Sydney FC have put together an unbelievable squad for the upcoming A-League campaign, but has it got any weaknesses? How can Sydney FC’s squad be beaten this season?
First of all, how can a team press Sydney?
The best thing to do is to force the long ball to Adam Le Fondre or Kosta Barbarouses. As seen in around the first five or eight games of Sydney FC’s 2018-19 season, their main strategy was getting the ball to Jop van der Linden to get the ball in behind to Le Fondre. It was almost like Sydney were excited about the prospect of having a pacey striker, after having the likes of Bobo and Marc Janko, and were getting the most out of him.
The best way to do this is to have one player on every player in the Sydney team, except for Alex Wilkinson. This is because as solid as Wilkinson is defensively, he just isn’t comfortable going forward with the ball. That would force him to make the long ball or pass it back to Andrew Redmayne.
(AAP Image/Tony McDonough)
If the ball does go back to Redmayne, then back off and allow him to take time to make a pass. When Redmayne is allowed unexpected time, he always seemed surprised, and if you’re marking everyone properly he will be forced to make the long ball.
I have seen multiple occasions where Redmayne has simply messed up due to being allowed too much time. Assuming that he does make the long ball, your defence will get it nine times out of ten. The defender passes the ball back to the keeper, who takes a touch and then has the ball in his hands.
Now you have to distribute the ball into the attacking half. Due to the pace of Le Fondre and Barbarouses, as well as their ability to pick-pocket the ball, it is best not to linger on the ball too long, so the way to get the ball forward is to utilise Michael Zullo’s lack of height and Alex Wilkinson’s lack of pace.
So, assuming you are playing a 4-3-3, start with a quick right winger and a tall striker. You would swap them around, play a ball onto the head of the striker, who is on the wing against Zullo. The striker can flick the ball onto the quick winger, who is now on his preferred wing against Wilkinson.
He can either get around him or hold up the ball, waiting for the options. It is now five against four, with Sydney’s defence plus Brandon O’Neill (Luke Brattan won’t be back yet due to his slow transitioning in defence). If the winger can get around Wilkinson, it is now a four on four, which is a great opportunity to score.
Your team scores and Sydney are on halfway for kick-off, but how can that be defended?
By far the best way to defend Sydney FC is to force them onto the wing, preferably the left. You can set up with a narrow back four, and constantly track the playmakers Milos Ninkovic and Alex Baumjohann.
If Ninkovic or Baumjohann do get the ball, force the strikers to make the runs onto the wing. With Le Fondre, you can’t force him to cut inside and force him to hold up the ball. Same with Barbarouses, except you can’t give him any room down the line, because he will outpace almost any left back in a foot race.
If they aren’t counter-attacking and are playing a possession game, force the ball onto the wings, and force Zullo and Rhyan Grant to get in crosses first time.
Overall, Sydney FC has put together a great squad, but like every team, they have their flaws.
And if a team plays the right style and tactics against them, then they give themselves a chance to grab at least one point.
Brisbane Roar will be the first team to line up against Sydney in the FFA Cup round of 32, and that will be a very interesting game.
josh
Guest
WSW have never run foul of the salary cap though, i'm not sure what the point of your comment is ? A quick google search shows more than one for SydneyFC though....
Punter
Roar Rookie
Salty!!!!! Ironic MV fan & WSW fan complaining about salary cap!!!
josh
Guest
This. They've been caught before, they're just better at hiding it these days. Their arrogance is unbelievable but we'll see how much of it remains when they're finally caught.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
That's very good - I didn't realise Pobeda is Russian for Victory.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Pobeda Airlines is the low cost version of Aeroflot. I've flown Aeroflot and it's hard to believe a low cost version would even be possible.
Punter
Roar Rookie
I think some Eastern European team called Melburn Pobeda.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
I would start with an accountant. Sweep in quickly, pick up the books, pass back to the junior office clerk, hold possession of the books and don’t give that possession away, but rather use it to forensically analyse how on earth this squad can even be close to being under the salary cap.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Nemesis - who did you play senior football for?
Redondo
Roar Rookie
Jack - interesting article. I think SFC's most interesting signings are Brattan and McGowan. Adding Brattan means SFC now have excellent passing ability across the pitch in midfield. That means the opposition can't just track Ninkovic and Baumjohann, or just defend the wing runs of Zullo and Grant. Sydney will probably play a lot more through the centre this season, with lots of switching from side to side. It should be good to watch and hard to defend against. The drawback with Brattan is that he will never replace Brillante defensively. And that's where McGowan probably fits into Corica's plans i.e. mopping up what O'Neill can't manage on his own in defensive midfield.
