Aaron Mooy set targets for himself at the start of the 2014/15 season, but even he was surprised at how well his inaugural season with Melbourne City FC went.
Mooy, 24, was awarded for an outstanding inaugural season at the Club’s Player of the Year night last Tuesday [link to article announcing award winners], taking home the Player of the Year, Etihad Supporters’ Player of the Year and Golden Boot awards.
“It’s a huge honour to win one, let alone two so I am very proud and happy,” Mooy said.
Mooy played in 27 of City’s 29 matches, second only (for appearances) to captain Patrick Kisnorbo (29) – who played in every match throughout the season.
But Mooy’s impact from midfield was arguably more significant than his skipper in defence, with the former Western Sydney Wanderers man scoring 7 goals and claiming 8 assists on his way to the Golden Boot.
A modest and relatively quiet-talking player, Mooy said that while he was happy with his awards, he had sat down with his coaches at the start of the season and fell three assists short of his targets.
“We had a chat with the coaches before the start of the season and I wanted to stay fit, I wanted to score seven goals I wanted more assists, I wanted to get 10.
“I’ve enjoyed it, I love playing with all the players, they are all top players.”
His impact was also seen across the A-League where he topped a number statistics across the competition. Mooy contributed to 47 per cent of this teams goals, was equal with Sydney FC’s Marc Janko in terms of goals scored from set pieces (5), topped cross attempts (243) and completed crosses (63), completed through balls (26) and passes into the penalty area (233).
Asked if missing out on a spot in the Socceroos squad for the Asian Cup in January had been demotivating, Mooy said it only helped him to continue building on the great form he was in.
“I said to myself, ‘there’s no point getting down about it’. It was good that people were mentioning my name for that sort of thing. So, yeah, I just tried to continue what I was doing and not get too down about it.
“100 per cent. When I was at the Wanderers, it was a bit more a rotation sort of thing. Coming here I was given the opportunity to get to where I have been over the last 12 months.
And as for his aims for next season? “To get to the Grand Final.”
