How Melbourne City’s youth blueprint can solve A-League’s salary cap riddle and fix Australian football

A-Leagues’ planned new salary cap will force clubs to change their philosophies around building their squads. But Melbourne City is already showing the way on how it must be done.

Lawrence Wong is one of the youngsters who have lit up the A-League with Melbourne City. Picture: Getty

The shock move to impose a strict salary cap in the A-Leagues’ will force clubs to rely heavily on young Australian talent – and there is plenty of it.

Injuries forced Melbourne City head coach Aurelio Vidmar to rely heavily on youth players this season and it has yielded fantastic results with the club sitting second on the competition ladder.

City have given 21 per cent of its match minutes so far this season to players aged 19 or under.

While the front runners aren’t the only club using teenage superstars. Central Coast Mariners have given 19 per cent of their match minutes to teens, Perth Glory 17 per cent and Brisbane Roar 14 per cent.

“We had that golden generation then probably a decade of not a hell of a lot happening in that space but I think now we can see this younger generation, there’s a new cycle forming,” Vidmar said.

Socceroos great Robbie Slater said the Young Socceroos winning the U20s Asian Cup and qualifying for their first World Cup in 12 years was proof a new wave of talent was forming.

“We’ve known for quite some time that this was going to be a good group,” Slater said.

“The A-League’s downfall means clubs have no money and they no longer have the funds to sign players from overseas so a lot of kids have been given a go and this (Young Socceroos) team has benefited from that as they are playing against men in the big competition.”

Slater said it was important clubs gave the young talent a good chance – not just used them to fill in for an injured player for a few minutes twice a season.

“They won’t know if they are good enough if they don’t get a go, that is not 10 minutes one week then disappear for 10 weeks, give them a few games and see if they mature and deserve a spot,” Slater said.

Of the A-Leagues clubs with a heavy reliance on teens Vidmar’s is the only one in finals contention.

17-year-old Medin Memeti is rising through the ranks at Melbourne City. Picture: Getty

City’s youth academy is renowned as one of the best. Of the 184 players who have walked through the doors since 2015, 52 have played in the A-League’s and five are capped Socceroos.

Vidmar said putting trust in players lacking experience in the elite league is daunting.

“You want to win but you’re not guaranteed winning with experienced players either,” he said.

“You just have to find the mix where you can have a couple bubbling away that can show their talent and help the team.

“That is what has been important for us this season, all the kids that have come in have helped the team win whether that was by scoring a goal, an assist or fulfilling their individual role in the team.”

Of the last 16 goals scored by Melbourne City – 15 of them have been scored by players aged 23 or under. Max Caputo, 19, has scored four, Medin Memeti, 17, and Ben Mazzeo, 19, have two each.

While obviously stoked with their performances on the field Vidmar is just as pleased with how well the teens are equipped to deal with the challenges of playing in the first team.

“Once they get into a position where they can score goals and they miss it’s always easy to go within yourself and go back into your shell but our guys have got reasonably good temperament and they keep going in there regardless of their mistakes,” Vidmar said.

“It is a different kettle of fish when you come to the first team because it is really cut throat, it’s highly demanding and you have to be able to self regular, some things won’t go your way, and learn how to accept the highs and lows.”

Under head coach Aurelio Vidmar, Melbourne City are providing the youth blueprint the A-League should follow. Picture: Getty

That mental resilience is something City’s youth team coach Alessandro Diamanti puts a lot of focus on at the academy.

Diamanti doesn’t gloss over the hard truths with the youth players. He makes it very clear that being an elite footballer is not easy.

“I have to be ruthless because football is ruthless,” Diamanti said.

“I work more on mentality than skills, because the mentality for me is very important. They have to perform because all around the world a lot of kids want to play football, the competition is big.”

Originally published as How Melbourne City’s youth blueprint can solve A-League’s salary cap riddle and fix Australian football