Like many A-League fans, my observations of Warren Joyce’s Melbourne City reign were formed from some distance.
I live in Sydney, have never met him personally and watched and listened from afar as the rumblings of dissatisfaction grew louder and louder the longer his tenure continued. On the pitch it was clear that his risk-averse tendencies hurt the team’s chances of success.
After a long and respectable playing career, Joyce’s managerial stocks appeared to be growing after working within Manchester United’s system and coaching their reserves team. With ample resources, funds and playing talent from which to choose and with a growing reputation as a competent manager, Joyce loomed on the City Football Group’s radar when Melbourne City required a mentor for the 2017/18 season.
Statistically the 54-year-old won 29 of 64 A-League matches, lost almost as many and was eventually dumped at the completion of the 2018/19 season. He built a nervous and stunted team that played inconsistent, bland and spineless football.
Joyce’s time in Australia will eventually become a mere blip in the annals of A-League history. With the arrival of Erick Mombaerts, there is already a feeling that it will not take long for City fans to move on from the bad times while enjoying a far more positive and promising team on the pitch.
As insignificant as the Englishman may seem in the future, his time proved damaging to one of Australia’s best and brightest talents and reminded all Australian football fans of the importance of local talent finding opportunities that encourages development.
Riley McGree appeared to be no fan of Warren Joyce’s approach to the game, his tactics, or the manager’s apparent lack of faith in him.
(Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The South Australian 21-year-old exploded onto the domestic scene with Adelaide United in 2016. There was just one goal in his kit bag after 17 appearances, but Belgium’s Club Brugge saw what was fairly obvious to all bar blind Freddy and McGree headed to Europe.
Despite learning and developing off the pitch, influenced by quality coaching and astute thinkers, he was soon missing what so many young Australians do once they leave our shores: mountains of top-flight professional minutes.
A midseason loan to the Newcastle Jets in December 2017 saw McGree produce the goal that digitally traversed the globe. The famous scorpion kick contained all the brash fearlessness we had come to expect from him and suggested that the Socceroos could well and truly have a generational player on their hands.
A full season on loan at Melbourne City in 2018/19 became the next challenge. After starting in 12 of City’s first 13 matches, McGree was benched by Joyce for eight of the last 13. As part of the stodgy and often impotent City attack, McGree scored on seven occasions yet seemed unhappy, unenthused and uninspired.
One of the most brazen youngsters on the local scene became a product of the rampant conservatism of his English manager, looking nothing like the man who had previously made so many people excited about his play.
It appears McGree is a smart cookie. Signing a three-year deal with the Reds back in his home state might just prove to be the smartest thing he has ever done. His early-season form seems to endorse the decision.
Adelaide have looked bright under new manager Gertjan Verbeek. Much time and energy was invested in their FFA Cup defence and eventual triumph, and there was some distraction from the opening rounds of the A-League.
(VI Images via Getty Images)
Enjoying a short break and a bye in Round 4, the Reds have produced just the one win to this point – a comeback victory against the Jets in Round 3 – yet already we are witnessing a happier and free-spirited McGree, bubbling and bouncing around the pitch in the strip he first wore proudly as a teenager.
Most notably, McGree already has three goals to his name this season. I enjoyed Andy Harper’s comments after the youngster’s 49th-minute equaliser against the Jets. There was true passion in his voice as he celebrated the effort, citing simply that popping up more consistently and finding goals from midfield was the weapon McGree most needed to hone.
There was also a sense that should Adelaide’s favourite son be able to sharpen that tool, the A-League could have a domestic player with the talent to compete for a Johnny Warren Medal one day.
Right now, McGree just needs to play football and lots of it. A long stint in Adelaide with 60-plus solid games under his belt will be rewarded with time in the national colours.
That is ultimately the end game for the boy from Gawler: a role in the next three World Cup campaigns for the Socceroos. Should he now flourish and reach his potential, there is little doubt he will play some role in that journey.
Anthony Abreu
Roar Guru
Well put, that is the whole point after all
Griffo
Roar Guru
Honda if I recall thought local youth players (at Victory) are too comfortable with where they're at...
Griffo
Roar Guru
Nothing is perfect and so needs constant review and adjustment if possible. I'd apply this to the youth development here. Is it what and how? At what age? Coaching? Time dedicated to development? Costs? Challenges and stretching knowledge in a game environment? All of the above and more. But is it being adjusted or is it 'we're right, you'll see. We've got ...'? Results at youth are downplayed - for good reason at certain levels - but at world cups when you are up against similar talent in your age, if you are not standing out in front of scouts and the world, do you go 'it'll be right' or do you look to improve and surpass those you're up against? -- McGree, like any youth prospect, needs the right advice and attitude when moving through 18-21 level. Not playing shouldn't be part of the thinking for anyone.
