Ex-Sydney teammates turn rivals as Phoenix rise to challenge

Steve Corica has praised ex-teammate and rival coach Mark Rudan for the steel he has put into the Wellington Phoenix.

Sydney FC have lost just one match under the watchful eye of coach Steve Corica this season. Picture: AAP

They are good mates, stood side-by-side in a championship-winning team and now they have a burning desire to be successful as coaches.

The results and the A-League table say Sydney FC boss Steve Corica has had the jump on his struggling Wellington Phoenix counterpart Mark Rudan after the first six rounds of the season, but he is taking nothing for granted when the two go head-to-head at Jubilee Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

Corica saw first-hand the competitive nature of Rudan when they were teammates at Sydney FC in the first couple of seasons of the A-League.

Rudan was a tower of strength for the Sky Blues, particularly as club captain, helping them claim the inaugural A-League title in the 2005-06 season. He endeared himself so much to the fans that they christened him the “Big Blue Man”.

“Rudes is a winner and he used to play like that. He was a tough- tackling defender,” Corica said yesterday. “He has done a good job with Phoenix and you can see he has instilled his competitiveness as a player in them.

“They are defensively stronger than last season and have a different system with a back five that is sometimes hard to break down.

“But they also have some good attacking players. When they go long the attackers like to use their pace to get in behind the defence.”

Still, Corica says the focus is more about his own players.

“We are good friends but we both have a job to do and I am only thinking about what we have to do to beat them,” he said.

The Sky Blues have had a good start to the season, losing just once — a 2-1 defeat to Melbourne Victory — to be in third spot on 11 points, just a point behind second-placed Victory and two behind leaders Perth Glory.

They did well to come from a goal behind to beat Central Coast Mariners last week, bouncing back from that loss to Victory.

Wellington Phoenix coach Mark Rudan. Picture: Getty Images

Corica will have a strong squad to choose from with Danny De Silva and Siem de Jong back after missing last week’s match. De Silva, who is on loan from the Mariners, did not play because of an agreement between the two clubs while de Jong has been recovering from a hamstring injury.

The Dutchman, who has been sidelined since suffering the injury against Western Sydney in the derby five weeks ago, is expected to be on the bench even though Corica says he is fit enough to start.

“It’s great to have them both back. Danny got 65 minutes into his legs in a youth game last week and Siem has been building up nicely,” Corica said. “Siem can start, but I am not sure about that yet. We still have two days to go before I make a decision.

“There’s a lot to be done in that time and lot for me to think about because we have a very strong squad.

“The team has been doing well and we have just lost the one game so sometimes it is hard to make changes.”

That means there are no signs that skipper Alex Brosque will be rested any time soon. It had been suggested before the start of the season that the club would tread warily with the inspirational attacker, given his age.

The plan was to use him off the bench but a season-ending injury to Trent Buhagiar changed those plans and that has seen Brosque start every game this season.

“Brosquey is doing a great job and his body is holding up well and showing no signs of slowing down,” Corica said. “That was the plan with Brosquey, to look after him, but things changed.

“We hope to find another attacker in January but the team is doing so well so you try and keep the team the same.”