Jacob Stevens 
South Melbourne's Harrison Sawyer in a matchup against Hume City. Photo: Luke Radzminski, provided by Football Victoria
With the season drawing ever closer, there are still a few A-League Men clubs looking for attacking reinforcements.
But, with the vast majority of quality A-League Men and Australian talent already signed, some of these clubs may have to get clever with their recruitment to find their new strikers.
Melbourne City, Sydney FC, Macarthur, and the Newcastle Jets are all clubs with a lack of depth up front, and in this edition of Reasonable Recruitment, Round Ball Australia takes a look at some of the local talent still available and discuss where they fit best.
We also take a look at a couple of foreign players that have been rumoured to be linked to clubs in the competition.
Harry Sawyer
Harry Sawyer is a name that anyone with an interest in Australian football will have heard over the last 12 months.
The South Melbourne striker has been quite literally insane; scoring goals for fun in NPL Victoria this season.
He has 14 goals in 20 games, as well as one in the Australia Cup against the Wellington Phoenix.
His stats highlight just how big a goal scoring threat he is – his non-penalty expected goals is by far one of the bet sin the league, he’s constantly getting on the ball in the box and takes a huge amount off shoots.
This suggests a few things. Firstly, Sawyer is clearly adept at finding space in the box. He finds himself on the ball and has the time and space to get decent hots off on goal.
It is also indicative of the quality and calibre of players he has around him, who are more than comfortable in giving up their own chances to get the ball to their main weapon.
Sawyer is also very good in the air, winning 51% of his aerial duels, which adds another element to his game.
Really, he’s a classic out-and-out centre forward. Gets on the end of chances, generates and exploits space with his movement, and loves to shoot.
But that does come with some downsides. Namely, his ball progression.
Sawyer can finish chances, but don’t expect to see him create all too many. He doesn’t have very many progressive passes or carries per 90, which is indicative of a striker playing off the shoulder of the last defender.
For teams looking for a striker who can be used in build up to hold the ball centrally and work in tandem with advancing wingers it doesn’t make too much sense. So, for this reason, we suggest that Sawyer would best fit Melbourne City.
Not only would the club get the good PR attached to signing someone like Sawyer, he offers a similar profile to that of Jamie Maclaren, who leaves a big hole after his departure to India.
It seems the club has put a lot of faith in Max Caputo to lead the line this season, but with an attacking core around him that are more used to Maclaren’s play style, it could be beneficial for the club to bring in something familiar.
This is not to say that Sawyer would score as many goals as Maclaren has done, but that they are similar players, and in fact Sawyer offers a little upside in terms of being a proven goalscorer should the club find that Caputo’s development needs to be handled differently.
Another club that might take a look is Macarthur. With a large exodus of players, some not entirely within their control, the Bulls will be heading into next season relying almost exclusively on Valere Germain to lead the line.
While the Frenchman is more than capable of doing so, depth is always a good thing to have, and Sawyer arguably offers a different profile, wand could be useful in situations where the established game plan fails to find a breakthrough.
With talented youngsters such as Bernardo on the wings, Sawyer wouldn’t exactly be starved of service, and would be an ideal target man for the wingers to aim for.
Some suggestions have been made that Sawyer could be on his way to Macarthur, which would make a lot of sense for both him and the club.
James Temelkovski
James Temelkovski is a player that anyone with even a passing interest in the NPL SA, or the NPL NSW for that matter, will have heard of.
He made the move to Marconi from Metrostars for the current season, and has continued to show his prowess in front of goal.
The 26 year-old has had stints with a number of clubs, including Rockdale Illinden, Adelaide Croatia, St Albans and even a spell with the youth setup of Spanish club Huesca.
Temelkovski has a knack for finding the back of the net wherever he ends up playing, and his stats in this NPL NSW season highlight exactly why he’s so good.
With a low number of shots per 90 (2.05), Temelkovski is the most picky of any striker you’ll watch. But he’s also far above average in non-penalty expected goals per 90, meaning that when he decides to fire he routinely hits the target, and, most importantly, the back of the net.
And when he doesn’t shoot, and therefore waste an attacking move, he instead interlinks with his attacking teammates.
This is evidenced by his remarkably high creation stats, where Temelkovski ranks in the upper percentiles for expected assists, shot assists and the all-encompassing expected assist per shot assist.
Essentially, Temelkovski is as ardent a creator as he is a finisher – often being the last teammate to touch the ball before a shot, or being the goalscorer himself.
On its own this is impressive, but it also shows how good Temelkovski’s movement in and around the box is – as evidenced by the number of touches he gets in the box.
But it’s not all sunshine and roses. There are a few areas where Temelkovski lags behind the competition.
He’s not somebody that is going to drop deep in possession and link up with midfielders. While he’s more involved in attacking phases than say Harry Sawyer, this tends to happen higher up the pitch.
