Sydney FC believe only unity and hard work is going to get them out of the hole the defending champions find themselves in after their winless streak was stretched to 10 with a 3-0 defeat to arch-rivals Melbourne on Saturday.
The Sky Blues’ disastrous season to date hit a new low as they were comprehensively out-played by Victory at Etihad Stadium, the site of the club’s Grand Final success seven months ago.
The demeanour of coach Vitezslav Lavicka after Saturday’s defeat stood in stark contrast to the beaming smile the Czech possessed after last season’s Grand Final.
But the poor run of results, which is made up of four draws and six losses, has not broken Lavicka’s resolve.
“It’s a difficult situation for us. Last season we had great success, but this season we are going through a very tough period. We need to stick together, work very hard. I still believe we can turn it around,” he said.
“Every coach is worried if the results don’t come. But I am that type of coach, and I give this belief to our players, that we never give up. We going through a tough period, but we should never give up. We need to work hard, we need to stick together.”
“I appreciate the support of the fans. They are sticking close to us despite the situation. We need to work, work, work and believe we are able to change.”
Captain Terry McFlynn blames the Sky Blues’ woes on a complete lack of confidence and after watching the way they failed to contain Melbourne, he appears to be on the mark.
“We’re still showing signs, but it’s a confidence thing. The longer it goes on, the more unconfident we become. We still believe in each other. We stick together, we work hard every day and we’ll get through it.”
“We always analyse the performance rather than the outcome. Out of 10 games we’ve played, seven of them we’ve been dominant. We believe what we are doing is right, at times you need some luck as well and that hasn’t been with us.”
McFlynn thinks there is nothing to be gained by reflecting on last year’s success and wants his team-mates to focus on what they achieve in season 2010-11.
“What happens in the past is gone, it’s irrelevant. We are in the situation at the moment, we have to dig deep to get ourselves out of. That will only come about through hard work.”
Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick believes Sydney are just a good side out of luck and believes they will be thereabouts at the pointy end of the season.
“My opinion is Sydney will be in the finals. Sydney are too good a team to be out of the finals, they are going through a rough patch. We all do that at some stage,” he said
“Once they get a win, I think they will definitely pick up. He’s a good coach, they are a good team, they are playing below themselves at the moment, but things will come good.”
