Okay, so it appears Sydney FC are looking for a more modest approach to the way they go about things this season, and ‘about time’ I hear you say. But ultimately the success of their upcoming season will be judged by how they fair on the pitch, and the start has certainly been encouraging.
Played eight, won eight, 20 goals for, zero against.
Any way you look at it and against any opposition, it’s an impressive record.
So what have been the hallmarks of their pre-season and what might we might we have learnt for the season proper? Here are some early observations;
1. Sydney have been flogged by Vitezslav Lavicka and strength/condition coach Craig Duncan, having upwards of eight sessions a week, including field, gym, recovery, yoga, swim and all forms of cross-training.
Couple that with the game-a-week calendar and it’s easy to see why FC has been finishing games so strongly. Against Sydney United they were full of running in the final 15 minutes, while they have scored seven goals in the second half in their past three games. It’s all about building one the fittest A-League teams, and it’s clear that hard work and honesty are the Lavicka way.
2. This increased fitness has laid a platform for the way Sydney wish to play, which is a high tempo and high octane style.
And this is as much about their work without the ball as it is with it. What has struck me has been their excellent work in transition from attack to defence, and how quickly they suffocate the opposition and win the ball back. This defending starts as soon as they cough it up, with the strikers setting the tempo.
3. The other encouraging thing about their defensive structure, and the reason they haven’t coughed up too many chances, is their higher position up the pitch.
When they lose the ball, the back four keep a fairly high line, not dropping to their 18 yard box. The compact shape gives the opposition little space to play and really does make the back fours job easier.
4. One thing that has impressed me about Lavicka is his rotation and use of the entire squad. It’s about building mileage, familiarity and experience in his young squad, and hitherto they have shown they can really do a job for the Czech.
The squad is young, and Lavicka admitted in our chat last week he will be relying on the kids to come through. The signs are looking good they can.
Gan and Grant have been the stand-outs and appear to be right in the first 11 mix, while Danning, Payne, Jurman, Cairncross and Casey haven’t been too far behind. A sign of any good manager is an ability to develop his players and get the absolute best out of them, and the early signs from Lavicka are good.
5. Casey has been interesting case, and the evidence is Lavicka wants to utilise his pace from deep, using him as a right back.
Cole has often occupied the left back spot and it clear Lavicka doesn’t see him as a wide midfielder. I sense that’s because of a lack of pace. In any case, Cole’s minutes look limited if Byun is any good.
6. Going the other way is Grant, who was used by Kosmina as a right back, but is getting plenty of time in an advanced central midfield role. Meanwhile Gan, used centrally by Kosmina, is being deployed on the flanks, with excellent effect.
7. While the kids have been adding the depth, the real stars of the pre-season have been Brosque and McFlynn.
Brosque looks electric in the front third, and has often been found tracking back to help the midfield and defence, getting a vital foot in. He has been Sydney’s everywhere man. Meanwhile McFlynn is the absolute boss of the midfield, dictating Sydney’s high tempo game with his ball-winning and efficient use. Musialik has work to do to get in the 11.
8. If Brosque and McFlynn have been the bosses of the front two thirds, the boss at the back has been Colosimo, who looks the fittest and sharpest I’ve seen him for at least five years.
9. Lavicka has nursed the other veterans, Corica and Aloisi. Corica has looked his usual assured self, however Aloisi still appears to be feeling his way in, and these days appears more of a back-to-goal target-man than a predator running angles, playing off the shoulder of the last man and looking to get in behind defences. However, no-one can fault his workrate.
10. Interestingly, against Sydney United, Lavicka used Kisel in a three-man central midfield. It proved the Slovak is adaptable and could provide some drive, getting into the box for a few chances. The width came from the likes of Brosque and Gan.
11. Ironically, despite scoring goals for fun, I sense Lavicka is looking for more fluidity in the front third. When I asked him if he was happy with how his front third was functioning, he stopped short and emphasised he was happy with how hard they were all working.
