Sydney FC scored 29 goals in 30 games this season. The defending champions won the previous title by scoring then shutting teams out, but Sydney forgot how to score this time around and conceded 40 goals.
Sydney's precipitous drop in form was felt across the park and part one of my review examined the club's defenders and goalkeepers. It is now time to examine the men at the coalface - and how they let down their teammates and fans.
SQUAD REVIEW
DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS
Stuart Musialik, Terry McFlynn, Hirofumi Moriyasu, Rhyan Grant
Stuart Musialik arrived in Sydney as a fringe Socceroo and an improving young player - a technically adroit defensive midfielder as composed on the ball as he was efficient off it. Musialik revelled in his favourite "sit and distribute" role last season as Lavicka sat him behind Steve Corica, Karol Kisel and the robust Terry McFlynn.
But Musialik has endured a poor 2010/11. After the opening match against Melbourne, I wrote "Musialik put in his usual performance: an excellent, controlling game apart from one or two dreadful errors that put his team under pressure". Unfortunately Musialik's moments of excellence dimmed until the New Year, and he lost his confidence on the ball just as Viteslav Lavicka lost confidence in his contribution. Musialik - a main man in the championship winning team - remains out of contract for next season. I would miss his best but not mourn his passing, and it would not surprise many to see him suiting up next to Jason Culina for the Jets next summer.
Skipper Terry McFlynn has been underwhelming ever since his superb chip agonizingly found the wrong side of the underside of the bar against the North Queensland Fury. That 1-1 draw in the September rain crippled Sydney's finals campaign and sucked the morale out of the club and the crowd. For McFlynn to finally produce a moment of skill but miss by centimetres from far outside the box was crushing.
McFlynn has offered precious little on the ball and while the skipper's return from injury certainly steadied the ship after Sydney's first few matches, the improvement in A League midfields may have made McFlynn obsolete - at least as a wide midfielder. One goal and one assist in 27 games tells a partial but compelling story and regular readers of this column (I appreciate all two of you!) will know I am not a great fan of what McFlynn brings to the team (his wonderful clearance off the line against the Glory aside).
The future for Sydney is a little brighter. Rhyan Grant enjoyed a strong tournament for the Young Socceroos and looked comfortable enough when filling in for an out-of-form Stuart Musialik. He could seize the position at the base of Sydney's diamond with a strong pre-season, particularly if Musialik leaves as expected. While he is dynamic enough when played wider, he offered few moments of creativity or threat on the ball to suggest he is anything but a defensive midfielder.
New signing Hiro Moriyasu is an interesting case. Hiro played without the fear that seemed to afflict Sydney after Nicky Carle succumbed to injury and his dynamism in midfield was a big reason that the Sky Blues shook themselves back to life. He tackles decisively and backs himself technically - sometimes to his detriment, particularly against fast-pressing teams such as Brisbane.
Hiro has found his home on either side of the midfield diamond and contributes as a box-to-box hard-running midfielder, who can also play a pass (such as the assist for Alex Brosque at Parramatta Stadium). His limitations are clear: he scored one goal from 38 attempts this season and freezes when running at goal with the ball at his feet.
If Hiro can improve his shooting and dribbling options then Sydney will boast a competent trio of screeners and box-to-box players next season. If Stuart Musialik stays in Sydney then Grant may suffer without game time. But will Lavicka gamble on an inexperienced player in such a vital decision-making position? Time will tell.
One thing is clear. Grant, McFlynn, Musialik and Moriyasu provided just four goals all season. Sydney can only afford to have two of the three in the team. The more defensively minded midfielders must be complemented by an attacking player like Karol Kisel or Dimitri Petratos. Left back Scott Jamieson's presence in left midfield at the start of the season shackled an already low scoring side.
And finally: defensive midfield may be the side's engine room, but Sydney need more from their skipper. Will McFlynn keep the armband?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
2010-2011: A Wasted Summer Part 1
A near 30 percent drop in average crowds. No finals football. The acrimonious loss of their Socceroo and star striker.
It wasn't the worst of times but the best of times faded pretty quickly this season for Sydney FC.
The A League has few real traditions but a swift stab in the back for under-performing Sydney managers is a seasonal delight. Viteslav Lavicka is very, very lucky to still be in a job. The Sydney FC overlords are to be commended for their restraint and thanked for their deep pockets.
Few others associated with the club deserve the same sentiment. Sydney is a city of high expectations (and lamentably low levels of supporter loyalty). For A League champions to miss the finals is not unprecedented but remains catastrophic. It is time to take stock.
The Asian Champions League can do more than salve the wounds from this campaign. It is time for the club to be decisive. It needs to jettison or play Stuart Musialik, Sung Hwan Byun and Stephan Keller. Lavicka needs to nurture or release Kofi Danning and find the best positions for Shannon Cole and Seb Ryall. He must pick and stick with one of Liam Reddy and Ivan Necevski.
Indecision has robbed Sydney FC of Matt Jurman - Lavicka should not be permitted to put his own short-term priorities ahead of future development. Lavicka's fight for survival is the bed that the board has made until the spring. Sydney will just have to live with it.
