Big names benched as high-flying City rewards its winners

MELBOURNE City coach Warren Joyce says he’ll likely stick by the players who have propelled his A-League club to the top of the table when the team takes on Adelaide United tonight.

In doing so, he’ll keep big names Tim Cahill, club player of the year Neil Kilkenny and fringe Socceroo Luke Brattan on the bench at Coopers Stadium. Both City and Adelaide have won all three of their matches this season.

The formlines make for the game of the round but Joyce has no hesitation holding back some of his biggest stars.

“You’ve got to give people a chance,” he said.

“If I was asking you to do something and you did it to the best of your abilities and were successful, you’d be pretty disappointed if you were fired off for somebody else to do your job.

“If you’re looking for consistency and to be known for something and have a culture, you’ve got to start somewhere.” Joyce’s selection policy allows no exceptions, even for Cahill.

“Tim’s had a fantastic ca- reer and still has plenty more things he wants to achieve in his career (but) he’s just another player at the club and it’s the same as everybody else,” he said. “I would imagine it’s frustrating for him and frustrating for me (and) the group but he’s been conducting himself and training well and that’s all you can do as a player.”

Osama Malik, one of those to benefit under the form-first mantra, says he can’t wait for the first away trip of the season, given the shared history of the clubs.

Several players at City — Stefan Mauk, Marcelo Carrusca, Bruce Kamau, Iacopo La Rocca, Eugene Galekovic, Ruon Tongyik and Malik — previously played for the Reds, while Adelaide’s Michael Marrone and Ben Garuccio used to call City home.