12. While 4-4-2 looks his preferred template, Lavicka has also used various forms of a 4-3-3.
md
Guest
Has anyone else noticed the spooky similarity in appearance between Steve Corica and Vitje Lavicka? I know Mike Cockerill thinks players like Steve exercise far too much authority within Sydney FC, but that is just weird! Cheers md
Brickowski
Roar Rookie
A point I made earlier seems to have been missed, Jurman and Colosimo will not be the starting centre-half pairing. Sydney's final signing will be a Centre Half of The Bench's choosing, some names being thrown around are Chris Coyne and Adrian Madaschi. Coyne will more than likely go to Perth, but I still remain hopeful we can get him. From all reports Jurman is looking good and has improved his game markedly, if he starts it is likely that Colosimo will move to the DM role and the heart & soul of Sydney, Terry McFlynn will become more of an attacking player (an area he has certainly improved on recently), moving Musialik out of the starting team, probably a good thing considering his recent form & attitude.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Mid and md I've said this before - in Melbourne, there's a great tradition of threatening to tear up your membership card when things aren't going your way (a threat we rarely carry through). md no use using rugby analogies with us Southerners - we haven't got the foggiest idea of what you're talking about!! Now if you want to talk about enforcers, winning the hard ball gets, and feeding it out to the outside runners - that we can understand!!
Midfielder
Guest
Md LOL Pip will threaten to quit again and the refs will pick on MV.
md
Guest
I'm only half joking: I wrote about this somewhere else - I reckon that MV take a Rugby approach to their tactics - they make sure their "forwards" (ie their spine) win the physical battle so that their backs (the foreign legion + Archie) are able to play creatively. It's not a bad tactic provided you can get away with it, and in a physical league like ours you mostly can, but Vargas and Muscat are a tad prone to taking it too far. Cheers md
Art Sapphire
Guest
pip - i did not label the positions because of the quickfire nature of some of my messages. I do have work demands. But the squad can play as a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 Celeski's form as DM has been excellent which is the reason Lopez has gone back to Costa Rica. md - you are being cheeky again. the best way to improve the image of the A-League is to stop SFC supporters from sulking. Not a good look :)
md
Guest
Just quietly: expect a clampdown on violence this year, which is linked to improving the image of the league, consistent with the ambitions that the FFA has for Australian football. Vargas, Muscat, Kemp, Tommy P and Allsop are going to have to change a lot or will be serious time in the stands. Tip: Pippinu to threaten to quit again. Cheers md
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Art interesting comparison. I note that you haven't labelled our mids in the way you labelled Sydney - which points to one small isse that we had even last year for much of the season - and that was getting our midfield structure spot on - there was a lot of experimentation and we only got it right towards the end of the season. Looking at the four you have included - they are mostly interchangeable - which is good - but we clearly dont' have a specialist holding mid, and Celeski filled in in that role well at the end of last year - but I'm not sure whether he is the long term answer. One other general observation - we have a reasonable spread of ages, but not too much at around 20, and maybe a bit too much around the age of 30 and above. Sydney have concentrations around the age of 20 and 30+, but not a hell of a lot in the middle. By the way - who is this Jurman bloke I keep reading about in these threads - he's the only one that I don't know anything about.
Art Sapphire
Guest
Here is a comparison of Tony's XI for SFC and the current champions. I can only see Sydney winning if Lavicka gets his tactics right. On paper MVFC look stronger. keeper - toss up, necevski just right back - casey ahead of prentice centre back - colosimo centre back - jurman left back - byun ahead of cole right mid - kisel holding mid - mcflynn attacking mid - corica left mid - gan striker - aloisi striker - brosque GK - Moss or Langerak Surat Vargas Muscat Kemp Celeski Pondeljak Ward Hernandez Allsop Thompson Bench - brebner fabiano berger
Tom
Guest
I really like the collection of players Sydney have, but every time someone posts their starting 11 I cringe a little when I look at their back four. Colosimo and Jurman as starting centre-halfs? Colosimo's a very versatile player but he's not really a defender. Jurman I haven't seen a lot of but I would have thought a team thats hoping to win the title would need some more experience back there. McFlynn's a decent holding midfielder but none of their full back options are noted for their defensive work, so I don't think they're going to get the cover they might need. Of course, missing from Tony's list is Ryall, who will be very important if and when he gets over his legal problems.
Midfielder
Guest
Jimbo & Pip Jimbo, Thanks for that . Pip South of PNG, North of Tassie, East of Perth, West of Fiji ... you should find it now no worries..
