Well, thank God for that. After 70 minutes of execrable football Sydney somehow discovered a blistering spell of one touch, pass and move football.
The ball spent precious little time on the ground for long periods of yesterday's match at Parramatta Stadium. Touch players Alex Brosque, Mark Bridge and Robbie Fowler could not get into a long-ball game - though Sydney's "Killer B's" were the best on the ground in the second half of the second period.
Rather embarrassingly, I believed the newly-bald Rhyan Grant was Scott Jamieson for a long time (and found it curious that he was playing on the right of the midfield three). Playing three defensive midfielders against the A League's weakest team was quite Manchester City of Sydney FC. Once again the conservative formation produced frustrating football for an enthusiastic Western Sydney crowd - until Sydney slipped into gear.
The crowd of 6654 is reportedly Sydney's record low. The club must take action to draw back the fans for the build up to the Asian Champion's League campaign. A guest player in the ilk of Kazu must be contemplated. Sydney's style of football is not going to bring back the fans - unless of course the Sky Blues can get out of second gear for more than 20 minutes of a match.
Shannon Cole's decisive run, goal and backflip celebration were all perfectly timed. But his man of the match award was farcical - Cole's distribution was off all afternoon and at times he comically gave away the ball. Byun was a little more solid on the other side and both fullbacks at least did the job defensively.
Hayden Foxe was similarly wasteful and during the first half he took the ball past the Perth centre circle before playing a poor pass straight to a Glory player. Sydney were so startled to see a centre half in a ball-playing role that Foxe's position was left completely empty and only an atrocious Perth pass saved Sydney's skin.
The comparison with Brisbane's Luke DeVere is stark. Sydney are still ball-watching and only thinking one pass ahead.
When Dimitri Petratos took the field, it seemed the team collectively decided to play football. Sydney played first time passes, cute balls around the corner and made runs that actually predicted the play two moves ahead.
Though Hiro Moriyasu make some incisive runs (before taking dreadful options) the most surprising performance came from Mark Bridge, who showed glimpses of his creative best while still taking a touch too many on several occasions. Nicky Carle should return to the first choice 11 but Bridge did well in the absence of Carle and Bruno Cazarine.
The brief glimpse of swashbuckling football at the end of the second half was largely sparked by Bridge and Alex Brosque. Where Hiro's swashbuckling runs ended in damnable indecision, Bridge and Brosque reignited their once-lethal understanding and buzzed around Perth's static defence. Their movement and touch was powered by the faith of their midfield, who finally had the guts to play a short pass and move forward to create space for a comrade.
Michael Cockerill puts Brosque's inconsistency down to a lack of desire. I doubt that this is the case. Brosque's touch, pace and finishing have found their level: he is a four star A League striker. Brosque has never stood up and claimed a spot for the Socceroos, he has only scored 38 goals in 123 A League appearances and has never bagged more than 8 in a season.
Brosque has been Sydney's best player this season (which isn't saying much) but even in last season's ball-to-feet focused side, he only scored seven goals. His 10 assists that year tell the story - Brosque is not a goal machine striker and that is why Bruno Cazarine is so important to the squad.
Brosque has appropriately won the headlines but Bridge was impressive and may keep his spot when Bruno returns. I would slot Hiro back into the midfield three at Grant's expense. If you are going to have three defensive midfielders, one of them should at least show a bit of dynamism.
If Shannon Cole can do the simple things but keep the showtime going, if Hiro can take better options (such as his through ball that released Brosque for the second goal) and if Mark Bridge can keep improving, Sydney might still sneak a finals spot.
With Bruno and Nicky Carle coming back into the squad, the future is looking brighter for Sydney FC.
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