Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka says he’ll wait until Brett Emerton returns to Australia before considering the Socceroos star for the A-League club’s captaincy.
Emerton, Australia’s second most-capped player with 87, has captained his country on two occasions and became a seasoned Premier League veteran while plying his trade with Blackburn Rovers since 2003.
Lavicka and current Sky Blues captain Terry McFlynn both praised Emerton’s leadership skills on Friday, but Lavicka said it was too early to say if Sydney’s new marquee signing was a candidate to take over the armband.
“It’s too early (to discuss any change to the captaincy). Firstly I’m going to speak to Emmo when he’s coming first time here,” Lavicka said.
“Of course we need more than one leader in this squad, because of that example last season – when we missed a couple of senior players, we missed leadership and it was a problem for us last season.”
Emerton will link up with the Sydney squad after Australia’s World Cup qualifiers against Thailand and Saudi Arabia, with his likely first outing a pre-season clash with Perth Glory on September 24.
Lavicka was similarly uncertain about what on-field role the versatile Emerton would play, or if he would look at tweaking his formation.
“That’s a good question. Now we have to find out the right system and the right spot for him,” he said.
“He’s a team player first. He’s a good quality player and he has plenty of engine and ability to do something special in the attacking half – to create chances and score some goals, as he did in previous years for Blackburn and in Europe too.”
Lavicka noted the club has “a commitment to setup the players and team around” Emerton, but quickly backtracked when quizzed about whether the side would be structured around Emerton’s attacking prowess.
“No. He’s a team player, a good quality player – but a team player,” Lavicka said.
“I like it. We have other good quality players, we need time to settle and to give players the time to recognise the right way we can play.
“We have time to check everything and setup.”
McFlynn played a straight bat to suggestions of losing the captaincy to Emerton but said the signing had provided a spark in pre-season training.
“It’s been bubbling along in the media for a while, and to be honest we were all hoping that we can get him in,” McFlynn said.
“When it was confirmed, the boys were all very excited and buzzing, we’ve cleared a space for him in the dressing room already.
“We can’t wait to get him here and get him to the training ground and start the hard work with him.”
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