Sky Blues boss Steve Corica insists he’s the right man to oversee recovery from missing out on the A-League Men finals last season, writes Tom Smithies.
Even in the mild tones of Steve Corica, you can hear the little bit of steel, the slight note of defiance.
Sydney FC’s head coach knows he’s in the spotlight this season, perhaps more than ever despite the remarkable success his first three years at the helm have brought.
That track record is why Corica believes he is evidently the man to oversee an overhaul of both squad and tactics at the Sky Blues, put last season’s eighth-place finish behind them and return his side to the summit.
Undoubtedly Corica showed he was able to continue the patterns established by Graham Arnold; the question now is how quickly Corica’s own blueprint can win points and win over the fans in sufficient numbers to pull the crowds to the newly rebuilt Allianz Stadium. Everything looks shiny in pre-season, but an Australia Cup exit to NPLM VIC champions Oakleigh Cannons wasn’t exactly a statement of intent.
Still, Corica is buzzing as he oversees training at the club’s HQ in the north of Sydney, and bats away suggestions he might be under pressure as the Sky Blues prepare to open their season with a ‘Big Blue’ against rivals Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium on October 8.
Buy tickets for Sydney FC’s return to Allianz Stadium here.
“Every year is a new opportunity to win trophies, and that’s what we want to do here,” he says. “Last year was a disappointing one. But you know, I don’t need to show anyone really – I know what I can do as a coach. I’ve showed it in my first three years, we’ve made three grand finals, obviously won two of them and a premiership.
“We were all disappointed with the way the season finished last year. Having a lot of games in a short period of time didn’t help that as well, with the Champions League being involved, but that did prompt the changes that we’ve made around the club.
“We’re excited to be back at Allianz, the players have been outside of it for four years. It was a fortress for us and we want to try and make it that again, when we get back there.”
The post-mortem from last season pointed to some obvious issues, Corica argues, around the formation that had been in place for six years and had clearly become stale. The loss to injury of a key figure like Luke Brattan was also a destabilising influence on the dressing room – those of us outside it will be able to see inside that dressing room with the launch this week of a new behind-the-scenes documentary on last season, being shown on Paramount+.
“The players that have been here for a while, they’ve been playing the same system for number of years now which has worked really well and been successful over many years,” Corica said.
“I think it was just the way we finished last year, I think a lot of the players needed a change in the formation and doing something a little bit different, just to give them that spark again. I think that’s helped myself and the coaches that have been here for a long time as well. It’s given us rejuvenation as well.
Sky Blue: Inside Sydney FC begins on Thursday on Paramount+.
“We’re playing with wingers this year, playing wider, which is the major difference. We used to play with two No 10s inside and get our width from our fullbacks – you’ll see more width from the wingers this year.
“We brought in a couple of players there who I believe are good dribblers with the ball in Joe Lolley and Robert Mak, very good experienced players who played in the championship and premiership in England, both very good players and good dribblers, the style of players that we were looking for in those positions.”