SQUAD REVIEW
GOALKEEPERS
Liam Reddy, Ivan Necevski
Australian football seems best at generating goalkeepers and to have a mediocre keeper is unacceptable. Reddy and Necevski were frustratingly inconsistent throughout this season and while both bore the cost of shaky shifts put in by those in front of them, neither seized the position with anything like the determination and confidence displayed so often by Clint Bolton. Reddy was very poor at times, particularly against North Queensland when he failed to read the obvious intentions of David Williams, while Necevski seems unable to grasp a cross or corner.
The decision to release Bolton, recruit Reddy and retain Necevski looks dodgy, particularly given the need for stability at the back with the obvious departure of Simon Colosimo (who was contemplating a trip overseas for months). It may have been a question of timing and wages, but there are better keepers home and abroad. Would it be too rude to mention Danny Vukovic?
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Hayden Foxe, Stephan Keller, Seb Ryall, Matt Jurman, Antony Golec, Andrew Durante (loan)
The source of many of Sydney's woes. The decision to replace the ball-playing Simon Colosimo with the skilled but slow-footed Hayden Foxe put Lavicka in a constant tactical bind. A central pairing of Foxe and Stephan Keller was extremely vulnerable to the pacy attacks of early season foes. Last season's high line and compact defence evaporated early. Too often the last line was left too deep to intercept but too high to recover, and Seb Ryall's inconsistencies and weakness in the air cost him his place - somewhat unfairly, in my opinion, as some of Keller's displays were particularly dire. Matt Jurman's emergence as a talented compromise candidate came too late to save Sydney's season and his departure is one to mourn.
The centrebacks were not assisted by unusually poor form from the screening Stuart Musialik and the ball holding target man Mark Bridge, but the end of the Asian Champions League campaign will bring a real challenge to the Sky Blue backline. Odds are that Keller, Foxe, Jurman and Durante will all depart, leaving Ryall and Golec, who barely played at all this season, as the only specialist centrebacks for the next A League season. Sydney will plummet from over supply to a chronic shortage in an area where they seemed so well stocked just 18 months ago.
Of course we all expect the club to sign a new central defender soon but outstanding candidates are thin on the ground. Jade North is another undersized centreback who can be maddeningly inconsistent - a Ryall/North partnership would be vulnerable to tall, rough attacks and the players' own panic attacks on and off the ball. Sydney need to find a more permanent solution than Durante - a signing I applaud, but a stopgap measure none the less. Jamie Coyne is a long way from Simon Colosimo's level of ability, even taking into account Colosimo's poor season in Melbourne.
For a club to play two central defenders that are on their way out, or not even Sydney players to begin with, is more than a symptom of poor recruitment - it is counter productive in the long run.
FULL BACKS
Shannon Cole, Sung Hwan Byun, Scott Jamieson, (Seb Ryall)
Full back might be Sydney's strongest area going into Asia - an odd assertion given that Byun could be trimmed to make room for other foreigners and Ryall will rarely start matches at rightback.
In Shannon Cole and Scott Jamieson Sydney have a pair of fullbacks at home in the tackle, dogged over 90 minutes and happy to bomb forward with the ball at their feet.
Both have their limitations. Cole's attitude and ability in attack is sabotaged by some poor positioning and tendency to ball watch, while Jamieson's first touch and delivery from wide areas can be phenomenally dire. Jamieson is also rather one-footed and loses speed at the end of the second half.
But Lavicka's set up of a conservative midfield three behind a hard-running number 10 requires attack-minded fullbacks and there are few better suited to the task, or with more potential for improvement, than Cole and Jamieson (not that Josh Rose, Cassio or Shane Steffanuto are not slightly above the Sydney two).
If Sydney can settle on a midfield anchorman, a centreback combination and keep Nick Carle fit, Cole and Jamieson will find form and consistency. It was not easy for Cole to half-heartedly get forward as the ball was lost in midfield, or for Jamieson to start off as a left midfielder (a position he should never play again).
Ryall is too conservative a fullback for an already narrow team and Lavicka seems rightly unlikely to play him on the right unless the last 10 minutes require locking up. Byun will always be a Sydney hero but his second season will be remembered for yelling at his teammates and shrugging his shoulders.
The recruitment of a seasoned left back such as Dean Heffernan would simply retard Jamieson's progress in the same way that Cassio's brilliance forced him out of Adelaide. Sydney should find another solution, perhaps a left footed centreback who provides a defensive alternative, and continue to develop their two Australians. The whispered arrival of Scott Chipperfield could also work, provided Chipperfield plays in midfield and provides cover for injury.
It wasn't the worst of times but the best of times faded pretty quickly this season for Sydney FC.
The A League has few real traditions but a swift stab in the back for under-performing Sydney managers is a seasonal delight. Viteslav Lavicka is very, very lucky to still be in a job. The Sydney FC overlords are to be commended for their restraint and thanked for their deep pockets.
Few others associated with the club deserve the same sentiment. Sydney is a city of high expectations (and lamentably low levels of supporter loyalty). For A League champions to miss the finals is not unprecedented but remains catastrophic. It is time to take stock.
