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For a long time will I regret not getting tickets for this match. A near-capacity crowd of 40388, hosted by a team of supposedly fickle supporters and the other whose fans are not unaccustomed to ‘bandwagon’ chants.
From a neutral’s perspective the match was a tremendous success as the Sydney Derby continued to cement its place as one of the Harbour city’s largest sporting events.
But this article is not a neutral’s perspective.
It is very rare for five players to face the club whom they had all previously been released from in the same game – Michael Beauchamp, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Brendon Santalab, Shannon Cole and Mark Bridge.
I almost spilt my latte upon hearing this.
Regardless of how long ago these players were released, the fact that they are arguably all playing at a higher standard than previously suggests that there is an unmitigated issue at Moore Park.
Two shots on target in two matches is simply not good enough.
On a similar note, the past few seasons have seen players with huge reputations fail to reach the levels they’d reached previously.
First and foremost, Brett Emerton, after a decade playing in Europe, looks as though he’s forgotten how to take a touch.
Former Hull City star (for want of a better word) Richard Garcia, who to be fair had a decent scoring return last season for Heart, looked lost out there against players with far less credentialed CVs.
We’ve seen Socceroo ‘golden boys’ Lucas Neill and Jason Culina come and go with little success.
Worse still, even the experienced campaigners like Matt Thompson and Seb Ryall, the kind of honest, hard-working players you’d expect to be counting on, look like frightened teenagers on debut.
And then we have the curious case of the one they call Alessandro Del Piero.
As an Australian football fan, let alone a Sydney fan, I take pride in the fact that the A-League boasts one of the greatest players of the last twenty years.
Even the most staunch of Wanderers or Victory fans wouldn’t be able to deny the impact he has had on the game.
In saying this, would it be unfair to say his mere presence at the club has led to complacency? Perhaps.
Does the fact that he is Alessandro Del Piero lead his teammates to overly depend on him? Obviously.
Is it the main reason Sydney have been so poor? Not by a long shot.
We are taunted by rivals fans for our self-proclaimed status as Australia’s ‘Glamour club’. But can you blame them?
Sydney FC have become that one person we all know that is all talk, no walk.
Instead of walking away from a fight for a few years and redeveloping the club’s structure, we keep throwing punches by way of, however successful, short term marquee signings that shield the all too real cracks in the armour of the club.
Brisbane has Berisha, Adelaide has Jeronimo. Isn’t it about time Sydney looked outside the scope of washed up thirty-somethings and found an unknown gem of their own?
Adelaide’s Fabio Ferreira comes to mind, a former Chelsea trainee playing in the doldrums of the NSW Super League – the state’s third tier.
Where was Sydney’s offer for him? Was his ego not big enough? Would he not fit into the ‘glamour’ ideal?
I refuse to follow suit with the ‘fickle following’ stereotype that is associated with this club.
Unfortunately, however, I have an sneaking suspicion that I am not alone in the belief that this glamour club tag has dragged on, doing nothing but hindering the club’s progress.
Something needs to be done. Dignity must be restored to a club that really should be vying for the ‘Best Club in the Country’ tag.
But after two abysmal performances such as these, it looks like that will take some doing.
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