Sydney FC coach admits everyone at the club - including himself - must step up

GRAHAM Arnold says it’s not just the players who need to improve - the Sydney FC coach admits he must eliminate his mistakes on the sideline.

Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC

GRAHAM Arnold says it’s not just the players who need to step up for the remainder of the season - the Sydney FC coach admits he needs to improve his own sideline performance and tactics too.

The Sky Blues have picked up just one point from their last three games and desperately need to get back to winning ways against Perth Glory at home this weekend.

They’ve been inconsistent at best, but Arnold says he has to take responsibility and from now on there simply cannot be any more excuses.

“We’ve had hiccups along the way — injuries, players not in form and I include myself in that. I’ve had bad weeks as well on the sidelines,” Arnold said.

“I take responsibility for everything that happens here and maybe my team selections could have been better for certain games. I take risks as a coach and some of those risks probably didn’t come off.

“That’s something that I’ve got to make sure that my focus is 110 per cent from now, even with the Asian Champions League coming up, and making sure our preparation is spot on for every game.

“The first 18 games is about getting yourself in that position to win something and we’ve done that. Now with nine games to go, the last part of the season, it’s about no excuses.

“It’s about stepping up to the plate, every player, and performing at the best of our ability and again I include myself in that — the coaching staff have to perform better than what we have been.”

But Arnold insists he won’t be deterred from taking risks in order to give his team the best chance of success.

“I never sit on my hands and hope that things go the right way. During games I change the tactics and change the system to try and get the result that we need — that won’t change,” Arnold said.

“It’s about now players need to step up. We’ve had a bit of inconsistency over the first 18 games, I feel our performances have been good in patches during games, but now we’ve got to play for 90, 95 minutes and get the right result.”

Sydney FC Coach Graham Arnold addresses the players before training at McQuarie Park. pic mark evans

In a major boost for the Sky Blues, skipper Alex Brosque will be back and in the starting line-up, as will new recruit David Carney. Both players provide the experience and quality Sydney have been lacking in recent weeks.

“Having Alex Brosque back training fully has given the team a lift obviously — we get our captain back. It’s been a long stint out for him,” Arnold said.

“Brosquey brings a lot of quality and experience. In the A-League’s salary cap system, when you have marquees, if your marquees aren’t playing it’s something that can hurt you and Brosquey is our marquee.

“Carney hasn’t played that much, but in the 20 minutes he played last week he added a lot to the game. The opposition look at him and fear him because of his reputation, who he is and what he can do. He puts their right full-back immediately on the back foot.”

David Carney of Sydney during the round 18 A-League match between the Adelaide United and Sydney FC at Coopers Stadium in Adelaide, on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016. (AAP Image/David Mariuz) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

With the Glory on the comeback and themselves fighting to stay in touch with the top six, Arnold knows it will be a dangerous game with everyone under pressure.

“We’re all fighting for the top spot — top spot is not far away from six teams and Perth Glory are coming back,” he said.

“Kenny Lowe is doing a great job. The hardest thing for Perth is always the travel - they’ve had to stay in Wellington for the week after playing Wellington on Sunday and it’s not the best place to stay for a week.”

Originally published as Sydney FC coach admits everyone at the club - including himself - must step up