Sydney FC – 10 Game Review
For once, we are ten weeks into the A-league season and there aren’t any calls for the Sydney FC head coach to be sacked. Everyone seems content and there is a good reason why.
In the off season, after the turbulent reign of Frank Farina. The sky blues of the harbor city signed a proven A-league coach in Graham Arnold. This got even the most pessimistic supporters excited. From then on Mr. Arnold attempted to establish his own roster and made changes. The first of which was to sign Bernie Ibini on loan but possibly more crucially is the changes he has made behind the scenes.
10 weeks into the regular season, Sydney Fc sit in 4th position with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws and one loss. Ironically the best of these performances was the weekend before I am typing this article. The 3-3 away draw with rivals Melbourne Victory was a step forward definitely in the final third with Janko and Smeltz combining well. However conceding three goals does raise a few concerns and everyone awaits the return of Sasa Ognenovski. So to fully break down the first ten weeks, it is important to look at the team position by position.
Goalkeeper:
Great goalkeepers win points for their teammates and my goodness has the sky blues glove man has done that. Vedran Janjetovic has possibly caught many by surprise with the form he has displayed and definitely has been crucial in saving his teammates blushes. Let’s hope it continues for the rest of the campaign.
Defenders:
As stated above, Janjetovic has won the sky blues points and been in top form. This however isn’t essentially a good thing that means the defense hasn’t been the best. You could mount multiple cases for different reasons. The injury for Sasa Ognenovski is undoubtedly a blow, his leadership for one has been missed by his teammates. Left back Alex Gersbach has a big future but on occasion he is caught out especially when facing the experience. At right back, Bojic has come in for Ognenovski with Ryall moving to the center and is finally seeming to settle. The rock so far has been Petkovic and despite the occasional brain lapse, he has been solid.
Midfielders:
Along with the goalkeeping aspect of the team this is where Sydney has impressed the most. The central midfield or beating heart of the team in Antonis and Dimitrijevic have been exceptional in controlling the play. This is definitely a breath of fresh air, particularly seeing Antonis get a consistent run of games together. However probably the most concerned I have been as a Sydney supporter this season was when Dimitrijevic was out suspended. It exposed the key nature of both these players especially now since Sydney have lost Ali Abbas for the season. Speaking of concerns, Ibini started worryingly but thankfully with game time has come confidence and he has improved as the game has gone on.
Attackers:
“We will rebuild”, at least that’s what I imagine Graham Arnold said when he found out Corey Gamerio would be out for the season. This left Sydney with an attacking trio of Janko, Smeltz and captain Brosque. Naturally Brosque has been switching throughout the early part of the season between striker and left midfielder. Brosque hasn’t disappointed so far seemingly coming back with more drive for the club he loves and probably couldn’t have scripted a better first goal on his return. Scoring the winner against cross-city rivals West Sydney in round 2. Janko has also displayed drive and is making a specialty of scoring away from home. He will improve as his teammates continue to learn how to play with him. Finally we come to Shane Smeltz, if you would’ve asked me about his before the most recent game against the Victory, I probably would shrug it off and ask what the fuss is about. However he was excellent against our rivals scoring twice and providing a memorable assist to Marc Janko for his goal.
Overall, the sky blues are a work in progress, expectation is sure to rise with every positive performance. Onwards and upwards we go!
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