Sydney FC National Youth League (NYL) Coach Brian Dene has named the 2012/13 NYL squad, with a focus on selecting and developing younger players.
Sydney FC National Youth League (NYL) Coach Brian Dene has named the 2012/13 NYL squad with the Sky Blues deciding on a philosophy of selecting younger players to promote development over results.
The National Youth League is an U20 competition with provision to select one player who is 21 but Sydney have neglected to take up the option, underpinning head coach Ian Crook-s philosophy of developing younger players.
The 2012/13 NYL squad contains four 16-year-olds, three 17-year-olds, six 18-year-olds, one 19-year-old and two 20-year-olds. The average age of the Sydney FC NYL Team is 17 years and seven months.
“We have selected a young team but we-re very excited by the potential of all the boys in the squad,” Dene said.
“We believe we-ve identified some good prospects who we-ll be able to work with to help develop them into A-League players.
“Every time you go out onto the pitch you try to win but this team has been selected with the future in mind. We aim to develop young players so they are able to step up to play in the A-League.”
The development philosophy is highlighted by the fact that the current Sydney FC Hyundai A-League squad contains 10 players who have progressed to the first team squad through the Youth team system.
Terry Antonis, Dimi Petratos, Rhyan Grant, Joel Chianese, Mitch Mallia, Nathan Sherlock, Blake Powell, Hagi Gligor, Daniel Petkovski and Vedran Janjetovic are all members of the Sydney FC 2012/13 A-League squad having previously played in the youth team.
“Brian has put together a very good squad in consultation with the first team coaching staff because we believe it is important to have similar structures and philosophies right through the club,” Crook said.
“The youth team will also spend time training with the first team to ensure the young boys develop and to keep our footballing philosophies consistent.
“We-ve got some very talented kids who, with hard work, have the potential to follow in the footsteps of Terry Antonis, Dimi Petratos, Rhyan Grant, Joel Chianese, Mitch Mallia and others to become members of the A-League squad.”
The Sydney FC NYL squad features the following: - Tom Slater, 16, son for former Socceroo Robbie Slater - Indigenous star Keifer Dotti - Peter Triantis, whose brother Chris played for the Sydney FC Youth Team in 2008/09 - Anthony Bouzanis, whose brother Dean played for Sydney FC before moving abroad to play for Liverpool in England. - Four players from the 2011/12 Sydney FC NYL team (Ryan Norval, Daniel Petkovski, Hagi Gligor and Christopher Naumoff) - Daniel Petkovski and Hagi Gligor are contracted NYL Players and are also part of the 2012/13 Sydney FC A-League squad
The Sydney FC Youth Team is: Name Position Age Last Club Ryan Norval Goalkeeper 20 Rockdale City Suns/Sydney FC Youth Keifer Dotti Defender 18 Rockdale City Suns Aaron Calver Defender 16 NSWIS Roberto Speranza Defender 18 Rockdale City Suns Daniel Petkovski Defender 19 Marconi/Sydney FC Youth Hagi Gligor Midfielder 17 NSWIS/Sydney FC Youth Josh MacDonald Striker 16 NSWIS Peter Triantis Midfielder 20 Sydney Olympic Nikola Taneski Striker 18 APIA Leichhardt Tigers Christopher Naumoff Midfielder 17 Sutherland Sharks/Sydney FC Youth Tom Slater Striker 16 NSWIS Lukas Stergiou Midfielder 16 Sutherland Sharks Luke Jenner Defender 18 Blacktown City Luke Clifford Defender 18 Blacktown City Alec Urosevski Striker 18 Rockdale City Suns Anthony Bouzanis Goalkeeper 17 Sydney Olympic Coach: Brian Dene Assistant Coach: Miro Vlastelica Goalkeeper Coach: Davide del giovine