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Opinion
One of the best things about being a football fan is seeing a talented boy ascend through the youth ranks and then become a man – debuting and playing for the first team.
In today’s football world though, it’s rare for a player to stay with their boyhood club for their entire career – especially in the merry go round like A-League off season transfer window.
While the Western Sydney Wanderers have had an interesting start to it with signings, yet another player from their much-maligned youth academy; has quietly left the club with little to no fanfare.
Centreback, Mark Natta has confirmed that the next step in his football journey, will be with the Newcastle Jets – Signing a 2-year contract
Natta had been with the Wanderers since the club academy’s inception, starting in the under 14s and working his way up through the age groups before making 20+ appearances for the senior side.
The Wanderers’ loss could be Newcastle’s gain though – as Natta has almost everything required to be a successful centre back.
When you see Natta’s mop of curly hair coupled with his gangly frame, the last thing you would think of would be a footballer – but appearances can be very deceiving.
Natta can be almost pedestrian like with the ball at his feet, however possess excellent recovery speed when the ball is lost – his positioning and cool demeanour, are handy when there is danger imminent.
Aerially he is a threat in both boxes and like many modern centrebacks, Natta is comfortable bringing the ball forward and has a good short passing range with different degrees of weighted passes.
There are two areas of concern that Mark will hope to address whilst with the Newcastle Jets – long diagonal balls and one-on-one defending.
The long raking 60-yard diagonal ball is a staple for every young centreback in today’s age, but it is a pass that can only be mastered with a lot of practice – Natta will need to hone this skill, which will be particularly useful for the Jets with their pacey forward line and attacking play.
The one-on-one defending is the most glaring of the two improvement areas, because Natta has shown that physically he can match it with bigger bodied opponents.
Mariners forward Matt Simon is one of the most unorthodox strikers in the league and a young defender’s nightmare, but Natta was able to give as good as he got, winning the lion share of duels for the full 90 minutes in a match against the mariners.
However, smaller intelligent attackers have been able to sucker Natta in on more than one occasion – winning multiple free kicks around the box as well as penalties with their intelligence, compared to the naivety of Natta’s youth.
Natta’s new side Newcastle Jets were one of the best attacking sides to watch last season, their absence from the finals series was down to a very leaky defence – in particular error-prone centebacks.
His new coach Arthur Pappas is a firm admirer and with his record of developing young players, there is every chance that the signing of Mark Natta will be a success – but where exactly does this leave the Wanderers’ fabled academy?
Some would argue it is the best academy of any A-League side, when you take into consideration the sheer number of talented footballers that come from Western Sydney.
It has not produced enough high-quality players, while letting a lot leave – for a number of reasons – that should not only worry the Wanderers, but the A League as a whole.
Time will tell if letting Mark Natta go was a mistake, however a fresh start with an attack minded jets side – Should be the perfect platform, for the young centreback to restart his career.
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