They may have been defeated by Adelaide United in the opening round of the season but Sydney FC boss Ufuk Talay insists there are plenty of positives for his side to take into Saturday night’s clash with the Central Coast Mariners.
The Sky Blues were handed their first defeat of the new campaign at Coopers Stadium as goals from Ryan Kitto and Ethan Alagich proved too much for Talay’s side to overcome.
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Star winger Joe Lolley did manage to open his account for the season with a curling effort in the 91st minute however, clear-cut chances were few and far between for the visitors – something Talay wants to them to build on this Saturday night when they take on the Mariners at Leichhardt Oval.
“In my tenure at this club, I think (Friday) was the first time that we actually entered the opponent’s box 33 times, but it just (was) not effective in that last pass and our final third and capitalising on those half-chances that we created,” said Talay when speaking at his pre-game press conference on Wednesday morning.
“So look, we’ve got another game against Central Coast at home. Finally, we get to get reintroduced to our fans and The Cove are coming so (we’re) looking forward to their support against Central Coast, who had a good result against Newcastle on the weekend.”
The Sky Blues fielded six debutants from the start against Adelaide United, including a new centre forward in the shape of ex-La Liga striker Victor Campuzano.
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The 28-year-old, who joined the club from La Liga 2 side Sporting Gijon, got into some promising areas against the Reds on Friday night but ultimately couldn’t finish off the chances he was afforded.
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However Talay isn’t concerned by his attack’s shot-shy approach to their season-opener and has backed his attacking quartet to fire.
“Victor will be fine once we build that cohesion with Joe (Lolley) and Piero (Quispe) and Al Hassan (Toure) or Abel (Walatee), whoever plays, or if Woody (Patrick Wood) comes on, or Tiago (Quintal) comes on.
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“Once we build that cohesion, I think Victor will be fine. I think he is a very smart player in the way that we want to play.
“He knows when to come off the line, knows when to get into the box, and he’s in the right areas. I think once he scores his first goal then I think that’ll definitely build his confidence moving forward.”
Sydney FC welcome a Central Coast Mariners side to Leichhardt Oval on Saturday night, buoyed by their incredible 3-2 win over rivals Newcastle Jets in the F3 Derby in Round 1.
One man likely to steal the show on Saturday will be ex-Sky Blues goalkeeper and club legend Andrew Redmayne.
Released by Sydney at the end of last season, Redmayne returned to boyhood club Central Coast Mariners and made himself an instant hero on his second debut, saving a dramatic late penalty before his side then went on to score an incredible late winner to eat their arch-rivals 3-2 at the death.
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“Redders is a quality individual, a quality player, and you know, he’ll still go and do his work at Central Coast to the best of his ability.
“He’s been very important to Sydney FC and very important to the game in Australia, even with the Socceroos.
“So yeah, he’ll come out and he’ll play his game like he normally does. He’s always been a winner, and that’s why they stay at this level for such a long time.”
