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A-League season preview: Melbourne Heart
04/10/2012 7:14:00 AM
They have their first finals appearance under their belt, but the big question this season is whether Heart can recover from some key exits under rookie coach John Aloisi
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By KIERAN JONES |
| MELBOURNE HEART |
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| 2011-12: SIXTH [9-8-10] | COACH: JOHN ALOISI |
| 2012-13 SQUAD |
Clint Bolton, Michael Marrone, Simon Colosimo, Fred, Patrick Gerhardt, Matt Thompson, Josip Tadic, Richard Garcia, Dylan Macallister, Wayne Srhoj, Jonatan Germano, David Williams, Aziz Behich, Jason Hoffman, Steven Gray, Andrew Redmayne, Nick Kalmar, Mate Dugandzic, Ben Garuccio, David Vrankovic.
In: Patrick Gerhardt, Josip Tadic, Richard Garcia, Dylan Macallister, Steven Gray, Andrew Redmayne, Ben Garuccio, David Vrankovic.
Out: Brendan Hamill, Rutger Worm, Kristian Sarkies, Maycon, Alex Terra, Kamal Ibrahim, Curtis Good, Eli Babalj, Adrian Zahra, Kliment Taseki, Craig Goodwin, Nikola Roganovic.
| THE KEYS |
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| STAR MAN: Fred | ONE TO WATCH: Josip Tadic |
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As one of the imports to stay for another season at the Heart, the cultured Brazillian will be responsible for a lot of John Aloisi's attacking plans but needs to stay fit. |
The Croation striker is an unknown quantity at this stage. Was a valuable player at Dinamo Zagreb from 2006-2009 before losing his way, and could be anything this season. |
| THE LOWDOWN |
The Heart improved last year to finish sixth, but the real test will be whether or not the young club can push on to make it past the first week of the finals in 2012-13. John Aloisi takes over as coach of a relatively experienced side with plenty of skill on the ball. Their defence still looks solid despite the loss of Hamill and Good, with Colosimo and Marrone going around again. In addition, a midfield with the likes of Matt Thompson and Mate Dugandzic is always dangerous, though the loss of Eli Babalj in attack cannot be underestimated.
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