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Mid I'd love to bring the family and the kids to the central coast - the only thing is - someone will have to explain to me where it is!
md
Guest
TT - would be happy to see that team run out (though, being an ex Qlder, I do have a soft spot for Clint from those days at Perry Park). Isn't it nice to see 1 DM named - I don't think we've had that since V1. Your point about the defenders playing a high line is a good one. Also good have a couple of dead ball options as the moment too: Kisel, Byun and Cole all hit them pretty well. Cheers md
md
Guest
I thought the mighty Newtown were the blue baggers... Was that another sledge about Sydney inner city dwellers? Admittedly, "our kyles" would be pretty big in Newtown with the Imperial just about to re-open, but drag queens aside, I'd doubt anybody in Newtown would give a stuff... Bheers md
jimbo
Guest
Midfielder, GTs Good Times GTS Global Trade Services (SAP) GTS General Theological Seminary GTS Global Telecommunications System GTS Global Transaction Services (Citigroup division) GTS Generic Traffic Shaping GTS Ghost in the Shell (anime show) GTS GNU Triangulated Surface Library GTS Global Telesystems (Europe) GTS Going to Sleep GTS Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome GTS Gold Technical Support (Dell Computer Company) GTS Geographic Text Search (MetaCarta, Inc.) GTS Guaranteed Time Slot (networking protocol) GTS GPS Tracking System GTS Giga Texel Shader (nVidia) GTS Gas Turbine Services (Wood Group division) GTS Gas Turbine Ship GTS Goody Two Shoes GTS Great Trigonometrical Survey GTS Grand Touring Sedan (Monaro GTS) GTS Gran Turismo Sportivo GTS Global Telecommunications Service GTS Gas Turbine Starter GTS Gary the Snail (Spongebob Squarepants) GTS Grand Touring Sport (Pontiac) GTS Global Technical Systems (Barrie, Ontario, Canada) gtS Garantiert Traditionelle Spezialität (German: Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) GTS Ground Transportation Service(s) GTS Global Tri-State GTS Government Telecommunications System GTS Guam Tracking Station (AFSCN) GTS Global Telecommunications Society GTS God That Sucked GTS Global Tire Standard GTS Generalized Traffic Shaping (Cisco) GTS Global Telecommunications Solutions GTS Galactic Trade Standard (MMORPG Vendetta online gaming) GTS Government Transportation System GTS Geo. T. Schmidt, Inc. (machine tool manufacturer since 1895; Niles, IL) GTS Gauge Tracking System GTS Ground Test Set GTS Guidance Test Set GTS Ground Test System GTS Geostationary Tether Satellite GTS Ground Test Station GTS Gadsden Transportation Services GTS Graphics Terminal Subsystem GTS Generic Test Station GTS Generation, Transmission & Switch Gear (electrical engineering) GTS Gone To Smoke GTS Ground Tracking Station GTS Go To Sync GTS Ghost Town Streets GTS Global Test Sequence GTS Government Telephone Service GTS Galaxy Tool Supply Inc (Chicago, IL) GTS Golden Toilet Seat (A-League)
Midfielder
Guest
Jimbo Aside from my initials what does GTS stand for..
jimbo
Guest
A-League Season 1 MV miss finals Season 2 – GTS Season 3 – miss finals Season 4 - GTS Season 5 its MV’s turn to miss the finals again. Sydney is a great city for sport and entertainment but the Sydney sporting public can be fickle and like winners. The Swans and the Bulldogs [Cantebury that is] and the Rabbitohs have found that out. If Sydney do well then it will be good for SFC and good for the A-League. You can’t discount their pre-season form, their renewed enthusiasm, professional approach and increased skill and fitness. Despite not having conceded a goal in pre-season, one of the negatives from what I have seen of them is in central defence – Colosimo is very injury prone and Jurman is very inexperienced – they need to buy an experienced central defender to fill their final player spot. They could also use another marquee striker like Henrik Larsson and if they managed to get him success is season 5 would almost be assured. SFC is to Carlton beer like MV is to blue vein cheese!
Midfielder
Guest
Pip Better still have a weekend away with the wife and kids near summer.
Midfielder
Guest
Pip When are you and the shit Mexicans coming to Bluetounge so I can bye you a beer.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Bricks good to hear from you again - as Samps said earlier - it's that time of year!! (and I'm glad to hear you're not into Kylie!!) If nothing else, you should know Carlton from the Skyhooks song (but maybe you're too young for that). Tony - fair call on Sydney - to my rather brief post on flogging the players pre-season (in the case of SFC, it's like flogging a dead horse), one thing I had in mind was this - bring in the expert coaches from overseas, by all means, but surely if there is one thing an Australian coach should be able to manage on his lonesome is to get his players fit!!! Getting back to the Mexican shit - well guys, it's a little bit like this - occasionally on The Flog it would feel like me and all these Sydney blokes were talking a different language, but here on the Roar, there are some with whom I can have a meaningful dialogue - it's such a refreshing change. We are all better off understanding the secret of MV's sucess - we're not successful in spite of being in an AFL heartland - we are succesful because of it!!!