"I felt it started to affect me and my health ... I haven't enjoyed it (coaching) for a few weeks, if the truth be known" - Former Sydney FC coach Ian Crook (theaustralian.com.au)
So what makes Crook's case any different from all the other coaches in the A-League? The answer to that is Alessandro Del Piero - the Juventus legend who signed a million-dollar deal to join Sydney FC for two years. Del Piero is undoubtedly the biggest signing in the A-League's history, in terms of money and player quality. It opened the A-League to the world, with Del Piero's most passionate supporters back in Italy turning on their television sets in the early hours of the morning to watch one of their favourite sons.
And Del Piero, after 5 games on the pitch, has done everything but flop. Sydney shirts with his name on the back have sold by the thousands. Three goals, numerous assists, and thousands of autographs signed. He has also maintained his leadership qualities on the field, although not officially the captain of Sydney FC (he captained Juventus numerous times), cameras have constantly picked up Del Piero telling, sometimes screaming, his team mates what they should be doing.
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| Del Piero celebrates after scoring his first A-League goal against Newcastle last month |
But so far, it has all been for nothing when it comes to results. Sydney have conceded 16 goals in 6 games, and just last week suffered a record-equalling 7-2 loss to the Central Coast Mariners. Not surprisingly, Del Piero did not play due to a hamstring injury. In their last game against the Melbourne Victory, Sydney led 2-0 and Del Piero was taken off after 60 minutes because it seemed his hamstring was playing up again. Melbourne scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes to win 3-2, and Crook was seen kicking sideline chairs and explaining himself to fans in the stands. Crook's resignation is an accumulation of these instances, not to mention the opening 2-0 loss to the Wellington Phoenix, and a 2-1 win over a ten-man Perth Glory where Syndey FC really should of used their one man advantage to put Perth to the sword but failed to do so.
So is Sydney's appalling start to the season Del Piero's fault? Simple answer, no. The underlying pressure has obviously taken its toll on Crook, and perhaps the players themselves are feeling more pressure to perform as well. But I argue that having someone like Del Piero around you can only inspire you to perform better, to impress one of football's great players. As mentioned above, his leadership on the field has made a positive impact.
"What I love is coaching on the pitch, all this (press conferences)
becomes a burden and with Alessandro coming all of this has become
bigger than Ben Hur" - Former Sydney FC coach Ian Crook (news.com.au)
The expectations of success that came with Del Piero do not pull a blanket over the problems with Sydney's team as a whole. I do not know enough to make accurate observations on this matter, but from what I have seen Sydney's defending has been poor, the midfield not that much better, and communication and accurate passing have been non-existent at times. This has not been helped by injuries resulting in the inability to put together a consistent team, and the cancellation of pre-season games that would of given Crook more time to witness Del Piero and develop some combinations. Essentially, Del Piero's influence has been positive in an individual sense, he is not a has-been and still has much to offer football in Australia. But if the other players are not performing their duties, and are unable to live up to the exaggerated expectations that have arisen because of Del Piero's arrival, then trouble is not far away.
The public, players and media - need to realize that Del Piero can not single handedly guide Sydney FC to A-League glory. I only jumped on the Sydney FC bandwagon because of Del Piero, but now I genuinely do care about what happens to this team. Their pride and confidence has taken a massive blow. A caretaker coach recently guided Chelsea to the pinnacle of European club football and I'm not suggesting that something similar will happen with Sydney FC. Maybe some fresh ideas from a coach who, unlike Crook himself said, will put their heart fully into the job with one hundred percent passion, will be fed on to the players. The most important thing now is for Sydney to lower their expectations a little and aim for a top six finish.
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I boldly predicted, after the first game, that the Wellington Phoenix would win the A-League. I never blogged that statement and it seems rather ridiculous of me to say it now. It is just that they started so well. Louis Fenton and Stein Huysegems scored some great goals, and that was followed by a 1-1 draw with defending champions Brisbane Roar. Ironically, Wellington and Brisbane now occupy the bottom two spots on the A-League table. I would like to see less long, overhead passes and - it pains me to say this - more tiki-taka style football that the Spaniards play. Close, short passing can only be achieved with wide vision across the field, which every footballer is capable of.
I want to see the Phoenix working their way around the field through a lot more ground passing. Long balls are effective when used to desperately clear the defensive goal box; as crosses into the goal box (headers) or to assist a fast and/or tall player running towards goal who breaks the defensive line(ala Mario Balotelli's second goal vs Germany at Euro this year). But this sort of play in midfield does not appeal to me. There is no need. Be patient and take the time to pass around and not make hopeful passes over your opponents' heads.
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