With Adrian Leijer’s move to Fulham and Ljubo Milicevic’ injury, picked up in the first half hour against Wellington, the need has become clear for another defender in the Melbourne Victory squad.
And what do you know, along comes Sebastian Ryall.
Ryall has been touted as the replacement of Leijer. He’s a tough, hardy central defender with some impressive caps under his belt. He captained the Australian Under 20s during the Weifang Cup, helping lead the Australians to 4 wins. Earlier this year, he also played his first game for the Under 23s, in a match against China. This is an 18 year old with an impressive CV.
Will we see Ryall on the pitch any time soon? Milicevic’ injury, which is expected to put him out or 4-6 weeks, may just open a door for young Ryall to get at least a little game time. But even with Milicevic out of the picture for a little while, there is depth in the Melbourne squad. For one, Ryall will be competing with Steve Pantelidis, who was also left in Melbourne for the season opener last Sunday.
I don’t expect Ryall to be up for immediate inclusion in the squad. Like Evan Berger, he seems to more of a long-term prospect. He has a 2 year contract with the Victory, so I think we can expect him to appear sooner or later. But for now, Ryall’s main business will be on the training ground, gaining valuable experience from his team mates and coach.
Read more about Sebastian Ryall:
- Sebastian Ryall on Wikipedia
- Ryall profile on Melbourne Victory website
- Victory Sign Young Socceroos Captain, Sportal, 28th August, 2007
6 comments ↓
Seems like a very good addition to the squad. It’s always good to see young Australian talent being added!
Another good signing I think, and a reflection of how Victory have the ability to sign promising young players like Ryall , Evan Berger and Mitchell Langerak, shows the regard in which the club is held. Also agree with what you said on the Berger profile page re game time for the younger guys in the squad, maybe there isn’t the depth in the squads to run two full teams plus subs, allowing for the odd injury/suspension, but if they allowed a larger squad size, then a reserves league would allow even more young players to step up, this would be good for the game as a whole, and the national team would only benefit in the long run.
Regarding the possibility of a “reserves league”, it is true that there wouldn’t quite be enough squad players to justify a full reserve team.
However, you could easily recruit more young players from VIS and the likes to play in such teams without actually signing them. We already see this happen during the pre-season to some extent. I can’t see why it wouldn’t be possible throughout the year in a youth league.
Hi,
I’m Seb’s cousin, and i used to play him just on the field with his brother years back, and he was an absolute freak then. He would never let me get past, and im not that bad. Seb has a LOT of natural talent and with time at Melbourne, he will grow to be very useful.
[...] understandable sentiment, but be fair: Merrick has picked some exceptional talent from local stock. Sebastian Ryall. Rodrigo Vargas. Leigh Broxham. Point made? Local talent doesn’t necessarily mean less [...]
[...] to do without Pantelidis, who is facing a harsh 3 week suspension for last weeks elbowing incident. Sebastian Ryall is away on Young Socceroos duties, leaving Melbourne with a gaping hole in defense. Ernie Merrick [...]
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