Alex Brosque declares Sydney FC will bounce back for derby against Western Sydney Wanderers
After last weekend’s shock loss to Wellington Phoenix, it was suggested to Sydney FC skipper Alex Brosque that the Sky Blues might finally be on the back foot for the derby. He didn’t agree.
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In October 2016, in the week before the first Sydney derby at ANZ Stadium, Alex Brosque declared Western Sydney were “there for the taking”.
Four days later the Sydney FC skipper scored in the 89th minute to ice a 4-0 walloping in front of more than 60,000.
A further two years down the track and talk is the Sky Blues could this time be the party more ripe for the picking in Saturday’s crunch clash at the same ground.
While the Wanderers regained their footing with an emphatic 2-0 win over Central Coast last weekend, Sydney, already comparatively shaky by their high standards, slumped to a worrying 3-1 home loss to Wellington.
It was the first time Steve Corica’s inherited record-breakers had conceded three goals in a regular season match since March 2016.
Maybe, for the first time in a very long time, the derby balance of power could be about to swing?
The very suggestion had Brosque laughing out loud.
"I'm laughing because I completely disagree,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
"For me that (Phoenix) game was a complete one-off. People on the outside can definitely be quick to jump on things when they don't go well, but from our point of view it was a game where everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong.
"But that's not happened very often in the last few years. We know how to bounce back, that's one thing I can guarantee about our team. Which is still why I believe this derby we'll be well prepared for it like we always are.
"For me the talk on the outside is exactly that because we're just as confident as ever.”
Brosque wasn’t willing to say Sydney still have the edge over their bitter rivals, against whom they’ve lost only once in their last 15 meetings stretching back to January 2014.
“I guess we'll see come Saturday” was as far as he’d go.
But after two days spent dissecting issues contributing to the Phoenix loss the 35-year-old declared the team’s preparation, mentality and readiness for this chapter would match all those previous.
“Those three things will be the exact same,” he said.
“We know what's at stake, we know what it means to the whole club. Especially following a loss like we had on Saturday, we're definitely making sure we go about things the right way this week to make sure we win.”
Brosque echoed widespread sentiment that Markus Babbel’s Wanderers have been hit and miss this season with two wins, two draws and three losses, including that hugely controversial round two 2-0 derby defeat at the SCG.
“The one thing that's almost guaranteed is regardless of how they've been going from round one to round seven, this Saturday against us they'll play a completely different way,” he said.
“Most teams tend to do that. “
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Originally published as Alex Brosque declares Sydney FC will bounce back for derby against Western Sydney Wanderers
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