FLUIDITY will be the name of the game for Melbourne City this season as it was this morning during a 2-0 friendly win over Auckland City at the club’s Bundoora training centre.

With the exception of goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis, who played a full game, City used different 11s in each half.

But what was again evident was the way in which coach John van’t Schip wants his side to play in season 2016-17 both in defence and up front.

In both halves City played with three at the back.

media_camera Tim Cahill is all smiles as he picks the ball from out of the net after his teammate Nicolas Colazo’s finish. Picture: George Salpigtidis

In the first half Osama Malik was the deep midfielder who dropped in to a back four when required and in the second half that role fell to Neil Kilkenny.

Up front the team again played with a flexible front four which promises to prove a handful for opposition A-League clubs.

In the 45 minutes, for instance, Bruno Fornaroli played up top with Nick Fitzgerald on the left, Fernando Brandan as the No. 10 and Braedyn Crowley on the right.

But Fornaroli would drop deep at times, with Brandan then pushing further forward while Fitzgerald and Crowley seamlessly transitioned from side-to-side when needed.

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In the opening stanza midfielder Luke Brattan again impressed, while in the second half new marquee signing Nicolas Colazo showcased his wide array of skills once more.

The Argentine scored the game’s first goal in the 77th minute after some slick lead up work by Daniel Arzani, while Socceroos superstar Tim Cahill scored the second just seconds from full time, finishing off Bruce Kamau’s good work on the right.

“We wanted to see different kind of things,” van’t Schip said.

“Sometimes if you put players in the first 11, let’s say, they play in one position. This way we can mix it up, put them in different positions and see how they are doing there.

“I think it worked out well.

media_camera City stud Bruno Fornaroli in action against Auckland City. Picture: George Salpigtidis

“It was a training game. We wanted to get 45 minutes out of it at high intensity.”

City has one more behind-closed-doors friendly against Central Coast on Friday before its season opener against the Phoenix in Wellington on October 8.

“I’m very happy with where things are at,” van’t Schip said.

“The boys are fit. We’ve got good competition for spots in the squad. And that was another reason why we played with different teams today because it’s not said already that the 11 who started against Western Sydney on Wednesday (in the FFA Cup) are going to be the 11 every week.

“I may have seen enough from other players who might step in against Wellington.

“That’s how we want to have it. We want to gave good competition for spots.”