Sydney FC coach Frank Farina has lamented his side’s wastefulness after they succumbed to a 1-0 loss away to the Central Coast Mariners, bringing an end to the Sky Blues’ winning streak.
Sydney FC coach Frank Farina has lamented his side’s wastefulness after they succumbed to a 1-0 loss away to the Central Coast Mariners, bringing an end to the Sky Blues’ winning streak.
Chasing a fifth straight triumph but without Alessandro Del Piero and Brett Emerton, a listless effort in the first half on Saturday night saw Sydney claim just over a third of possession (37 percent) as well as conceding the decisive 26th-minute goal to Daniel McBreen.
Farina criticised his team’s propensity to turn the ball over in Gosford but did not use the absence of his two key veterans as an excuse.
“I don’t think that was a factor tonight,” Farina said.
“The real problem tonight was our own doing. They (the other players) are here because they are good footballers, they have got talent.
“Whether it was an off night by a number of players, that can happen in football, and does, it happened to us tonight.”
A bullish Farina also noted: “The effort was there, which was good.”
However, the 49-year-old was quick to hone in on Sydney’s deficiencies.
“We just turned over way to much possession, particular in the first half and even second half,” Farina said.
“We were making bad passes not under pressure and losing possession and then in the final third our penetration and our choices were poor.”
After a month-long winning run, the former Socceroos boss did not notice any lapse in the players efforts at training saying ‘it was fine’.
“You have got to keep the ball,” Farina said.
“We work hard on possession and penetrating left and right but you can’t do that when you give the ball away to easily…we did that way too much tonight.”
Serbian Ranko Despotovic had started his stint with the Sky Blues nicely with two goals in as many games off the bench but had an off night at Bluetongue Stadium in his first start.
But Farina was sympathetic to the situation the 30-year-old striker found himself in on Saturday evening.
“If you are a centre forward and your team is turning over a lot of possession and passing is bad then it’s frustrating for you,” Sydney’s coach said.
“He worked hard, he was never going to see out the 90 (minutes).”
Farina was at least confident Sydney can return to the winner’s circle shortly given he has identified their weaknesses from the loss.
“It’s disappointing (to lose) but it’s more disappointing if you don’t know why,” Farina said.
“I think it was clear tonight why we didn’t get a result.”
Sydney FC will host Melbourne Heart, who have drawn their last two fixtures, in round 10.