You can see this in the fact that while he generates chances for his teammates, he has a very low number of progressive passes and carries per 90. It’s all happening in and around the box, rather than deeper in the middle of the park.
He’s also not exactly elite in the air. His aerial duel win rate leaves a lot to be desired, but when you have all the other attributes that Temelkovski possesses, it becomes less of a sticking point.
You also shouldn’t expect to see him used a lot in the press. While he’s capable of it, it’s not something he’s overly familiar with and his defensive actions and tackles and interceptions per 90 are very much below the average – even for a striker.
There is no denying his talent, though. An out-and-out reactive force in the front line for Marconi, and a player who can really carry an attacking unit.
There’s a lot to like about him, and his all round game play would be huge for teams who are heavily reliant on only a couple of attacking pieces to generate chances and goals.
Someone like Sydney FC might want to take a look at Temelkovski. With the losses of Fabio Gomez and Robert Mak, and a big question mark over how good new signing Anas Ouahim will be, it looks like the Sky Blues might be relying on Joe Lolley in the attacking third.
Of course, the Sky Blues have recently brought in Brazilian legend Douglas Costa, but there’s still a distinct lack of quality depth in the centre, and with the Brazilian’s patchy injury history it will still be important for them to find another attacking threat. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
On the pitch, bringing in Temelkovski would free up Lolley a little, and the way the pair can create space for themselves would be a nightmare for opposing defenders. Plus, having three threatening attackers in Lolley, Temelkovski and Costa would make it more difficult for defences to double-team certain players.
Temelkovski would also present an option for interplay with Lolley, and be able to finish chances the Englishman creates – which was a major sticking point of Fabio Gomes’ stint with the club.
Otherwise, the Newcastle Jets could be a fit for the current Marconi forward. The Novocastrians are in dire need of somebody to lead the line, and with inexperience a major factor in their attacking stocks, a proven goalscorer and chance creator could be huge to help.
Not to mention, Temelkovski has found success at every club he’s played at, despite bouncing around almost every season. He has that innate ability to bring confidence to his own game, and thereby confidence to his teammates, even in new and unfamiliar circumstances.
He’s really malleable in that sense, and as his stats show, his ability to be used in a number of roles would be huge for a club that is potentially looking to move in a new direction after the loss of their main attacking outlet.
Patryk Klimala
Now, this one is a bit different to the others, in that Patryk Klimala has neither played in the A-League Men nor is he Australian.
But, with rumours swirling that he might be on his way to Sydney FC, we decided to take a look at what he has to offer.
The 26-year-old Polish striker has played most of his career in Poland, with short stints at Celtic and New York Red Bull. His most recent season saw him compete in the Ekstraklasa with Slask Wroclaw.
He didn’t manage to bag a goal in his five starts, but as the stats show, he had a solid non-penalty expected goals per 90 metric, suggesting he was finding himself in goalscoring opportunities.
The fact his non-penalty expected goals per shot stat is relatively high also suggests it’s not an issue with his finishing – in fact it’s more than likely he was subjected to a number of outstanding saves by the opposition keeper. That being said, he did under perform his xG in both his seasons in the MLS, so there might be slight cause for concern that he won’t finish his chances.
A big red flag, though, is his aerial duel win, which last season ranked as one of the worst in the Polish top flight. Sydney FC have shown they like to focus a lot on wing play, getting their wide playmakers involved in attack as much as possible, so a striker who is not particularly capable in the air might not be a great move.
One area Klimala excels in is with the ball at feet, which actually would be a net plus for the Sky Blues’ front line. With the way that Lolley likes to move more freely, cutting inside, and with support from Caceres centrally, a striker who can turn with the ball and drive at defenders opens up space for the others to attack into.
His passing stats also stand out as exemplary for a striker, and he could be used by Sydney in a deeper role, perhaps in a double striker setup to use his passing ability to bring his strike partner into the game.
Wellissol
Meanwhile, the Newcastle Jets have been linked to Brazilian forward Wellissol.
He played in two divisions last season – the Brazilian second division and Swiss fourth division: neither with any success.
The Brazilian made 24 appearances, only finding the back of the net twice – including failing to score in his 10 games in Switzerland.
Obviously, he would have big shoes to fill should the move eventuate, with the departure of Apostolos Stamatelopoulos leaving a massive hole in the Jets frontline.
Fans of the Novocastrian side probably shouldn’t expect to see a similar type of player, with Wellissol projecting more ass a build-up or second striker who likes to get involved in chance creation.
He’s also not as strong in the air, ranking in the 8th percentile compared to other strikers in the Brazilian Serie B, and as his lack of goals suggests, he struggles with his finishing.
It’s definitely a signing that has some risk attached. He’s very much an unknown quantity, having not made much of an impact at relatively low levels.
However, the Mariners have shown that it is possible to turn these sorts of signings into quality players – such as they managed with Mikael Doka – who was playing in the Brazilian 4th division.