MCCORMACK EDGING CLOSER TO STAYING WITH CITY
Striker machinations have Melbourne City viewing attacking game plan
ROSS McCormack’s A-League future could be decided in the next fortnight with Melbourne City investigating ways of keeping the striker.
Signed as an injury replacement from Aston Villa for Bruno Fornaroli, McCormack’s deal expires when the Uruguayan sharpshooter returns from injury, likely to be early February.
The Scottish international will want to have his future resolved by then because if a deal can’t be done at City, he will look to another English club before the English transfer window closes on January 31.
City’s football chiefs are weighing up the pros and cons of keeping McCormack, 31, which would likely involve a big pay cut, and whether he and Fornaroli could play in the same team.
While they have the street smarts to play a deeper role, both are natural predators.
Coach Warren Joyce’s horses-for-courses style means that it’s quite possible that both could line up in the same XI in a strike pairing rarely seen in the A-League in recent years.
Joyce has similar philosophies to his former mentor Sir Alex Ferguson, by regularly deploying his players in makeshift positions (Michael Jakobsen in midfield and Luke Brattan on the right wing).
And the front two was another Fergie favourite, enjoying success with duos like Andy Cole-Dwight Yorke, Wayne Rooney-Louis Saha/Cristiano Ronaldo/Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov/Robin van Persie).
City’s likely formation fielding the prolific duo would be a 3-5-2, giving the defence more surety and team more balance while playing a front two.
Otherwise a 4-4-2 could be considered, but that would require him fielding an energetic, high-octane midfield four.
Joyce played down the possibility of much January movement, with defender Harrison Delbridge to come into the squad while Fernando Brandan and Tim Cahill left.
But Neil Kilkenny is oddson to leave in January with one or two more exits in the pipeline, opening up more spots.
“I wouldn’t think it will change a great deal because there’s no vacancies on the roster. There’s only one (spot) available,’’ Joyce said.
Cahill’s exit has also left City’s forward stocks threadbare, with Joyce preferring to use Bruce Kamau in a makeshift striker’s role rather than promoting a youth team striker.
That’s why McCormack, who Joyce has fiercely defended while he’s been at City, is every chance of staying on.