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Socceroo Simon Colosimo faces a huge fight to win back his Melbourne Heart starting place after coach John van ‘t Schip dropped him for the 0-0 A-League draw with Gold Coast United and declared himself happy with the team’s performance.
Colosimo, the club captain and Heart’s poster boy recruit, was relegated to the bench in a massive pre-match shock on Saturday night.
Now just a few months after winning a championship with previous club Sydney FC and just missing out on Australia’s World Cup squad, the 31-year-old has to fight his way back into first-team football.
van ‘t Schip reverted to the backline he used in the impressive derby win over Melbourne Victory a fortnight ago – a clash Colosimo missed through injury – and the back-four again performed well against Gold Coast at AAMI Park.
And the coach is offering Colosimo no guarantees of a walk-up start – effectively challenging him to prove himself good enough to warrant a place in the team’s first-choice defence.
“It was a tactical choice. We played very well in the game against the Victory and the build-up from behind is different and Simon, he knows and hopefully he will come back this week,” van ‘t Schip said.
“He’s a professional and he’s a good player. But sometimes you have to make some choices.
“I don’t look at the past – I look at what I see this season. And it was the best game against the Victory and that’s why I took that starting line-up from the back.”
Versatile Matt Thompson slotted in alongside Socceroo Michael Beauchamp in central defence after Colosimo’s axing.
But without three past and present Socceroos – Colosimo and injured duo Dean Heffernan and John Aloisi – and star imports Alex Terra and Gerald Sibon, the Heart still smashed Gold Coast everywhere but on the scoreboard.
What cost them was the lack of a killer finish in front of goal despite five good opportunities and 13 corners to Gold Coast’s none.
Heart’s performance with inexperienced Nick Kalmar, Eli Babalj, Adrian Zahra and Aziz Behich filling gaps impressively suggests Colosimo won’t be the only experienced player fighting for starting team air in the weeks ahead.
But van ‘t Schip is thrilled to have such depth just a third of the way into the club’s debut season – and on a run of three games without defeat.
Thompson admits the selection headaches facing the coach mean all players will have to lift to keep their places.
“There were three or four players who came in and did a fantastic job, and it shows we’ve got plenty of depth in the squad and it gives JVS more headaches, which is a good thing,” Thompson said.
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