Jack George
Roar Guru
Thanks, that means a lot. I see what you mean and that's a great point; I will definitely try that.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
You're doing fine, Jack, and the article was a good one. You are never going to please everyone so don't try. My suggestion is to restrict your responses to those who respond to your tactical points and hence foster discussion in the area of interest you are aiming for. Keep up the writing and I am looking forward to reading more of your articles.
Jack George
Roar Guru
I do play outdoor competitive football. I am sure that you have much more knowledge of tactical football than me, and I have only started writing articles at the end of last year and try to learn as much as I can, about writing and tactics. I have no idea what might happen over the course of next season, but I thought this would be a fun article to write and I enjoyed writing it. But you have commented on one of my articles before, and you seem to not enjoy my writing very much. I apologise for that, and I will try to improve it so it meets your standard, but there's only so much I can do about tactics with my lack of experience. I try to watch every A-League game (except for the 9:30 pm ones in Perth), and I am doing my best to improve on this.
Nemesis
Guest
I prefer to use observations and facts to form my opinions. So far, only 2 ALeague teams have played a competitive match. They both played semi professional opponents, so not much I learned about how they'll perform between October to April against full-time professional opponents. Maybe Sydney FC will win 26 Home and Away matches by 10-0. But, they haven't yet played 1 competitive match. Maybe, they'll lose to Brisbane in the FFA Cup. Maybe they'll win 25-0 in the FFA Cup. Either result would still mean FA in terms of what will happen over 7 months from October 2019, to May 2020. Just out of interest, Jack. Are you playing, or have you played, outdoor competitive football at senior level? Or, is your tactical football awareness mainly from playing football on video games?
Jack George
Roar Guru
I don't know about you, but I believe for quite a few reasons that Sydney is a better team this season. Steve Corica has experience as a head coach and they have a better squad as well. They have replaced the quality but inconsistent and injury-prone Siem De Jong with Alexander Baumjohann, the aging Alex Brosque with Kosta Barberouses who, at his last two years in Melbourne Victory had the two best years in his career playing at second striker and will be a great asset to Sydney, as well as having the unpredictable Ivanovic on the bench. Zuvela and Buhagiar are returning from injury and will be great assets for rotation, and Anthony Caceres will be a solid asset to midfield. McGowan is also a better addition than Van Der Linden and Calver. For these reasons, I believe that Sydney has a way better squad this year and will be able to challenge for the minor premiers and will be a lot more consistent. But it is the Roar, and everyone is allowed their own opinion, and that is mine about Sydney FC and that is why I chose to write this article.
Nemesis
Guest
Sydney lost more than 1 in 4 matches last season. Sydney lost to 6 out of 9 ALeague opponents last season. The only teams not to beat Sydney last season were: CCM, WSW and AUFC. AUFC beat Sydney in the FFA Cup Finale. This suggests nearly every team knows how to beat Sydney.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
I got a very sore neck whenever I visited Vicarage Rd in the army 80’s. George Reilly, a beanpole of a forward whose head was near the clouds was always the target although they bought Mo Johnstone as well and it was exciting times at Watford as they did create a lot of scoring opportunities even if they didn’t finish them. It was also a period when we got to see a fairly raw John Barnes before his more famous days at Liverpool. Nigel Callaghan was a pretty useful winger and Ross Jenkins is another name that comes to mind from those days. A bit off topic I know and I wasn’t really a fan of their style at the time but it was very effective for a few years. I preferred watching Trevor Brooking and Alan Devonshire carve out chances along the ground for the likes of Stuart Pearson David Cross and Paul Goddard, helped along by a young Paul Allen before he made a treacherous move to North London!
jbinnie
Guest
Jack- You are obviously a disciple of one Graham Taylor ,who, by introducing the "high press" game to his 4th Division (at the time) Watford team,got them from fourth to first division in just 5 seasons,a remarkable achievement. The "high press" is a misnomer,probably invented by some journalist, but it has replaced the older coaching jargon that spelled out,"as soon as your team loses possession,pick up ,and mark the nearest opponent to you. If this philosophy can be instilled into a team then it makes it extremely hard for an opponent to build a successful counter attack. Watford achieved their "miracle" between 1977 to 1982 so your analysis on how to tackle Sydney FC is not new,in fact tacticly the game has moved on somewhat from then and today ,at the highest levels, we see the ability to " control, pass, and move the ball accurately to an advanced,and constantly moving team-mate" much more effective at getting behind a retreating defence, in it's attempts to impede an opponent's attack. Here in OZ we always appear to be a few years behind the tactical development going on elsewhere and it is this factor that makes game analysis here a very risky pastime. Cheers jb.