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Serious questions need to be asked of Graham Arnold’s stewardship and Sydney FC’s philosophy as a club after a completely unacceptable A-League season.
Arnold’s job isn’t under threat, with chief Tony Pignata loath to get rid of a coach who provided welcome stability after the turbulence of Frank Farina’s spell in charge.
But the stardust of Alessandro Del Piero during Farina’s tenure was the last we’ve seen of ‘Bling FC’, an image since eschewed by the board and characterised by the appointment of Arnold.
The coach himself said after the Sky Blues’ thrashing of Perth that his teams are generally built on “aggression”, an approach which served him well when he was helping the Central Coast Mariners punch well above their weight.
But something different is needed in the big smoke, some razzle-dazzle and a desire to both win and entertain. Sydney did neither this season, and it isn’t good enough.
Last season Marc Janko’s 16 goals propelled Sydney to the grand final, but when he went missing, so did Sydney. It was a campaign reliant on and built upon his goalscoring – the football didn’t bring anyone though the gate, but hey, the Sydney diehards love a winner.
Arnold’s failure to replace Janko with someone of similar pedigree showed Sydney for what they are – dour and sometimes competitive. The Mariners clad in sky blue, only with a wealth of resources.
Matt Simon, lovely lad that he is, is not the pedigree of striker around whom title tilts are built. But with Sydney struggling, Arnold found himself turning to him as a starter more often than he should have.
It was a reversion to type, the sort of aggression which enables teams to punch above their weight. Only Sydney are a heavyweight and they should be fighting in the big title bouts on strength of resources alone.
I’m not pretending Sydney were any good during the Farina and Del Piero era, but wouldn’t you rather watch that team or this one? Del Piero alone was worth the entry, and with that in mind, Sydney and Arnold need to change their approach.
In most other leagues, a coach whose side regressed as much as Sydney did this season would be under serious pressure, either for his job, or to change his tactics.
Arnold can thank his lucky stars, and to a degree Janko, that he has enough credit in the bank to be charged with another season – but there won’t be another if it goes like this one did.
It’s time to bring back some bling to Sydney; a bit of razzle-dazzle, a big name to put some bums on seats (this is a wider issue in the A-League which I won’t delve into here) and a tactical approach to excite the diehards who are already there.
It might mean the end for the likes of Simon, Rhyan Grant, Zac Anderson and even the short-of-quality Vedran Janjetovic, in favour of a No.9 of serious pedigree and a No.10 who will light up the league the way Milos Ninkovic didn’t quite, as good a footballer as he is.
It means unearthing another Brandon O’Neill, a hungry player with a desire to play, instead of relying on holiday footballers like Milos Dimitrijevic, who was woefully short of last season’s form, and Mickael Tavares.
It also means eschewing the aggression and punch-above-their-weight mentality Arnold instils in his side, and setting them up to play with a swagger befitting one of the league’s biggest sides.
Sydney have it in them, as we saw on the weekend.
But this isn’t flash-in-the-pan time. Sydney need to bring back some bling and start fulfilling their duty as one of the A-League’s bluechip sides.
In many ways it is Arnold’s biggest test as a coach – a fork in the road for himself and the club.
Now the onus is on them both to choose the right direction.
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