‘Worrying’ Sydney FC trend has come to the fore & there’s one area contributing to ‘problem’
On this week’s episode of Total A-Leagues, Sydney Morning Herald sports reporter Vince Rugari & retired Socceroo’s Alex Brosque and Tommy Oar discuss the biggest talking points, including Ufuk Talay’s Sydney FC.
Sydney FC are facing “must-win” games after a “worrying” trend emerged from week one of the Isuzu UTE A-League 2025-26, according to Sky Blues legend Alex Brosque.
The Sky Blues head into Saturday’s clash with Central Coast Mariners following a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Adelaide United in Round 1.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME AN A-LEAGUES CLUB MEMBER TODAY!
Sydney FC enjoyed an historic run to the AFC Champions League Two semi-finals last season, however, they failed to qualify for the Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series for the first since 2022 and just the sixth time in the club’s history.
Despite a disappointing end to 2024-25, head coach Ufuk Talay signed a contract extension until the end of 2025-26.
GAME-BY-GAME PREVIEW: What you need to know for Round 2 of the Isuzu UTE A-League
On this week’s episode of Total A-Leagues, Sydney Morning Herald sports reporter Vince Rugari highlighted the Sky Blues’ opening-round result in Adelaide and the pressure associated with it.
“Tense areas. We knew they’d be coming into this season with a lot of pressure under Ufuk Talay, given the way they finished last season. And it’s ramping up already, isn’t it?”
Sydney FC great Brosque added: “Look it is. I think the disappointing part, when you look at the goals they conceded were the way that they did it.
“Last season so much talk was around their defence, that transition, at times a lack of sort of hunger and desire. So you expect Round 1, that they would have worked on that, and we’d see a difference.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME AN A-LEAGUES CLUB MEMBER TODAY!
“But that second goal, just how passive they were at times in letting players turn and run at them. It was Adelaide, if anything, who really in the five minutes, made two big tackles and made a statement that, like this is, you’re in Adelaide, this is going to be a tough day.
“I didn’t see a response from Sydney, and that’s the part that’s a little bit worrying. And now it is almost must win going into these next couple of games.”
Retired Socceroo Oar continued: “I think even with the ball, I thought they didn’t have enough intent. If you compare the way they played to Adelaide, every time Adelaide got the ball, you could see exactly what they were going to do. There was a clear plan, and they had a really clear way of approaching the game.
HE SAID WHAT? EVERY word from your Isuzu UTE A-League coach after Round 1
TALKING POINTS: Coach puzzled by rival’s methods in post-game swipe – ‘What we saw isn’t that’
“Whereas every time Sydney got the ball, players were having too many touches, it was all very slow. I think Joe Lolley was very good in the game. But aside from him, I thought that everybody’s performance was quite poor, actually.
“I think there will be a lot of soul searching, not only defensively, but also offensively.”
Sydney FC were busy in the off-season, bringing in a host of new faces.
The Sky Blues recruited 24-year-old Peru international Piero Quispe (loan), former LaLiga striker Victor Campuzano and DR Congo international Marcel Tisserand as well as Al Hassan Toure, Rhys Youlley, Akol Akon, Mathias Macallister, Paul Okon-Engstler, Abel Walatee and Ben Garuccio.
Sydney, meanwhile, farewelled Patryk Klimala (end of loan), Andrew Redmayne, Jaushua Sotirio (end of loan), Jaiden Kucharski, Max Burgess, Anas Ouahim, Adrian Segecic, Anthony Caceres, Leo Sena, Aaron Gurd (Loan), Douglas Costa and Will Kennedy.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME AN A-LEAGUES CLUB MEMBER TODAY!
“There’s a lot of new players in that line-up, and I think that’s part of the problem, as you guys know, and we spoke about earlier, especially for the foreigners who are new to the league, it takes time to get to grips with the A-League and all the things that are unique about it,” Rugari said.
“So Campuzano and Quispe, not amazing on debut. The problem is Ufuk Talay doesn’t have time to wait for them to get amazing, even though it might take some time. Is that right?”
Brosque replied: “That’s exactly right. I think that the later you wait to make those foreign signings, the harder it does get, because they’re almost adapting on the run at the moment, which isn’t good and doesn’t buy them time.
“We’ve got a lot of time in the off-season to get those signings, to get that cohesion amongst the squad, amongst your players, and Sydney, you’re gonna have to do it on the run.”
Oar continued: “You can put any players in those positions but because there were so many systemic kind of issues with the way they were playing, they’re kind of feeding off scraps.
“They’re not getting ball in good positions to take players on or to show what they can do. I think that you can put any player in those positions – if Sydney play like that, no one’s going to play well.”
