After a shocking season last year, Graham Arnold has regenerated Sydney FC into a powerhouse, like they were five years ago.
We have said farewell to Frank Farina and some of our recognised players, including former captains Alessandro Del Piero and Terry McFlynn, and welcomed new faces.
Since Graham Arnold has become the ninth coach to sit in the Bunnings chairs at the Sydney Football Stadium, there has been a lot of changes.
People say if a team has a good pre-season then they’ll have a great season. For example, the Brisbane Roar last season performed very well in their pre-season, and ended up clinching both the premier’s plate and the championship.
This pre-season Sydney have won seven games out of eight, and that’s not including their win against Melbourne City in the FFA Cup round of 32.
In-form striker Corey Gamiero has scored in every game the Sky Blues have won, close to scoring a hat-trick at times.
New recruits – returning midfielder Alex Brosque, talisman Shane Smeltz, pacey Bernie Ibini and marquee man Marc Janko – have all settled in to the Graham Arnold system.
Sydney are playing a new style, one which other coaches in the past have achieved.
The Vitezslav Lavicka era saw a European style of play, and during the Del Piero era the playmaker created a new brand of football, but now Arnold – like he did at the Central Coast Mariners – has the team playing football the way they did under Pierre Littbarski in season one.
That’s how long it’s been since we have played our best football, so I must praise chairman Scott Barlow and CEO Tony Pignata for appointing Arnold as head coach. But how will he deploy the talent at his disposal?
One of the stars who saved us in matches last season was Vedran Janjetovic. That penalty save against Western Sydney against former Sydney striker Mark Bridge in the Sydney derby was just pure gold. With respect to Adelaide United goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic, Janjetovic should’ve been anmed goalkeeper of the year.
In defence, Sasa Ognenovski and Nikola Petkovic lead the back four, and both are potential captains. Pedj Bojic will be back to full fitness.
Arnold has a few opinions for the left back position. Youngsters Alex Gersbach, Matt Jurman and Rhyan Grant would be some of my choices for that position, but Arnold has stated he’d like to sign a European left back.
In midfield, Ali Abbas has been superb for Sydney since arriving two seasons ago; he’ll retain his spot. In right midfield, it will be a tackle between future Socceroo Terry Antonis and Serbian Milos Dimitrijevic. Antonis could also play as a defensive midfielder, which he did towards the end of last season, but Peter Triantis and Hagi Gligor will be competing for that position as well.
Alex Brosque can be played in the playmaker role, as he did when he used to play for Sydney, just in behind the two strikers. Former Socceroo Nicky Carle could be a back-up to Brosque since he prefers the playmaker position as well.
Sydney have Janko, Smeltz, Ibini and Gamiero to chose from, and I would have Ibini and Smeltz on the bench, coming on as super-subs.
Gamiero has been the best in-form player in the A-League during pre-season, and he deserves to play David Villa’s Melbourne City in Round 1, alongside Marc Janko.
My line-up for the match against City
Janjetovic
Bojic-Ogeneovski-Petkovic-Grant
Antonis
Dimitrijevic-Abbas
Brosque
Janko-Gamiero
Bench;:Necevski, Jurman, Carle, Ibini, Smeltz
With this squad and this coach in the dugout, Sydney FC are set for a third championship!
Arto
Guest
+1!! I'm also concerned that they have recruited players on the downward part of their performance curves - a lot of players who (IMO) have had their best HAL seasons already...
Arto
Guest
Again, +1!!! Couldn't agree with you more! :-) The thing that makes me most excited (& optimistic about this season) is that for the first time in a while, we look like we can actually control the game in midfield - we have a good blend of Jedinak-type disruptors and Bresciano-type creators (no comparisons between skill levels intended, purely role-related)... However, this is all on paper and reliant upon players meeting their potential - I'm still concerned that we might have some underperformers, despite Arnold's high expectations...
Arto
Guest
+1!!! Me too. I expect he'll drop back quickly in order to cover for any pace advantage that some oppostion sides will have over him.
Arto
Guest
+1!!! So far in pre-season, so good... Although MV look ominously in good form too! :-(
Arto
Guest
@ Christo the Daddyo: Yeah, I think he's being carried away on a wave of euphoria over a successful pre-season so far... :-)
Arto
Guest
@ Aljay: I haven't seen enough of their games to be sure, but their recruiting suits a 4-3-3, IMO. with Brosque, Gameiro/Ibini on the wings & Janko/Smeltz in the middle (#9). Of course, they could play a 4-2-3-1 as well and have Antonis/Carle behind the #9 with Dimitrijevic & Triantis as the DMs. I agree with your later comment though regarding Abbas (if he plays LB) & Bojic bombing on down the flanks when needed, although I'm a bit wary of us not having a enough pace through the middle of defence...
