Carlton great Stephen Silvagni says his former club must become a “selfless team” under new coach Michael Voss if they want to improve in 2022.
The Blues’ defensive woes were exposed throughout 2021 under former coach David Teague, conceding runs of goals on multiple occasions that resulted in another season outside the top eight.
Silvagni described Carlton’s problems without the ball as their “biggest flaw” and cited Melbourne’s transformation as an example for the Blues to follow.
“I think most Carlton people would say this: Michel Voss has got to make that team into a selfless football team – they don’t know what selfless is, watching that Carlton team,” Silvagni told AFL Trade Radio’s The Late Trade.
“They don’t sacrifice for each other, they don’t help each other, they need to become a selfless team.
“You see what Melbourne have done, you see what their mids have been able to do - if I was sitting those Carlton players down, I’d be watching the Melbourne Football Club and see the transformation they’ve made in the last 12 to 24 months.
“That’s about making the player next to you the best possible player they can be.
Silvagni continued: “What I don’t understand about Sam Petrevski-Seton is his first 60 games he was tracking really well, he was playing forward-mid, the last two years he hasn’t been playing forward-mid.
“He averaged over four tackles a game in those first three years, he’s below two tackles a game in the last two years – something fundamentally has gone wrong there.
“To say that he doesn’t work both ways, I agree, he’s not the only player at that football club that doesn’t work both ways.
“That is fundamentally their biggest flaw … they’ll attack, they don’t want to defend.”