While Saturday’s Big Blue presents the opportunity for the Sky Blues to exact revenge for the 2015 Grand Final, for defender Jacques Faty it’s also a chance to reclaim bragging rights over a couple of countrymen.
Faty is set to line up against Matthieu Delpierre and Fahid Ben Khalfallah, players he is more than familiar with from his career in France, as he said he joined the Hyundai A-League to take part in matches such as this.
“I’ve forgot what happened last season,” Faty said.
“Now is a new season, new players, new objectives. Of course Melbourne are like Sydney FC in being one of the best teams in the league and of course it will be a big game for everybody but I don’t have any plans for revenge.
“I just want to play well and try to win for our fans, for ourselves and for the club. I played only 20 minutes against them last season because of my injury, I didn’t like how it was against them because firstly we lost against them in the Grand Final and I didn’t get to play for a long time.
“I used to play with Delpierre in the French national team when I was young and I’ve played against him when he played for Lille so I know the players,” he continued.
“I know Ben Khalfallah too because I used to play against him when he played for Bordeaux and Caen. I used to play against them, they’re good players.
“I enjoy playing against everybody and it’s a pleasure to play against them, good players, that’s why I came to Australia to play these types of games.”
Faty said he’d provide inside tips on the duo to his fellow defenders as he promised the Sky Blues faithful that there’s more to come from Head Coach Graham Arnold’s outfit this season.
“We have some video and I think we will watch some about them individually and as a team,” he said.
“I will give some advice to Sebba [Seb Ryall] and Rhyan about Ben Khalfallah but they’ve played against him before so they know already how he plays.
“I’m very happy to see Sydney FC on the top of the league, but to be honest we can and we will do more and improve a lot,” he continued.
“I believe we’ve only shown 60% of what we can do. We have very good players and I’m happy with the start but the most important thing is how we finish.”
Sydney FC take on Melbourne Victory in the Big Blue at Allianz Stadium on Saturday 14 November (kick off 7:30pm). Follow @Sydney FC on Twitter for match updates or catch the game live on Fox Sports 4 or listen live on ABC Grandstand.
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