Arto
Guest
@ The Minister: The chief ASS being Butcher!!! ;-)
Arto
Guest
@ Fadida: +1! I'm an SFC fan, and I admit to cringing slightly as I read the article. Yes, Gameiro has been great in pre-season and Arnold seems to have recruited well, but so have some of the other HAL teams (eg: MV, MCFC, and Jets). I also agree with others on here in that SFC has never really been known for exciting, attacking football of the likes MV had in Season 2, Roar in Seasons 5 & 6, and AU in Season 9, for example. Season 1's triumph was in the midst of a new beginning, Season 5 was the result of Lavicka's pragmatism (which was found wanting the season afterwards when the stars were not replaced). ADP's time was crippled by the teething problems of the new administration (to put it sympathetically!!). Only time will tell if Arnold's tenure is to be associated with exciting attacking football - his record suggests more workmanlike than star attraction, but maybe that had more to do with CCM than his tactics & strategies?? As for his starting XI, there are a couple of points of interest I have: Janjetovic is a good keeper, but Galekovic is certainly the better of the 2 so his comment there about Keeper of the Year is a bit optimistic! The backline could be found wanting for pace down the middle so a fast LB is essential to even up the balance there. However, as pre-season shows, SFC will not be too soft in defence IMO - the 0-4 result to Newcastle so many people have been commenting previously on needs to be seen for what it was (2nd game under Arnold, against an EPL team containing MANY international-level players 3 wks out from their season, that showed glimpses of what SFC were trying to develop). Since then, SFC has won every game and hasn't conceeded more than 2 goals each game whilst scoring on average over 3 per game (incl. 2-0 vs Roar recently). Midfield looks strong enough to control the game against most teams, so I'm optimistic about that area. It will depend upon how Arnold sets up the team of course, but the depth is quite good, IMO. Attack is really the area we NEED to improve - whilst ADP was great the supporting cast was pretty woeful despite Despotovic's good effort. Teams knew that if they stifled ADP, we didn't have the tempo in our play to cause enough problems and results like the 5-0 over MV were more due to the opposition's appalling performance rather than SFC's brilliance (ADP aside). In terms of positions, I'd have Abbas as my LB (alternating with Gersbach) in the absence of a new signing there, with Bojic, Ognenovski, & Petkovic as the remaining clear 1st choice players. Triantis or Dimitrijevic as the DM with Carle & Antonis as the 2 other more attack-minded midfielders, and Brosque, Janko & Gameiro/Ibini as my front 3 in a 4-3-3. Jurman, Ryall, Grant, Naumoff & Smeltz will all have good claims to be on the 5-man bench so Arnold can choose between them!
Josh
Guest
Az, those from the East have been dividing it for decades.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
BIG message to Mr Pignata , Mr Barlow and GA - you can't keep on counting al those cats and pooches putting up their paws for pet membership as part of the general admission ok ? ;-)
Cameron
Roar Guru
No disputing that!
Sm6
Guest
There so much SFC could've done better and equally some worse.But there is a sector of the football community that was going to reject the first Sydney HAL club irrespective of that club's actions.Being the first HAL Sydney club came with advantages and disadvantages!
Midfielder
Guest
Sm6 You make some very valid points... which heighten those past management errors... To say SFC has been poorly run is over the top ... equally to say it has been well run is wrong.. I will add that mistakes made by SFC management were seen by others cubs and they have led in many ways.. to changes by these clubs... My disappointment was always with the mediocre management they had for quite a while when while I wanted to smash them when we played ... I wanted all teams to reach their potential for the betterment of football as a whole... SFC always seemed to have issues ... gotta say with the new CEO and coach it has finally turned around...
Midfielder
Guest
not a wall a moot ... from the Parramatta River to the Georges River ...
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Tasmania divides their entire state.
The Minister
Guest
I vote for a wall! :-)
AZ_RBB
Guest
Ahhh the never ending debate over east and west. Do other cities have the same obsession with dividing up their city?
The Minister
Guest
I agree that it is and always should be SFC's catchment area. While technically neither East nor West I referred to it as a buffer zone in the sense that there is support for both clubs in the area especially in the outer fringes of the Inner West. But I would say the majority of A-league fans in the area gravitate towards SFC.
Sm6
Guest
Midfielder, I think the reasons why SFC haven't reached their potential in respects to support is a lot more complex and due to some historical and cultural reasons in the evolvement of football in this Sydney.Being the first HAL team in this city was a double edges sword.When the NSL ceased to exist and when the HAL came in a few years later SFC had to take the brunt of resentment from the old football diehards that were understandably bitter.A lot of them almost made a pact to reject the HAL and SFC.I grew up in an area where there are a lot of Sydney Olympic fans and this sentiment is profound.A lot of them and fellow NSL bitters viewed SFC as Sydney city Hakoah and to say they rejected SFC totally.I can even give you an example where SFC visits a local football club in the inner west regularly and has given the club over $1000 but despite this the board members that are exNSL refused to shake hands with the SFC representative as they refuse to shake hands with Hakoah (saw it with my own eyes).They have burnt their own emotional bridge.Fast forward a few years and they have realized that the NSL clubs are never coming back.They are WSW fans now despite they have never lived or would ever live in Western Sydney.Ironically through their owner,board and sponsors WSW has stronger links to East Sydney Hakoah than SFC.They would never have supported either team if they were the first team in the HAL as the bitterness among old soccer was still raw.I know a lot of these guys well through my local football social network and they even admitted that would never have supported the HAL or any team 10years ago.Moral of my post is that SFC was around during the years when the HAL was less appeal in and they could've kissed the ass of these guys relentlessly and it wouldn't have made a difference.The Sydney teams that came second would always have an advantage in this respect.
Sm6
Guest
Minister,I have to disagree with your interpretation of where west ends and where Sydney FCs area starts.The inner west is not a buffer zone eventhough there are WSW fans there.Western Sydney is an official area and WSW acknowledges these boundaries and they exclude the inner west from their community engagement policy.The inner west in pretty much part of theCDSFA which a lot of its member clubs are aligned to SFC.I know of 3 inner west clubs that have made approaches to WSW and been rejected.My point being that the inner west is not a buffer zone but definately part of SFC's catchment area.