Sydney FC approach the new year on a downward spiral, placing Steve Corica’s side in genuine danger of missing consecutive Isuzu UTE A-League finals series for the first time in club history.
The Sky Blues slumped to a fourth defeat in five games in a 3-0 home loss to Macarthur FC on Christmas Eve; it was an ugly afternoon for the hosts, in which star winger Joe Lolley was sent off and a series of sloppy defensive acts led to a Macarthur romp at Allianz Stadium.
The hefty loss leaves Sydney FC stranded on 10 points in ninth spot on the A-League Men table; Newcastle Jets, Western United and Perth Glory – the three sides below – are all within a win of the Sky Blues, and with a game in hand.
It was not only a fourth defeat in five games for Corica’s side, but a third home defeat from five games at Allianz Stadium this season.
It was also Sydney’s eighth defeat in 12 games. They had lost eight times in the 22 games prior.
Corica was backed in the off-season to refresh the Sky Blues’ squad after an eighth-placed finish last season; he succeeded in doing so, as well as shifting his team away from a tried and tested 4-2-2-2 formation which had gone stale in 2021-22.
But a string of injuries to key players hasn’t helped his new-look team get a foothold in the current campaign. Alex Wilkinson and Jack Rodwell – tipped as Sydney’s first-choice central defensive pairing – have both featured just once this season. Adam Le Fondre has missed large chunks of the campaign through injury, and Luke Brattan’s return to full speed has been a patient one since his reintroduction to the squad after a season-ending ACL injury.
Young central defender Aaron Gurd, and Adrian Vlastelica – signed from NPL NSW club Sydney United 58 as cover at the back – have both received regular minutes this season due to the key absentees. The former was a late withdrawal on Saturday through illness, in the latest personnel dilemma Corica has faced throughout nine rounds of the 2022-23 campaign.
After the 3-0 defeat, Corica was asked if the absentees are taking their toll: “Of course,” he replied. “But at the moment we don’t and we have to deal with that.
“There’s no excuses, obviously in our game we had (Aaron Gurd) who got sick today and we had to change the team around.
We’re running out of centre-backs; it would be nice to have everyone fit obviously because I believe we have a very strong team. We’re conceding too many goals, and that’s been the problem.
James Donachie played alongside Vlastelica in central defence on Saturday afternoon, almost falling victim to a dubious send-off which referee Kurt Ams quickly reversed upon review via VAR intervention and the pitch side monitor.
Donachie shared Corica’s frustration at defensive frailty in the aftermath of defeat, in which the Sky Blues were caught stagnant too often as the Bulls ran amok.
“I think it’s a full team thing at the moment,” Donachie told Paramount+. “Honestly, it’s just effort.
“The first goal, we were on top before then, and it was just a little bit of effort – we copped it, and it went downhill from there.
“It’s more defensively, we’re leaking goals. In attack we do look dangerous, we’ve got good players up there so we just need to sort it out defensively.”
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