Dumping Bruno Fornaroli a sign all is not well at Melbourne City

It appears all is not well between Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce and star striker Bruno Fornaroli.

Brisbane striker Adam Taggart, left, celebrates after scoring against Melbourne City at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images

It appears all is not well between Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce and star striker Bruno Fornaroli after the Uruguayan was inexplicably dumped from the team beaten by Brisbane Roar on Saturday night.

One of the most accomplished goalscorers in A-League history, Fornaroli did not even figure in the City squad and was left back in Melbourne “sitting on his sofa” as his team fell 2-0 at Suncorp Stadium.

As much as Joyce tried to play down the shock decision, City fans, the media and former players were not buying his reasoning that “you are just picking a side to win the game tonight”.

Joyce appeared to be evasive when questioned about his decision amid suggestions there are problems in the dressing room.

“You look at the opposition, you look at training, you evaluate everything and pick a team to win the game, that’s it,” Joyce said.

Pressed further, he added: “You look at the strengths and weaknesses (of the opposition), you look at us training, you decide how you want to play, and you pick what you think is the best team on the night to win on the night.”

City dominated parts of the game against Roar but looked impotent and leaderless upfront without Fornaroli, who created an A-League record for most goals scored in a season when he notched 23 in the 2015-16 season.

He followed up with 17 the following season but was then restricted to five from just eight games after missing most of last season because of a serious injury.

Former City and Danish international goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen was one who was left incredulous by his absence.

“What’s come out of the camp is that he’s not injured, there’s something that has been going on, the fitness numbers aren’t right and he’s left him out,” Sorensen told Fox Sports before kick-off.

“He’s one of the best players in the league and he’s certainly one of the best players for City.

“As a manager I think he’s (Joyce) trying to send signals to the rest of the squad but I think it could also backfire. He’s the goalscorer and he’s not there and he’s fit and he’s sitting at home on the sofa watching the game and that’s not what you want.”

Roar coach John Aloisi said he was surprised not to see Fornaroli’s name on the teamsheet.

“It didn’t change my plans (for the game) but it definitely surprised me,” Aloisi said.

“When you have got one of the all time (greatest) goalscorers or one of the best strikers we have had in Australia, then you are pleased he is not on the teamsheet, I can tell you that.

“Why he wasn’t there is not for me to comment on.”

Aloisi was delighted to see his side record their first win of the season, following a loss and three draws in their opening four games.

“There was never any panic on our part,” he said.

“We worked over the last 10 days and believed a win wasn’t far away. When I was asked early in the week if I was panicking … no chance.

“And you saw tonight why that was the case.

“We created a lot of clear openings in the first half and the goals were going to come.

“We got the second goal in the second half and killed the game off. Yes, they had a lot of possession but they didn’t really hurt us.”

Joyce lamented the fact his side lacked “a killer ball, a final cross”.

“We played a lot of good football and dominated possession but the final ball was not quite the quality we needed.

“Having said that, I thought we had a penalty in the first half and we were told the VAR was looking at it.

“The ball goes up the other end, they get a corner and we switched off, they scored, so it was our own fault.”