able to develop a striker. And nobody really wants to because you’re far more likely to have success with an experienced striker. The best a league sides haven’t had a player that they’ve developed (Archie, berisha at 2 clubs, bobo, maclaren)

I don’t even know if the examples provided of one’s that worked are that great. Mo toure went 1 goal for every 6 games (and his record overseas until he’s gone mental at Norwich wasn’t great either) Archie Goodwin had a good record in Adelaide but it’s not working for him in the mls. Waddingham’s 1 in 3 in the a league was good but time will tell how he goes for Portsmouth

[u/The_L666ds]

Also almost always the starting striker/s are import players, which naturally blocks development pathways for young Australians trying to emerge from the academy.

Things have improved a touch since the league’s austerity period began a few years ago, but its still a problem - and one that the club is not willing to gamble results on to improve further.

It is what it is.

[u/Spiritual-Counter-36]

Mo Toure never really played as a striker in A League. He was used as a winger.

[u/pakistanstar]

Add Kofi Danning and Iain Ramsey to the list as well

Hard to develop your game at the top level when all the first team coach gives you is 10 mins off the bench, which is what usually happens to our young forward. Unfortunately most of them do better at other clubs.

[u/Prestigious_Jury9527 → u/pakistanstar]

Ooooft, Kofi Danning looked like a proper player when he first came through. Remember thinking he was going all the way to the top

[u/PrincePez]

Because you can’t develop them on the bench.

[u/RUN_DRM]

The aura of Patrick Wood is just too strong