Macarthur FC managed to grind out a 1-1 draw with Melbourne City in A-League action earlier this year. Despite the even scoreline, there was a clear gulf in quality between the two teams. Melbourne City dominated possession and the dangerous chances but could not convert on the day.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Al Hassan Toure
Player profile:
- Nationality: Australian
- Age: 22
- Date of Birth: 30/05/2000
- Current Club: Macarthur FC
- Career: Adelaide United
- Position: Striker
- Secondary Position: Winger
- Preferred Foot: Right
Al Hassan Toure played as a striker in this match. Because Macarthur only held 23% of the possession and completed less than 250 passes (compared to Melbourne’s 768) Toure was rarely involved. But his few contributions to the game were very positive.
Toure made Macarthur’s goal with a burst of pace to get in behind Melbourne’s defence and the presence of mind to lay the ball off to Jason Romero. He is very quick and that makes him dangerous in transition. He only got to show it once or twice because Melbourne dominated the ball so much but every time a ball was played into space for him you got the sense something might happen. His skills on the ball are enough that he can utilise his speed but not elite. He can certainly beat a player 1v1 and can keep the ball in tight situations.
However, his first touch is quite mediocre, and that limits what he can do to hold the ball up. Though, in fairness, he was mostly having to control extremely difficult balls being smashed up the field by a desperate defence. It seemed also that his touch sometimes slowed him down a little bit when he was breaking away from players. Not hugely so, but it lost him a millisecond or two that was vital in a game like this where he had few opportunities. He is a little stronger than average but he is not a tank. His strength helps him to shrug off defenders trying to catch him but isn’t sufficient for him to act as a target forward.
Rating: A2
I quite like Toure. He’s 22, which doesn’t leave him a huge amount of room to grow. But I think he could play at a slightly higher level (especially if he were in a better team that let him show what he can do a bit more). A ton of A-League players end up in the Scottish Premiership and I could see him being a good addition to a mid-table team there.
Jake Hollman
Player profile:
- Nationality: Australian
- Age: 21
- Date of Birth: 26/08/2001
- Current Club: Macarthur FC
- Career: Sydney FC II
- Position: Midfielder
- Preferred Foot: Right
Jake Hollman played on the right side of a midfield four, though not really as a winger, in this match. I did not think he was very good. A big part of Hollman’s problem is his lack of strength. He was knocked off the ball extremely easily and he lost almost every single physical battle he was involved in.
He was also very easily bypassed by dribblers who could beat him with finesse or by just blowing past him. With the ball, things were not much better. Again, his lack of strength was a problem, because he was very easily knocked off the ball. He did have decent close control and was reasonably quick. But he was not able to turn that into any shots or ball progression. He also tried a lot of spins. He did not have the ball very much but he seemed to try and spin at every opportunity, sometimes even to his detriment because something simpler might have worked better. So he couldn’t make anything with the ball, and he offered little in the way of defensive contribution. That really doesn’t leave you with very much in the way of positive impact.
Rating: D
This match was against the best team in the league and Macarthur was getting blitzed the whole time. So these were not exactly ideal circumstances to show what you can do. But even taking that into consideration Hollman looked really bad.