“We’ve recovered now,” Graham Arnold insisted before his team hosted Kashima Antlers in the AFC Champions League. “I know we’ll see the real Sydney FC tomorrow night.”
Following a 2-1 loss to a 10-man Newcastle in March, the Socceroos coach-to-be asserted it was only a hiccup in a taxing playing schedule, but the consequent 2-0 loss put Sydney behind the eight-ball in Group H.
With one point from three matches - and two losses at home - their fate in Asia this season was never in their hands from that point.
It begs the question, why did the team many consider ‘The Greatest in the History of the A-League … Like, Ever’ immediately suffer elimination on the continental stage? And that, against sides who rested significant numbers of starting players.
Although playing in Asia has traditionally been arduous, given the amount of travel required over truncated recovery periods, it was even eased this season with split rounds in the A-League.
Concerns are just as much tactical as they are logistical, in this instance. Though Arnold’s claim was not intentional in context, we arguably have seen the real Sydney FC in Asia over the past two seasons.
Aside from Saturday’s semi-final against Melbourne Victory, Sydney’s dominance of the A-League but failure to pass the group stage in Asia this term takes on an added context, bearing in mind what lies ahead for Arnold.
It comes down to mere talent and in Miloš Ninković, Arnold doesn’t just have the best player on the pitch, technically – but the most intelligent.
The rigidity of play in the A-League means that any player who can instinctively receive the ball in spaces to advance the team’s field position immediately differentiates themselves from the rest.
Despite a reliable first touch under pressure and close control, the Serbian’s movement and consequent decision making are his best attributes and what set him apart.
His goal against Newcastle in December was a great example, because before the mesmerising solo dribble and finish came the intuitive darting run the space, allowing him to attack the Jets defence with momentum.
Against Victory a fortnight ago, his movement created the option for Michael Zullo’s initial pass. The defensive attention the movement generated then opened the space for Zullo to penetrate and assist Bobô.
Ninković is unquestionably the key to Sydney because he incorporates the players around him. Yet, individual creativity both with and without the ball in the A-League has generally tended to create unhealthy reliances, because individual movement doesn’t mean the collective is fluid. The same applies with Arnieball.
It is the reason Sydney’s phases of possession when Ninković is overtly denied space to receive and turn are laboriously slow and lateral, contributing to lesser effectiveness against more spatially aware opposition.
Reflective of the team as a whole, Josh Brillante and Brandon O’Neill are highly effective in winning possession, pouncing on lateral and backwards passes to create transition opportunities.
When the opposition defence is set, however, Sydney’s reliance on Ninković and the space he creates for Zullo manifests in their hesitancy to move between defensive lines.
Particularly in that match against Kashima with Ninković unavailable - where Go Oiwa rested six of his starting players from a 1-0 win over Gamba Osaka – it meant Zullo’s ability to receive the ball in positions of any relative threat was entirely nullified. Until his own injury, the left-back was peripheral.
In that match, Brillante did not complete a single pass to Adrian Mierzejewski out of his 51 in total.
Possession against Suwon Bluewings and Shanghai Shenhua - when the latter had something to play for at least - were characterised by Ninković and Mierzejewski needing to retreat because of numbers that would otherwise converge around them higher up.
Brillante and O’Neill could lighten that burden and improve the team’s flow against more functional teams, meaning a greater control of tempo and the eventual quality of shots the team generates.
However, that’s not entirely necessary in the A-League. The talent Sydney have in the attacking third can at times offset any issues of imbalance, and there isn’t an inherent need for some to shoulder creative responsibility despite prevalence in possession.
Although Newcastle have showed they are worth consideration, the domestic competition’s overall inability to exploit such sizeable tactical flaws gives a weird sense Sydney both can and can’t be beaten in this finals series.
