Sydney FC Head Coach Ufuk Talay is expecting a fast and furious opening quarter to Saturday night’s clash against Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium.
Talay believes the Sky Blues’ new front foot style, plus Brisbane’s players keen to impress their new Head Coach will mean the first 20 minutes should not be missed.
“We want to play a certain brand of football; a high intensity game….and generally when a new coach comes in [at Brisbane] the players are buzzing.
“They’ve got a clean slate for players and they will definitely be up for it to showcase what they can do for their new coach.
“Probably the first 15-20 minutes will be at a very high intensity.”
The Roar lost 8-1 in their previous outing against Melbourne City, however Talay doesn’t believe it will be a motivating factor in the game.
“I think that result is irrelevant, I think they were going through a phase of uncertainty with Ross leaving, but with the change of coach, it’s a clean slate for all those players, so it’s going to be a very difficult game.”
The Sky Blues Championship winner is seeing positive changes in his squad over the last few weeks as they adapt to their new high pressing playing style.
“The boys are getting better, and things don’t happen overnight, but you can see a massive change in the group,” he continued.
“I’m pleased with the chances [we are creating] but not with the conversion rate, the great thing is we are getting into those areas, but we need to be more clinical in the final third.”
Talay also revealed Corey Hollman returns to the squad for this weekend’s game, and he is hopeful on Anthony Caceres’ involvement.
“Corey is back in, he’s had a full week training with us, so he has recovered from his illness which is great.
“The only one is Cass [Caceres], he’s touch and go with his ankle but we’ll see how he goes with the last couple of sessions.”
Meanwhile, young striker Mitch Glasson has revealed that he’s really enjoying life playing in the A-League having stepped up from youth football this season.
The 17-year-old believes he and his team-mates are only going to improve going forward.
“I’m loving it, they are a great bunch of people here and I think we are only starting to find our gear now and we are going to take off.
“I love the pressing game, stepping on the ball and trying to press them higher up the field to get more attacking opportunities.
“We want to score goals and that’s the best way we are going to do it, winning the ball higher up the field.”
The Sky Blues will have one more training session tomorrow [Friday] before flying to Brisbane for the 7.45pm AEDT Saturday night clash.
Match Details
Brisbane Roar v Sydney FC
Isuzu UTE A-League Round 11
Saturday 6th January 2024
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD
Kick Off: 7:45pm AEDT (6:45pm Local)
Broadcast Live: Paramount+ & 10Bold
Tickets: Click Here