Nick Symonds
Guest
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Waz
Roar Rookie
There’s no sense to that statement - clearly Bury and Shrewsbury didn’t think he was good enough.
Waz
Roar Rookie
I think under Joyce City did get it wrong tbh
Franko
Guest
If only he'd plodded around the lower leagues and recieved best in class training at the likes of Bury or Shrewsbury he'd be twice the player. Fmd
Franko
Guest
Probably be a good career but not brilliant? He scored 7 goals in 27 games, many off the bench, he was box-to-box at age 20. What more does he need?
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Good column.
Wade
Roar Rookie
Ah, fair enough. But we have big problems if City value a player based on their potential sell-on – and still don’t play them despite the crud Joyce was serving up.
Will
Guest
He’s a very talented No.8 where he can make good runs into the box and score but also has a neat technical capacity in the build up as well. I guess he’s move to Club Brugge was too early and the chances of breaking through would have been limited and was better off staying here for more longer. He’s still young and if he can have a great season or two in the aleague I can see him going over again in a couple of years but this time with more maturity to play well. Playing in the comfort of the aleague is one thing but when making the move to Europe as a man is another challenge and that’s been the problem with many of our players that go over there no matter how talented they are.
Waz
Roar Rookie
The two statements are compatible for a club like City. They place a big emphasis on developing players for overseas
Redondo
Roar Rookie
I should note that the latest crop of youngsters in the A-League and underage teams looks very promising in terms of skills - but it's a bit early to tell just how good they are.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
A brief chat to some of the foreigners in the A-League might help answer that question. Ask people like Ninkovic, Toivenen, and Castro how they learnt their individual and team-based skills - I bet their answers are starkly different to the typical experience here (possibly not for the latest underage generation). These guys (and most other foreigners who turn up here) have far better basic skills than even our national team players. And these guys are just one amongst many from the nations that produced them - why can't we have a steady stream of players like that?
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Your comment is strange. Who said anything about benching him because he may not emulate one of our greatest players. Strange indeed.
Wade
Roar Rookie
Hang on Waz. Your statements: just maybe he could see what Brugge saw and Riley McGree has found his level. Don't add up. Not being good enough for a big club in the Belgian League is one thing. Sitting on the bench in the A-League is another. Joyce didn't play him here NOT because he wasn't good enough for Europe, but because he didn't consider him good enough for City/HAL. I think you've muddied the issue. Fair enough if he wasn't good enough over there, but he's shown he is good enough here. And that is a bigger, broader conversation well beyond McGree and his talent level.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
What's wrong with some of our players is obvious at almost any A-League game. If you watch the subs warming up during the half-time break you are treated to an array of players with excellent static ball-control skills. Standing still tappy-tappy with the ball endlessly - foot to foot, loop-de-loop, head to shoulder, shoulder to shoulder, chest to knee to foot to shoulder etc etc. Same for passing - stand still and ping the ball to a stationary target - bullseye every time. Even the keepings-off circle games are basically done standing still with only piggy-in-the-middle moving. Same players in a game - that is, when the whole world is in motion - can't control the ball, can't hit a straight pass, don't know when to pass, can't weight a pass, pass to where the player was not will be, and, too often have to stop to think before doing anything, by which time the world has moved on. Watch a few Pep or Barcelona training vids and you'll see what's needed - endless, repetitious practice applying skills in dynamic, game-like settings. And then all of that is put into practice in games where the coach's tactics build on the skills learnt in dynamic practice sessions. I can only guess that this kind of practice is missing from a lot of our youth and senior level coaching. It's a constant source of frustration to watch young Aussie guys who clearly have high level athletic and coordination ability, and who must spend several days a week practising football, but who cannot cross a ball to save their lives, or, play a pass so that it goes along the ground and arrives where the receiver is heading just as the receiver gets there, or, control a pas away from pressure. There's a long list of these basic things they seemingly can't do - common to all is the requirement to apply skills in dynamic settings. It must shock Arnie and his ilk when some of these players turn up for national team training. Training to play and then playing as trained...we seem not to do that very well here.
Waz
Roar Rookie
That may be the case - but then if you look at similar Aussies moving abroad. I’m just saying we need to figure it out and “put in” whatever bit is missing.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
McGree may have been a victim of circumstances at Club Brugge... https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/06/27/former-club-brugge-coach-ivan-leko-questioned-by-detectives/ McGree's time at Brugge coincided with Leko's time there.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
D'Arrigo is the one I'm impressed with. Taking on such a senior field position at such a young age is a huge ask, one he seems to be handling well.