With another W-League season come and gone it feels like a perfect time for reflection and analysis.
This past season has been hampered by the simple fact some of the best Australian talent, and international talent, vacated the W-league to pursue European glory.
No team was disrupted more than Melbourne City, who lost Matildas’ stars Lydia Williams, Stephanie Catley and Kyah Simon.
However, one Aussie made her return home – Alex Chidiac.
Heading into the season, Chidiac knew there would be some challenges to come. However, with a disrupted schedule and a short season, it made it harder for her to achieve her goals.
“I didn’t really know what to expect coming back home,” Chidiac said.
She found herself in a team struggling to find consistency, with one of the youngest squads in the league.
They were also hindered by their delayed start to the season, after only discovering their winning formula in the latter part of the season.
Having adjusted to a possession-based playing style in her time in Spain with Atletico Madrid, she was forced to adapt her game to City – a side playing long through balls to the forwards.
“In our team, we’ve tried to adopt a whole lot of different styles and haven’t found the right one that fits for our group,” she said.
“I’m not a player that runs onto long balls, I don’t have a lot of pace. I definitely prefer the ball at my feet dribbling at players.
“We do have quite a few players that like to keep the ball though, and play more possession-based football, but I mean at the end of the day, it comes down to the coach and what our structure he wants to play, and as players, we have to adapt to that.”
City’s inability to find its rhythm could rest with head coach Rado Vidošić’s inability to find the side’s winning formula.
A portion of the blame rests with him as the coach, but with such a limited pre-season and league length, it was always going to be a challenge.
Football Australia must also take some responsibility for failing the W-League and sides like City.
With teams playing only 12 games, and not a full home and away season, it was difficult for them to gel, develop their game and play their best football.
Chidiac gave a nod to this and said City did not have enough time during the season to develop their game.
She said she found her form during one of City’s last games of the season against Brisbane Roar.
“We didn’t really have enough time to be able to work on it and then implement it in games,” Chidiac said.
As pressure grows to extend the season, expansion may have to be put on the backburner if the league wants to retain and attract players.
Feature Image Credit: Melbourne City FC
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