Sydney FC continue lacklustre season despite remaining alive in A-League finals race

While Sydney FC may have ended the weekend the same way they started it, Robbie Slater and Marco Monteverde still believe it’s been an underwhelming A-League season. It’s all in The Tackle.

With the end of the A-League regular season now in sight, round 24 proved to be a weekend full of potentially season-defining results for a number of clubs. From the disappointment of a pre-season competition favourite to two rivals continuing to impress, Robbie Slater and Marco Monteverde break it all down in The Tackle.

Sorry Sydney

Sydney FC’s only saving grace from another disappointing A-League performance is that they ended the weekend the same way they started ­– three points outside the top-six and still a chance of playing finals football.

However, the Sky Blues can now forget about finishing on top of the ladder, which brings with it the A-League premiership.

To be so far off the pace in the battle for first place should be hugely disappointing for a star-studded team that many labelled as competition favourites at the start of the season.

Rather than living up to that billing, the Sydneysiders will be lucky to even feature in the finals at this rate.

Not for the first time this season, they were defensively inadequate in their 3-2 weekend home loss to Melbourne City.

And in attack, the Sky Blues’ reliance on marquee man Douglas Costa is becoming far too obvious and regular.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 29: Adrain Segecic of Sydney FC falls to the ground after colliding with Patrick Beach of Melbourne City during the round 24 A-League Men match between Sydney FC and Melbourne City at Allianz Stadium, on March 29, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

As good as the Brazilian star is, he can’t always win games on his own for Sydney.

Costa needs some help, particularly from English winger Joe Lolley.

Something doesn’t seem quite right with Lolley at the moment, with the former Nottingham Forest star not having the same impact on matches as he has had in the past.

For the sake of Costa and Sydney, Lolley needs to rediscover not just quickly, but immediately, with the Sky Blues to play in arguably their most important match of the season on Saturday night when they take on Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium.

The Reds are in sixth place, three points ahead of Sydney.

If the Sky Blues suffer another loss, they could finish next weekend as many as six points outside of the top six, depending on other results.

With regular season games fast running out, that’s not where the Sky Blues want to be, particularly as they are juggling their A-League commitments with their AFC Champions League Two campaign, which is going vastly better than their domestic journey.

Awful Adelaide

Perhaps in the Sky Blues’ favour when they travel to Adelaide is that the Reds are currently in shocking form, with opponents scoring against them for fun.

The Carl Veart-coached team has conceded 19 goals in its past five matches, including 10 in its two most recent.

The Reds’ defending was abysmal in the club’s 5-3 weekend loss to Melbourne Victory, and it seems Veart has finally admitted it’s a problem that needs fixing if his team is to salvage its season.

It was only a few weeks ago that Veart suggested he was happy to keep conceding goals so long as his team was able to score one more than its opponent.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 29: Jonny Yull of Adelaide United controls the ball during the round 24 A-League Men's match between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United at AAMI Park, on March 29, 2025, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

However, judging by his comments after the Reds’ loss to the Victory, Veart has realised that such a carefree attitude is no longer sustainable for an Adelaide side that has conceded a whopping 45 goals in 21 games this season.

Only the struggling Perth Glory have conceded more goals in the 2024-25 campaign.

“We have to be more resilient defensively, because conceding the goals that we were conceding, it’s just not good enough,” Veart said after the Reds’ latest loss.

“Maybe, myself and the coaching staff have to change the way we defend because it’s obviously not working.”

The Reds have only won once in their past nine matches, and are in real danger of wasting a season that at one stage seemed so promising.

Joy for Melbourne clubs

While it was a bad weekend for Sydney FC and Adelaide United, it was a case of mission accomplished for Melbourne rivals City and Victory.

Both clubs upped the ante in their bids to not only cement a top-six spot, but also stay in the hunt for the premiership.

While their defending could have been better, City and Victory showed more than enough in attack to secure crucial wins over Sydney and Adelaide respectively.

The depth City has been forced to create this season due to injuries was evident, with the club’s three weekend goalscorers ­– Medin Memeti, Max Caputo and Alessandro Lopane ­– all aged 20 or under.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 29: Daniel Arzani of the Victory celebrates after scoring a goal during the round 24 A-League Men's match between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United at AAMI Park, on March 29, 2025, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

The Victory’s win at AAMI Park was highlighted by an excellent performance from Nishan Velupillay, whose confidence seems sky high after finding the back of the net in the Socceroos’ recent wins over Indonesia and China.

It was also encouraging to see Velupillay’s Socceroos teammate Daniel Arzani score twice for the Victory.

Former prodigy Arzani knows he needs to score more goals in the A-League if he’s to finally fulfil his undoubted potential.

Greek striker Nikos Vergos also put his hand up for a starting berth after coming on in the 85th minute with the score at 3-3 and netting a late brace to seal the Victory’s win.

There is no doubt the Victory has the talent to contend for the title when you consider the likes of Vergos and midfielder Jordi Valadon were among the substitutes on the weekend, and newly capped Socceroo Ryan Teague took no part in the match at all.

Team of the week: (4-1-2-3) – Alex Paulsen (Auckland FC); Hiroki Sakai (Auckland FC), Tomislav Uskok (Macarthur FC), Nando Pijnaker (Auckland FC), Lucas Mauragis (Central Coast Mariners); Kai Trewin (Melbourne City); Eli Adams (Newcastle Jets), Daniel Arzani (Melbourne Victory); Nishan Velupillay (Melbourne Victory), Nikos Vergos (Melbourne Victory), Douglas Costa (Sydney FC). Coach: Aurelio Vidmar (Melbourne City)

Player of the week: Nishan Velupillay (Melbourne Victory)

Originally published as Sydney FC continue lacklustre season despite remaining alive in A-League finals race