New Sydney FC A-League coach Frank Farina is targeting a new striker and a defender when the transfer window reopens in January.
The former Socceroos boss has wasted no time in making his mark on the club, axing football director Gary Cole on Monday and ordering his under-performing squad to do two training sessions a day early in the week.
Farina has also brought in strength and conditioning coach Anthony Crea and said, with the Sky Blues anchored to the bottom of the ladder more than a third of the way through the season, he had no option but to hit the ground “sprinting”.
The former Brisbane Roar coach watched his new side draw 0-0 with Melbourne Heart on Sunday and put his troops through their paces for the first time on Tuesday, promising only that they would be “super competitive” in every game under him.
“It’s early days but, in terms of the game, I was pleased in some areas but we still have a bit of work to do,” Farina said.
“It’s a big job, Sydney is arguably the biggest club in the A-League and the expectation is very high.
“But the feeling around the place is that they are keen and enthusiastic and we’ll get a lot more of that.”
Sydney have accrued just seven points and face a difficult trip to Wellington on Sunday with superstar marquee man Alessandro Del Piero battling a hamstring injury that’s likely to prevent the 37-year-old travelling across the Tasman.
Despite having one of the finest strikers of the modern game at his disposal, Farina is already targeting some extra firepower and also some reinforcements to a defence that’s conceded a whopping 22 goals in nine games.
“I’d like to bring some players in during the January window – one or two if possible,” he said.
“But it’s whether the players I like are available. There’s a lot of ifs and questions.
“I’d like one up front and also in defence, but I am not going to be able to bring a lot of players in.”
Farina said the extra training sessions were not designed to be punishment, but rather an added chance to work with the players as he seeks a way to find their first win in six games.
“I’m hitting the ground sprinting – we need to get results fast,” he said.
“In the past, things here haven’t worked out as well as they would have liked, so we have to change something.
“But I can guarantee that we’ll be super competitive in every game we play.”
Edo
Guest
What?, Is he getting the buggers to get up early in the morning more than once a week, FCS Farina, what do you think this is? SYDNEY FC? If the article is right, can any club afford to train for just one day a week?, you got to be kidding, those blokes need to know what work is if the article is correct, they are not just playing for their pleasure. They should know by now that they are playing for the club and the members and supporters not just to enjoy part time work while they are getting paid full time money. This is the problem with some of these kids that reach the A league senior team, they think they know it all already. If I was a coach I would be demanding that they attend the training ground at least 3 times a week to perfect their poor performance and to improve their attitude. If they are so good they would not playing so poorly Good luck Frank, get stucked into these blokes
Edo
Guest
What?, he getting the buggers to get up early in the morning more than once a week, FCS Farina, what do you think this is? SYDNEY FC? If the article is right, can any club afford to train for just one day a week?, you got to be kidding, those blokes need to know what work is if the article is correct, they are not just playing for their pleasure. They should know by now that they are playing for the club and the members and supporters. This is the problem with some of these kids that reach the A league senior team, they think they know it all already. If I was a coach I would be demanding that they attend the training ground at least 3 times a week to perfect their poor performance and to improve their attitude. Good luck Frank, get stucked into these blokes
Miko
Guest
Wow. Two training sessions a day. What on earth have they been doing before? I wonder what my work would think if I turned up for an hour or so a day and once on the weekend. I'd be out of a job, that's what. For a professional club that needs to be at the pinnacle for the good of the A-League, those lads need to work harder. Much harder.
George
Guest
What we simply need is another CB to push the two we already have. Grif isnt showing me much confidence and Pascal is looking a tad shaky too so another tried and tested back will do wonders. We also need a striker. a big number 9, we had him in Bruno Cazarine and with a natural number 10 in ADP and actual wingers that like to cross he would be the perfect steady hold up player we need. What annoys me most is that we had them in Bruno and Beachamp and released them both and never replaced them accordingly so now we need to go shopping again so in my opinion if we can get them 2 positional players in we will be sweet!
Jojosydney
Guest
Farina already has the right players, he's just playing them out of position. Playing 2 defensive midfielders is a waste of a player and also confuses the players. Play a 4-4-2 with grant-boschcart-griffiths-fabio out the back. midfield diamond should be emmo on the right, culina defensive mid, abbas on the left and del piero on top of the diamond. up front, we can choose from our list of strikers, chianase, yau, powell, malia or even antonis could play there. OR play a 3-2-3-2 formation. ryal-boschart-grifiths at the back. culina and reid in front of them (or mcflyn), then emmo- del piero and abbas with again of any two strickers.