Sydney FC striker John Aloisi denies his side has Mark Rudan-envy after the Adelaide United defender thwarted the Sky Blues’ hopes of an away victory at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
Rudan, playing against his old side, repelled numerous Sydney attacks with spoils on Alex Brosque at either side of the half-time break the highlights.
His performance featured the sort of desperation and experience the visitors were missing in their own game but Aloisi said the club was happy with the defensive line-up despite conceding two goals against an undermanned opposition.
“I’ve never seen him make so many last ditch tackles in his life but he defended really, really well and showed that he’s still got it,” Aloisi said.
“All respect to Rudes, he’s been a brilliant player throughout his career and he’s great for Adelaide but I think we’ve got a great side and a great squad.”
“We’ve got good players, we’ve got characters, there’s nothing wrong with our character. It was just one of those nights that didn’t go for us.”
Aloisi said the Reds’ pressure on the ball carrier and dangerous set pieces made them difficult to beat, even though they were down a man.
But he said if Sydney could have its time over again the Sky Blues’ would have played with more speed.
“It’s one thing about being patient, there’s another thing about moving it quick. You can be patient and move it quickly and then open up teams and wait for the right time,” he said.
“But there’s another thing about being patient and dwelling on the ball too much and not opening up teams.”
“Saying that we did hit the post, we did have a couple of pretty good chances that they defended with last ditch tackles.”
“They made it hard for us. They were good, they were organised and capitalised on the set pieces which killed us.”
“We didn’t defend as well as we would’ve liked and then when you are chasing a game it is always hard because they sit off and they defended really well.”
