Sydney FC skipper Alex Brosque says if Perth Glory sit back on Saturday they’ll be punished by the ruthless – and rested – Premiers.
And Brosque says the Sky Blues are determined not to fall into the trap Perth Glory successfully set on Sunday in Melbourne, when the two sides meet this Saturday in a blockbuster semi final at Sydney’s home ground Allianz Stadium.
King Castro versus Ninkovic in Sydney semi final
On Sunday night, Glory beat an out-of-sorts Melbourne City 2-0 at AAMI Park to advance to Saturday’s do-or-die semi against the Premiers.
But Sky Blues captain Alex Brosque is confident the same thing won’t happen to them.
IF IT AIN’T BROKE…
“It’s just continuing to do what we have been,” he told reporters as the build up to week two of the Finals Series began.
“If we stop thinking about that and what has got us to this point, we’ll find ourselves in a situation like Melbourne City where things don’t go your way, passes start going out and you start getting frustrated.
“A lot can be made of finals football, that it’s a different type of game, a different feeling, different everything.
“But if we get caught up in that, we put aside everything we’ve done to get to this point.
“If we just carry on with our game plan, our structure and everything we’ve been doing, then we’ll be OK,” he said.
SKY BLUES’ MENTAL EDGE?
Sydney FC have had three comfortable wins over Perth this season, the most recent a 3-0 away win in round 23.
But Brosque doesn’t expect Kenny Lowe’s side to park the bus.
“I think they tried that last time they played us and it didn’t work too well,” he said.
“They sat back and I think that’s dangerous because you leave yourselves open and they’re far away from their attacking players.
“Their attacking players are what got them to where they are at the moment.
“They scored a lot of goals this year and that is their strength – going forward.
“If they sit back it would only be a matter of time before we scored and then they’re up against it, so they’ve got to come out.
“We hope it is an open end-to-end game because it allows us to get guys like ‘Ninko’ [Milos Ninkovic] on the ball and let him do his thing,” he added.
THRIVING ON THE PRESSURE
As far as Sydney’s approach is concerned, Brosque says there’s no reason to change the formula which has seen them break all manner of Hyundai A-League records this season.
“We’ve worked very hard from week to week to maintain what we’ve been doing,” said Brosque.
“Our first 27 games were fantastic.
“It’s been a great ride – a great amount of wins, great everything.
“With the streak that we went on, everyone wanted to knock us off.
Every week was, ‘Is this the week Sydney is going to lose?’
“The fact we were able to deal with that from week to week, even once the Premiership was won, to continue playing good football and winning games – all that pressure is what got us to exactly where we are.
“We’ll use that – we’ll use it in semi-finals and in the Grand Final.
“We’re expecting to win and hopefully give our fans something to enjoy in the post-season,” he declared.
