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The wool can no longer be pulled over people’s eyes. This is what a crisis is made of.
Sydney FC’s 3-1 humiliation at home to the Wellington Phoenix on Saturday night outlined that Graham Arnold’s recruitment, selection and management has failed dismally for the 2015-16 season.
The stunning fall from grace could not contrast differently from 2014-15. The club was riding on the crest of a wave playing quick, decisive, counter-attacking football with a clear philosophy that satisfied supporters across Allianz Stadium.
Going into the decider on grand final day last May, the Sky Blues boasted international names like Marc Janko, Bernie Ibini, Terry Antonis and young Socceroos fullback Alex Gersbach.
Janko will head to the European championships with Austria playing regular football in Switzerland with FC Basel, having started in the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Ibini’s loan period was allowed to elapse before heading to Club Brugge, while Antonis switched to Greece with Paok.
But the Gersbach move to Rosenborg is without doubt the most contentious. Sources close to the club believe that Arnold urged the decision makers to keep the left back, until he was sold to Norway months out from running his contract down.
If the split between management and board level is correct, then it is the first time such a difference in opinion of personal has occurred since the coach’s arrival at Moore Park.
In the context of a competition ruled by salary cap restrictions, clubs are forgiven for fluctuating in form. A bad day at the office is excusable, yet the manner of the 3-1 defeat feels different.
Sydney found themselves 3-0 down before half time and the muted atmosphere inside Allianz reflected directly onto the pitch. Commentators Mike Cockerill and Ned Zelic pointed to the unusually quiet manager on the touchline and the feeling of discontent over Arnold’s management became palpable.
The football on show was pitiful from start to finish. Ball movement was telegraphed and laboured, illustrating a squad bereft of ideas and void of confidence.
Blake Powell’s goal added insult to injury, defying Arnold’s choice not to keep him at the club as the striker added a fifth to his tally of recent contributions to trips to the Harbour City.
Sydney is now outside the looking glass and peering into the abyss. The depth and talent of the roster is below par and that doesn’t even touch on the confidence of the group which appears shot to pieces.
For a must win game, the bench on Saturday was packed with experience in the form of Ali Abbas, Mikael Tavares and million-dollar-man Filip Holosko, the latter of which was not selected for the Asian Champions League and started the supposed banker of a fixture on the sidelines.
The Cove are fed up, members are fed up, viewers from afar are bemused and major questions about the direction of the club remain unanswered.
During the week, broadcaster Mike Cockerill intimated on Fox Sports’ Roundtable program that Arnold was safe for 2015-16 regardless of results. SBS presenter Lucy Zelic described that assertion as ‘absurd’.
Arnold was brought to Sydney as a tough-talking, no-nonsense winner that would take the club from perennial underachievers to Australian powerhouse within the period of his contract.
Almost two years into the three of that agreement, the Sky Blues are arguably worse than the rabble he inherited from Frank Farina.
If that isn’t a crisis for Sydney FC then nothing is.
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