Sydney FC coach Steve Corica won’t rush decision on marquee player for new season
SYDNEY FC boss Steve Corica insists the club is striving to deliver a new marquee to boost the club’s attacking stocks but a costly punt on simply landing a ‘big name’ is out of the question.
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SYDNEY FC boss Steve Corica insists the club is striving to deliver a new marquee to boost the club’s attacking stocks but a costly punt on simply landing a ‘big name’ is out of the question.
He is also pleading patience with the new A-League season not due to kick-off until mid-October.
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The Sky Blues began life under their new boss with a 5-0 win over Dunbar Rovers at North Sydney Oval on Wednesday night.
With former coach Graham Arnold having moved on to lead the Socceroos, the task of bringing fresh success to the Sky Blues now lies with his former assistant.
Corica is relishing the challenge and as he looks to secure fresh faces for the squad, his philosophy is clear.
“Attacking, winning football,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “Football is about winning matches and giving yourself the best opportunity to do that.
“You need to be strong defensively but also have the players to turn a game. It was good to get the first game under our belt with the boys getting 60 minutes and then there’s the FFA Cup (against Rockdale) coming up. That’s (Cup) obviously one of our targets for this season.”
Another crucial task is getting recruitment spot-on with the club looking to fill the considerable void left by the respective departures of Brazilian striker Bobo and Polish midfielder Adrian Mierzejewski. The hunt is underway for fresh goal power.
“Football throws up challenges and while it wasn’t something we were expecting (their departures) we move on,” Corica said. “When you’re looking at a marquee, or adding to your squad within the salary cap, it’s about looking at the whole picture.
“Yes, you want quality but you do your homework. If it’s a ‘big name’ that’s one thing but you look at everything. They have to fit in with the way we want to play and they must also be someone who embraces this club’s culture, that they have the right character.”
And Corica points to the success of both Bobo and Mierzejewski as examples of the club doing its homework well.
“When both those players were signed, were they names everyone knew? Probably not, but they did great for us,” he said. “There’s a lot of players we have looked at, are looking at, but we won’t rush it.”
Tongue-in-cheek, Corica confirmed that Usain Bolt was not one of the names on the club’s shopping list. “Look, people have had their opinions on that situation. He is not the marquee I want,” Corica joked.
The Sky Blues coach is determined to do things his way but that doesn’t mean binning the Arnold era to history.
“I may do some things differently but I won’t change too much,” he said. “The core of the group is still there.”
In recent days, others from the club’s coaching ranks have followed Arnold out of the door but Corica is happy with the support staff he has in place.
Head of high performance Andrew Clark has moved on to join the Socceroos set up with sports scientist Chris Pappas arriving at Sydney FC.
National Youth League head coach Rob Stanton joins Corica’s staff as assistant coach, alongside former FC favourite Ufuk Talay. Justin McMahon has joined as the new head of football analysis with another former FC player, Shane Smeltz the Sky Blues Under 20s assistant coach.