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When it comes to A-League opinion it is generally one extreme or the other. Take, for instance, Sydney FC – geniuses in Round 1, basketcase in Round 2.
Such is football fandom – and such is the lot of the competition’s self-proclaimed glamour club, for whom the next meltdown is only ever a couple of losses away.
Tomorrow night, in the Sydney derby, the Sky Blues get another opportunity to shape their external perception. They have to show something or else it will get worse, very quickly.
A virtuoso performance from Alessandro Del Piero steered Sydney to an opening round win over Newcastle, which basically came off his own boot and in spite of some patchiness in midfield and defence and some unexpected help from Zenon Caravella.
But it nevertheless saw them touted as potential title challengers by some for a good week or so – and, curiously, prompted one journalist to innocently (or ignorantly, or both) inquire as to Farina’s interest in the Socceroos job.
Yet the moment ADP went down with injury against Brisbane on Saturday was the moment the blowtorch fired up on both Farina and the Sky Blues hierarchy.
That Socceroos question became black comedy in retrospect.
Granted, Suncorp is not an easy place to visit and this Roar team under Mike Mulvey is breathing fire. But Sydney were horrendous.
It was 4-0 but it could have been so much worse. Del Piero’s exit from the game not only threw a structural spanner into the works for Farina, but it seemed the Sky Blues lacked any inspiration or intensity without him.
There was little resistance as Brisbane messed with them like a class bully dishing out an endless series of defensive dackings.
On the rare occasion they entered the final third, nobody knew what to do next – which, to be fair, is par for the course when your only real tactic is to give it to the Italian and await further instructions.
Only the most optimistic of fans could have expected Del Piero, who will be 39 next month, to feature in all of Sydney’s games this season.
Injuries are inevitable at his vintage, and footballers don’t tend to age quite as nicely as wine.
Reports suggest Farina could use ADP off the bench against Western Sydney. Unless he is at full fitness, that would be a terrible idea.
Calf injuries are not good news for veterans. They tend to hang around, even when treated conservatively.
Farina knows this, and should have worked on a plan B for this eventuality.
Nobody can afford to have Del Piero on the sidelines for any longer than he has to be – least of all Sydney, who now need to prove they can be decent without him.
Anything to stave off the nagging feeling that when he hangs up his boots and moves back to Turin, Sydney FC will go back to the bad old days of off-field instability and on-field impotence.
Last season, when the ADP fascination was at its peak, it was easy to banish those kind of thoughts to the dark recesses of your mind, where they would get lost and never return.
But now, not so much.
It is highly unlikely he will play next season. If the early signs are any indication, his body won’t let him.
Nor might Sydney’s fitness program, which has been pilloried for the club’s lengthy early-season injury list.
The reality is ADP will soon be gone. Which leads to the one question Sydney FC fans want answered.
What are they outside of him?
They will be here when Del Piero isn’t, and that’s why it’s so important Sydney perform when he’s on the sidelines – to show they are more than a one-man club.
To prove there is order, not lawlessness and chaos, when he goes off the field. To prove the club’s football product is not built around a fading legend but a clear plan, and a team fit to carry it out.
Del Piero should be the icing, not the cake.
Farina has more than his share of critics. He also has a lot of supporters. And he has also had, in football terms, an eternity to prepare for this season.
What Sydney produce tomorrow night and beyond will be telling as to how effective his planning has been, and whether the pendulum of public opinion swings back in his favour.
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