The Asian Champions League can do more than salve the wounds from this campaign. It is time for the club to be decisive. It needs to jettison or play Stuart Musialik, Sung Hwan Byun and Stephan Keller. Lavicka needs to nurture or release Kofi Danning and find the best positions for Shannon Cole and Seb Ryall. He must pick and stick with one of Liam Reddy and Ivan Necevski.
Indecision has robbed Sydney FC of Matt Jurman - Lavicka should not be permitted to put his own short-term priorities ahead of future development. Lavicka's fight for survival is the bed that the board has made until the spring. Sydney will just have to live with it.
SQUAD REVIEW
GOALKEEPERS
Liam Reddy, Ivan Necevski
Australian football seems best at generating goalkeepers and to have a mediocre keeper is unacceptable. Reddy and Necevski were frustratingly inconsistent throughout this season and while both bore the cost of shaky shifts put in by those in front of them, neither seized the position with anything like the determination and confidence displayed so often by Clint Bolton. Reddy was very poor at times, particularly against North Queensland when he failed to read the obvious intentions of David Williams, while Necevski seems unable to grasp a cross or corner.
The decision to release Bolton, recruit Reddy and retain Necevski looks dodgy, particularly given the need for stability at the back with the obvious departure of Simon Colosimo (who was contemplating a trip overseas for months). It may have been a question of timing and wages, but there are better keepers home and abroad. Would it be too rude to mention Danny Vukovic?
CENTRAL DEFENCE
Hayden Foxe, Stephan Keller, Seb Ryall, Matt Jurman, Antony Golec, Andrew Durante (loan)
The source of many of Sydney's woes. The decision to replace the ball-playing Simon Colosimo with the skilled but slow-footed Hayden Foxe put Lavicka in a constant tactical bind. A central pairing of Foxe and Stephan Keller was extremely vulnerable to the pacy attacks of early season foes. Last season's high line and compact defence evaporated early. Too often the last line was left too deep to intercept but too high to recover, and Seb Ryall's inconsistencies and weakness in the air cost him his place - somewhat unfairly, in my opinion, as some of Keller's displays were particularly dire. Matt Jurman's emergence as a talented compromise candidate came too late to save Sydney's season and his departure is one to mourn.
The centrebacks were not assisted by unusually poor form from the screening Stuart Musialik and the ball holding target man Mark Bridge, but the end of the Asian Champions League campaign will bring a real challenge to the Sky Blue backline. Odds are that Keller, Foxe, Jurman and Durante will all depart, leaving Ryall and Golec, who barely played at all this season, as the only specialist centrebacks for the next A League season. Sydney will plummet from over supply to a chronic shortage in an area where they seemed so well stocked just 18 months ago.
Of course we all expect the club to sign a new central defender soon but outstanding candidates are thin on the ground. Jade North is another undersized centreback who can be maddeningly inconsistent - a Ryall/North partnership would be vulnerable to tall, rough attacks and the players' own panic attacks on and off the ball. Sydney need to find a more permanent solution than Durante - a signing I applaud, but a stopgap measure none the less. Jamie Coyne is a long way from Simon Colosimo's level of ability, even taking into account Colosimo's poor season in Melbourne.
For a club to play two central defenders that are on their way out, or not even Sydney players to begin with, is more than a symptom of poor recruitment - it is counter productive in the long run.
FULL BACKS
Shannon Cole, Sung Hwan Byun, Scott Jamieson, (Seb Ryall)
Full back might be Sydney's strongest area going into Asia - an odd assertion given that Byun could be trimmed to make room for other foreigners and Ryall will rarely start matches at rightback.
In Shannon Cole and Scott Jamieson Sydney have a pair of fullbacks at home in the tackle, dogged over 90 minutes and happy to bomb forward with the ball at their feet.
Both have their limitations. Cole's attitude and ability in attack is sabotaged by some poor positioning and tendency to ball watch, while Jamieson's first touch and delivery from wide areas can be phenomenally dire. Jamieson is also rather one-footed and loses speed at the end of the second half.
But Lavicka's set up of a conservative midfield three behind a hard-running number 10 requires attack-minded fullbacks and there are few better suited to the task, or with more potential for improvement, than Cole and Jamieson (not that Josh Rose, Cassio or Shane Steffanuto are not slightly above the Sydney two).
If Sydney can settle on a midfield anchorman, a centreback combination and keep Nick Carle fit, Cole and Jamieson will find form and consistency. It was not easy for Cole to half-heartedly get forward as the ball was lost in midfield, or for Jamieson to start off as a left midfielder (a position he should never play again).
Ryall is too conservative a fullback for an already narrow team and Lavicka seems rightly unlikely to play him on the right unless the last 10 minutes require locking up. Byun will always be a Sydney hero but his second season will be remembered for yelling at his teammates and shrugging his shoulders.
The recruitment of a seasoned left back such as Dean Heffernan would simply retard Jamieson's progress in the same way that Cassio's brilliance forced him out of Adelaide. Sydney should find another solution, perhaps a left footed centreback who provides a defensive alternative, and continue to develop their two Australians. The whispered arrival of Scott Chipperfield could also work, provided Chipperfield plays in midfield and provides cover for injury.
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