Record start not enough, says Sydney FC coach

Sydney FC boss Steve Corica is demanding more from the reigning champions

Sydney FC have started will, but coach Steve Corica believes they can improve

His team have put together the strongest title defence in A-Lea­gue history but Sydney FC boss Steve Corica is demanding more from the reigning champions.

Saturday night’s 3-2 victory in Perth not only extended the Sky Blues’ phenomenal record against Glory, but means that after six rounds Sydney have accrued more points than any defending champion before them.

So far avoiding the slump in form that has bedevilled many A-League champions, Sydney have 15 points thanks to five wins in six games. But Corica says they could have had more — even though it has set an early-season record.

Ange Postecoglou’s Brisbane Roar had 14 points at this stage in 2011-12, while Graham Arnold’s Sydney FC side of 2017-18 had 13 points. That Sky Blue team then won seven straight games from Round 7, but so far Corica’s side has more points and more goals.

It leaves Sydney second to Melbourne City by having played a game less, but Corica wants more improvement from his side before they face City for the first time this year on December 29.

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“Of course we can improve,” Corica said. “It’s only early in the season and we’ve brought in several new players. They’re gelling well and they’ve started well but we’re only going to get better.

“I’d like to be a little bit better defensively and not concede as many — we’ve conceded a couple of times just before halftime and those are little moments where we’ve switched off and we can do better. I also believe we can score more goals at times. The games that we’ve played now, we’ve created a lot of chances and maybe we should be scoring more goals than what we are.

“The players we have are good quality, but at the back too we want to play good football. I want the boys to enjoy playing … enjoy winning and score a lot of goals.”

Saturday’s win also produced a 12th win in 13 games against Perth for Sydney, an extraordinary domination — and came despite Glory having more possession, more passes and more shots.

“Sometimes there are teams you like to play against,” Corica said. “Perth are clearly a very good team and we respect them — we have to play well to win here.

“Their stadium is great, the pitch is great and sometimes a hostile crowd pumps our boys up a little bit. We know what we’re up against and I thought we deserved it in the end”

Glory, meanwhile, are left languishing in sixth spot, four points off the sides above them.

Meanwhile, Tony Popovic insists he isn’t worried about the growing gap between his side and the top two, but says his new-look defence is still a work in progress.

Although Perth created plenty of chances on Saturday night, they looked vulnerable on the counter as the Sky Blues’ attackers beat the off-side trap time and again.

The Glory’s performance this year is in stark contrast to last season, when they came out firing before wrapping up the Premiers Plate with two rounds to spare.

Perth now face a tough double road trip in which they will take on Melbourne Victory and City in consecutive Friday night games at AAMI Park. Winning an A-League title from outside the top two is hard but Popovic is adamant he’s not focusing on the ladder.

“I haven’t looked at it. I’m not interested in the gap at all,” he said.

“They (Melbourne City and Sydney) deserve to be there (in the top two). They’ve won five games, so they deserve to be up there.

“We haven’t won those games, so we are where we are. We’ve just got to keep fighting.”

Glory sorely missed defensive duo Alex Grant (suspended) and Osama Malik (hamstring) against Sydney. Grant will return against Victory but doubts remain around Malik’s availability.

The loss of defensive linchpins Matthew Spiranovic, Shane Lowry, and Jason Davidson during the off-season have hurt Glory, who are yet to post a clean sheet this season.

“The reality is that all the players that came in, came very late and came at very different fitness levels and some with previous injuries,” Popovic said of his new defensive signings.

“For Dino (Djulbic), that was his first start since the grand final. “Greg (Wuthrich) is still getting fitter. James (Meredith), it’s only his second game. Kim Soo-beom has come off a back injury before he got here.

“There’s a lot of players in the backline who are needing time.”

DAILY TELEGRAPH, AAP