Fan Preview – Sydney FC

FTSAUS spoke to Sydney FC fan Bjorn Roston about their chances this season

The great Alessandro Del Piero has now gone; will Sydney be a better team without him?

Simple answer, Yes.

Alessandro Del Piero will probably be one of the best players Sydney FC will ever sign. One can never underestimate the effect that he had on the club. Record memberships, breaching the 10’000 figure for the first time, biggest single day of day trade for the stadium store, highest average attendance. The list goes on.

I can still remember when the story broke 2 years ago that Del Piero was signed. It was shocking and came out of left field. Immediately Sydney FC went from being in a rebuilding phase with a mix of youth team players and fledgling coach in Ian Crook. To being made title favourites. An article by Sebastian Hassett (@sebth) in August of 2012 says it all with the first line reading;

“SYDNEY FC has landed the biggest coup in Australian club football history with Italian striker Alessandro Del Piero agreeing to join the Sky Blues this season.

I think most SFC fans will tell you that they would never change Del Piero playing for Sydney. Having said that the public perception of Sydney FC’s playing style took a massive hit, with most people believing that the system Sydney FC played for 2 years was to get the ball to Del Piero and hope he can do something magical. In his first year, more often than not, he did. In the later stages of his stint with SFC it became obvious that he was having issues with the quickening nature of the A-League (Let’s not forget, he was the better part of 40).

To answer the question with my albeit inexperienced opinion, I don’t think so. Though I do believe that his absence will have other negative flow on effects which are more of a commercial nature for example, shirt sales, gate takings and general exposure level.

Graham Arnold has recruited well, and has breathed new life into the players that were still under contract. So personally, I think we will see more a team game from Sydney FC with all players knowing exactly where they need to be and when they need to there.

What do you expect from Graham Arnold?

Simply. Beautiful football.

For a lot of Sydney FC fans it has been a long slog with Farina being at the helm playing what could be described as old school football. No disrespect intended it’s just, in my opinion; football in Australia has moved on from the days of kick and pray. Farina handled himself with poise and class (most of the time), and was in an extremely difficult position. If you want to read some analysis of Del Piero’s effect on tactics then have a look at Kate Cohen’s pieces (@KateCohenKCS). Adding to the difficulty of playing Del Piero in a tactical sense, many people heard rumours of cost cutting exercises by Sydney FC presumably because of the humungous wage bill. This would not have helped Farina at all.

From the 12 games that Graham Arnold’s new look Sydney FC have played, it’s almost night and day. Arnold has become well known for attacking fluid football. His style has definitely been on display in the pre-season friendlies and the FFA-Cup games. The performances have been across the entire spectrum from NPL, A-League and EPL teams with 9 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss from 12 pre-season games.

Ahh come on who am I kidding.

Beautiful football with three points.

Who would you prefer to play in a final and why? Western Sydney or Melbourne Victory?

This is an extremely hard question to answer.

I would like to say Melbourne Victory purely because of the history there; we have already beaten them in a final.  Though the answer has to be Western Sydney. Can you imagine a sold out ANZ stadium or preferably Allianz Stadium, filled to the brim with Sydney FC and a couple Western Sydney fans. I have been to pretty much every Sydney Derby and they have all been intensely electrifying. You can almost cut the tension with a knife; the atmosphere is nothing I can adequately describe to people who haven’t been. Your heart pumps, muscles spontaneously contract, your body twitching with adrenaline, as under-the-surface pressure boils up as you ride every challenge, every save and every goal. Can you imagine all of that heightened for a Final?

I think Sydney FC fans would be happy just to be IN the finals regardless of who else is there.

The team appears to be very attacking this season, who will have the most impact?

Graham Arnold has signed a veritable cornucopia of attacking talent with the addition of Smeltz, Ibini-Isei (on Loan), Brosque and Janko. This already includes Gameiro and Naumoff who were already on contract. If we were take historical data about the players, you really cannot go past Smeltz, he is a goal scoring machine and currently sits at number 2 behind Archie Thompson. Considering that Smeltz has played 135 games for 77 goals, and Thompson has played 184 games for 78 goals. Smeltz’s strike-rate is just phenomenal

Taking nothing away from Smeltz (who I hope becomes the no. 1 goal scorer in the A-league); I would have to say Gameiro will have the most impact. He has had excellent preseason form scoring in something like 9 goals in 12 games. His blistering pace fits in perfectly with Arnold’s way of playing football. Expect big things, and definitely going to be hitting double digits.

You have to credit Graham Arnold’s golden touch. His ability to unearth and foster young talent has to be one of the best in the A-League. For example, Naumoff was in stunning form against Sydney United in the FFA-Cup match with two world class goals.

What do Sydney fans expect from the season ahead?

•  Consistency
•  Positive momentum
•  Success

The Sydney FC fans want a team that looks like they are enjoying their football and want to be out there. At times over the last couple of years, some players (and staff) definitely seemed like they wanted to be somewhere else. That’s not to denigrate anyone; there was just a definite negative vibe all round Allianz Stadium.

Sydney fans want to enjoy sitting on the sidelines at Allianz Stadium watching a dominant performance which might not always bring 3 points but should always entertain. In the past sometimes regardless of whether we won the game or not, we did not enjoy watching it.

I think the majority of Sydney FC fans would be happy as long as they could leave the ground proud and with their heads held high.

The Cove

Having answered all of those questions about the players, and the coach and our competitors. I just wanted to say a few words about The Cove.

While (in Sydney) The RBB gets quite a bit of the talk about creating atmosphere and I give them the credit they deserve. I believe that The Cove creates one of the best atmospheres on game day in Australia. Their tireless work through chants, tifos and signs is just phenomenal. Unlike the RBB who have had quite a fairy-tale start to their existence as a supporter base, they haven’t experienced the lows that accompany following a professional sports club. It is a testament to The Cove that even after all the (much publicised) mismanagement of Sydney FC, they are stronger than ever. It still gives me chills to hear The Cove and see a tifo hoisted up above Bay 23 at Allianz stadium before the start of a game. While the players, staff and board run this club, The Cove is the blood that sustains Sydney FC.

In the 2014/15 season The Cove will, in my opinion, is a deciding factor when our team needs that little bit extra.

Which is what that ubiquitous A-League hash tag is all about #BeautifulGame #SydneyIsSkyBlue #SydneyTilliDie

Current 2014/15 Sydney FC players

The post Fan Preview – Sydney FC appeared first on .