GRAHAM Arnold says he learned something from Sydney FC’s embarrassing 3-1 defeat at home to Brisbane Roar - which of his players he can count on after a short turnaround.
The Sky Blues had just three days between games after playing Melbourne City on Tuesday, but that’s something the players are going to have to get used to with their Asian Champions League campaign just around the corner.
There were no excuses from the Sydney coach, just an honest assessment of his players and their performance.
“It was flat from the first minute to the last - we looked flat and we looked heavy-legged,” Arnold said. “Obviously the pitch was soft and heavy on the legs and at the end of the day we got hit by the counter-attack on two occasions in the second half - probably five occasions, but they didn’t score the other three. That’s a lack of legs to get back and recover.
“What I learned is who can back up three days after, with a short turnaround.”
Two goals to Jamie Maclaren and one from Matt McKay inflicted the damage, but they also put a spotlight on some worrying signs from Sydney in both the midfield and at the back, with defensive errors to blame for at least the last two goals.
Arnold, though, praised Roar coach John Aloisi for a well-executed game plan.
“(We showed) a lack of discipline behind the ball when going forward, but those things happen,” he said. Give credit to John and Brisbane - they came down here with a plan and they played a lot of long balls in behind our defense and turned us around. They got us on the break and deserve the three points.”
The mood at Allianz Stadium, in front of a small but frustrated crowd, reflected the miserable Sydney weather as the Sky Blues, at times looking promising, ultimately were outplayed by the visitors.
One player who stood above the rest on the night was Thomas Broich, who answered his critics with a commanding performance. All that was missing from him was a goal, but he hasn’t managed to find that all season.
Broich brought the quality in the first half, particularly with his super ball to set up Maclaren for the opening goal in just the eighth minute. Broich scooped the ball over the defenders from the left and it fell perfectly in the path of Maclaren, who showed what Brisbane had been missing with a cool finish.
The Roar began the game as if they were the home team, but as the first half progressed Sydney grew more into it. Their cause wasn’t helped though by the heavy downfall of rain, with players sliding in.
There was plenty of niggle too. Matt McKay followed through with a challenge on Vedran Janjetovic and the Sky Blues goalkeeper took off after him, before giving the skipper a nudge to the ground.
Sydney had their chances to get a goal back in the second half. Gersbach, back from Olyroos duty, put in a good cross to George Blackwood, whose header went over the woodwork. Then Milos Ninkovic put in a gem of a ball to Andrew Hoole, but Michael Theo quickly closed down his attempt.
The rain lifted in the second half and, thankfully, so did the home side. Sydney should have grabbed an equaliser soon after the break when Gersbach cut the ball back to Hoole, but he fired his shot wide.
Gersbach was busy all game and it was his free kick that Corona deflected into the back of his own net to put Sydney level.
There was a far better tempo to the second half - fortunately for those who still have memories of the last time these two sides met, which ended in the dullest of 0-0 draws.
But there would be none of that this time around. Despite Sydney’s dominance in the second half, they found themselves behind after a lapse in concentration at the back. Dimitri Petratos beat the offside trap down the right and was offered up far too much space to cross the ball into the box. He found an unmarked McKay, who made no mistake with his header to put Brisbane 2-1 up in the 66th minute.
And Sydney got done again barely 10 minutes later, when Petratos and Henrique combined again down the right to set up Maclaren for a tap in.
It was a major blow after Sydney weathered the initial storm, but failed to get on top of it. It’s also their second consecutive defeat as the Sky Blues missed the chance to go second on the table, which is where Brisbane now find themselves - just two points behind Western Sydney.
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