This week on The Players Pod, Robbie Cornthwaite was joined by Sydney FC star Adam Le Fondre and fellow Englishman Zach Clough of Adelaide United ahead of this week’s Isuzu UTE A-League showdown. These were the best bits from the episode.
The magnitude of Sydney FC possibly missing the finals for a second consecutive season is not lost on their talismanic striker Adam Le Fondre, who speaks candidly on The Players Pod.
“If we don’t get top six then it’s an absolute disgrace for us as players and staff,” Le Fondre told host Robbie Cornthwaite.
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The 2022-23 Isuzu UTE A-League season was supposed to be different after the Sky Blues failed to qualify for the Finals Series for the first time in six years last term. It was meant to signal a fresh era with a new stadium, new faces and a new formation.
But Sydney FC are facing the very real possibility of ending the season outside the top six in back-to-back campaigns. Steve Corica’s side are sixth in the standings but just one point ahead of Perth Glory and two clear of Newcastle Jets and Western United, while Macarthur FC are a point further back with four rounds remaining.
As the Sky Blues prepare for a Good Friday visit to Coopers Stadium, where red-hot Adelaide United await, Le Fondre spoke honestly and openly about the club’s struggles and sea-sawing form.
In season 2022-23, you can listen to Robbie weekly on his new KEEPUP podcast – The Players Pod, with Robbie Cornthwaite. He chats to Adam Le Fondre and Zach Clough on the 22nd episode. Listen below or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
“The consistency, we’ve just not had that,” he said amid Sydney’s three-game run without a win following last week’s last-gasp draw at home to Western. “The only thing we’ve been consistent of is being inconsistent.
“We can’t seem to put the two things right in both boxes. In a game we’re either great in our box defensively and terrible going forward or great going forward and terrible defensively.
“We have to find that balance and find it fast or we won’t be playing finals football again. It’s a travesty really considering the squad we have and what hopes we had at the start of the season.
“It’s puzzling for all of us as players because we know we have a good squad but win nothing on paper. We need to produce week in and week out, and we haven’t done that as a group.”
Sydney have beaten league-leading Melbourne City, high-flying rivals Western Sydney Wanderers and in-form Central Coast Mariners – all in the top six this season – in 2022-23.
But their inconsistency has proved problematic as pressure mounts on three-time A-League Men Championship-winning coach and Sky Blues legend Corica.
Corica, though, has remained dignified as he shelters the squad from the external noise.
“We have all underperformed as a group and a collective,” added Le Fondre, who has scored six goals in 14 appearances this season having won a pair of Championships since arriving from English outfit Bolton Wanderers in 2018.
“We always know playing at Sydney FC you have high expectations and that’s one of the reasons why I came here, to play for the biggest and best team in the country and to try to exceed those expectations and win things.
“When you’re not doing that, obviously you’re going to get pelters. You fully deserve that. We have to take that on our shoulders and use that as fuel.”
Of Corica, Le Fondre said: “He has remained fairly calm. There’s been a lot of up and downs in the season and I’m guessing there’s been a lot of pressure on him from the outside but he’s handled it superbly.
“He’s took all the pressure off the players and put it on himself and shielded us from that. When we’ve not played well and got the right results, he’s fronted up and took the blame.
“That’s the sign of a really good manager. Not just in the good times but in the bad times as well.”
Can Sydney stop the rampant Reds?
While Sydney are fighting to cement their top-six status, Adelaide are flying high and threatening to dethrone reigning premiers Melbourne City.
The Reds are riding an 11-match unbeaten streak – a run that has moved them within five points of City as they prepare to welcome Sydney to South Australia.
Le Fondre’s fellow Englishman and Adelaide star Zach Clough was also a guest on The Players Pod and he spoke about the club’s pursuit of top spot.
“In the last two weeks, we’ve started to smell how close we are to them,” he said. “I think it’s always good to be the ones chasing at this stage of the season.”
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Adelaide’s irresistable form and the continued emergence of young talent like Nestory Irankunda, Luka Jovanovic, Jonny Yull, Bernardo Oliveira and Panashe Madanha saw head coach Carl Veart rewarded with a three-year contract extension.
“He is always so positive and tactically very clever. We do change when we play against certain teams with the way we press and play out from the back,” Clough said prior to Thursday’s announcement.
“It’s working week in week out. It’s showing on the pitch. Teams aren’t really managing to deal with us.”
Irankunda has flourished under the management of Veart at Adelaide, where he has lit up the competition this season.
The 17-year-old sensation has scored four goals off the bench in 2022-23, and his form earned him a Socceroos call-up last month.
He did not make an appearance against Ecuador, however, the prodigy has returned to Adelaide a different player.
Clough said: “He’s always been very professional but you can see once you get to be around the top, top players in the national team, he takes little things from certain players.
“He’s definitely changed a little bit and looks a lot more focused. He really wants to push and strive where those players are. You can see that.”
