Preparing for Saturday’s elimination semi-final, Head Coach Graham Arnold said he expects nothing but the best from his squad dubbed Sydney FC Mark II.
Named as such following Arnold’s rebuilding in January, he said Sydney FC Mark II was the best team in the league from the turn of the New Year as he called for a packed Allianz Stadium to back the Sky Blues to victory.
“It’s a performance over the whole 90 minutes or 120 minutes and making sure we stick to what we do well,” he said.
“What we do well, is we come into this finals series in good form, since January we’ve been the best team in the league and since January the stats show out of 39 points we’ve got 32 points, we’re five points better than Melbourne Victory and nine points ahead of Adelaide.
“Sydney Mark 2 was built in January and since then our performances have been outstanding and I don’t expect anything less on Saturday night,” he continued.
“Sydney Mark 2 has dropped seven points out of a possible 39, and we’re looking forward to hopefully 30,000 people behind us.
“I know a full Allianz is an intimidating place for opposition to come, a half empty Allianz isn’t. We’re sure the Sydney FC fans will get behind us, make a lot of noise and be our 12th man.”
Arnold said he’s prepared for what Adelaide will throw at him on Saturday night as he confirmed he had a full squad available to choose from for the encounter at Allianz Stadium.
“Of course we’ve analysed Adelaide,” he said.
“I know they play with a three man back line with Malik moving in to midfield and we’re prepared for that.
“I know they will use it on Saturday because it’s been successful for them in Adelaide so we’ll be prepared for that system.
“They’re saying we’re scared of them, they say they don’t talk about the opposition, but that’s all we can hear is what Adelaide is saying,” he continued.
“For us it’s about ourselves. I have my experiences of being experienced in the finals series and what I try to do is relay that to the players in a way that they don’t even know.
“We’ve got Janko back, Terry Antonis, if I am scared of Adelaide I’m more scared that I’ve got to select 11 out of 20 very good players, and I’ve got to disappoint players. We’ve got a full squad that are healthy fresh and ready to go.”
Sydney FC take on Adelaide United on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium in the semi-final of the Hyundai A-League Finals Series presented by Foxtel (kick off 7:30pm). Purchase your tickets today and be there to cheer on the Sky Blues in this must win game.
