Josh Brillante endured a chastening experience in Italy, a steep learning curve he found himself tumbling down, protected from the road-rash only by his the thin rind of his early twenties.
Having been signed by Serie A royalty Fiorentina, his debut for the club ended when he was substituted after 35 minutes, ashen-faced and embarrassed. He was loaned out, to Empoli, and then Como, in Serie B.
An Italian citizen, Brillante must have thought his career, once jettisoning off into a sparkling new dawn, was sinking without a trace. When he moved back to the A-League, the 23-year-old must have considered such a swift return to the nursery that reared him was – rightly or wrongly – something of a professional defeat.
But such doom and gloom is an ill-fitting suit for such a young, talented footballer, and he has clearly shrugged off the disappointment. Only unburdened shoulders can hoist up the Sydney FC midfield in the way Brillante has this season. He is one of the reasons Sydney have looked nigh-unbeatable this term, conceding only three goals all season, scoring 18.
The 18th goal, as it happens, was scored by Brillante himself. It was his first club goal as a professional footballer, six years in the making. The beneficiary of a sequence of superlative hustle from Alex Brosque, Brillante received the ball just outside the box, took a steadying touch, and rammed it unerringly into the top corner. A piledriver, the sort of guttural thump that fills the stomach like a rump roast with gravy, and Brillante celebrated accordingly, feasting on the moment.
Of course, one goal in 60-odd A-League games – plus two-dozen or so European matches – intimates this sort of input is something of a bonus from Brillante. He will not score many goals this season, but his importance to Graham Arnold’s team is seen in other, far less conspicuous ways. Minutes before his strike, Brillante had tackled a Brisbane attacker inside his own box, levering the opponent off the ball with impeccable technique. For a player with considerable heft, he is a master of body control, using judo-like counter-balancing to make tangible use of his low centre of gravity.
Positionally, he is rarely ill-disciplined either, shuffling across the centre of the pitch, scanning constantly for ways to maintain the comfortable buffer of vacant space around him, to receive and recycle the ball. Sydney enjoy urging full back Michael Zullo forward, to link up with Bobo and Miloš Ninković, and Brillante often facilitates this by dropping back between his centre backs when they’re in possession. The central defenders split, heading toward the flanks, safe with Brillante filling the gap that opens up between them, as Zullo breaks forward.
Throughout the game, and with the task of marshalling Thomas Broich in the forefront of his thinking, Brillante has to be able to flip his function from defensive shield to attacking enabler. As that shield, it bears mentioning, Brillante was exemplary against Brisbane, tackling and intercepting well, particularly on two critical occasions in the red-zone in front of his own box. He has made the third-most defensive actions among midfielders in the league, and no defensive errors.
Brillante also has a highly cultured, deadly accurate ability to strike the dead ball. He takes Sydney’s corners and crossed free kicks, rarely over-or-under-hitting them, which is such a rarity these days, for some reason. He has made the third-most passes in the league, and of the players to have made ten or more key passes, he has done so at the highest rate of accuracy.
All-action doesn’t even begin to describe it; Brillante – as far as the variety of positive actions he imparts on the game goes – might be the league’s most impressive player. He also launched in a super long throw against Brisbane, something of a welcome, tricep-flexing blast from the past.
There has been, following the 2-2 draw with Thailand, a groundswell of public opinion urging Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou to select his squad based on playing time and form, not reputation, or employer. Mile Jedinak – as much as his bushranger beard and granite-chest sends a stirring ripple of sporting patriotism through the collective loins (or is it just mine?) – has often been suspect when passing the ball.
Jedinak certainly put forth a display against the Thais that caused many to scan hurriedly for a replacement, or at least an understudy. I can think of no better candidate playing consistently at the moment than Brillante. He can’t have anticipated this, but Brillante’s failure in Europe might well have increased his chances of representing his country.
Anyone who has closely watched the Sky Blue juggernaut this season won’t have needed Brillante’s strike glinting out at them to notice the effect he has had. He has played every minute for Sydney in the league, and may well play every minute to come.
His is a story that warmly illuminates the perils of jetting off to Europe too soon, and the rich vein of professional potential that exists back home in Australia.
It’s just bloody Brillante.
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