The Isuzu-UTE A-League Men’s 2022-23 season concluded last week, and we thought now would be the perfect time to take a look back at Sydney FC’s season that was in statistical terms.
Our Return to Allianz Stadium was a huge success off the park with a record Membership number in excess of 19,000 helping drive our players to a semi-finals spot.
It meant we averaged over 17,000 in attendance per game which was 6,000 higher than any other A-League club.
Our total attendance across 15 matches (incl. Finals) reached in excess of 250,000 fans which was #1 across the nation and 50,000 greater than the next best.
Well done to all our Members and fans.
It was definitely a season of two halves in terms of the on-field performance with the latter half definitely looking the best statistically.
After our early season injuries had cleared and our new signings and new formation found its rhythm, we produced our second best record in the league behind Premiers Plate winners Melbourne City.
Here’s how the ladder looked after the halfway stage….
Second half of the season stats (from 13 games)
Melbourne City – 7 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses – 25 points.
Sydney FC – 7 wins, 3 draws, 3 losses – 24 points.
Adelaide United – 6 wins, 5 draws, 2 losses – 23 points.
Central Coast Mariners – 6 wins, 4 draws, 3 losses – 22 points.
Western Sydney Wanderers – 6 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses – 21 points.
Western United – 5 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses – 17 points.
Melbourne Victory – 5 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses – 17 points.
Wellington Phoenix – 4 wins, 3 draws, 6 losses – 15 points.
Newcastle Jets – 4 wins, 3 draws, 6 losses – 15 points.
Brisbane Roar – 4 wins, 2 draws, 7 losses – 14 points.
Perth Glory – 2 wins, 6 draws, 5 losses – 11 points.
Macarthur FC – 2 wins, 3 draws, 8 losses – 9 points.
I would say the first 13 games have been up and down. But if you look at the last 13 games, we’ve been very consistent – we were one point behind Melbourne City over the last 13 games.”
Sydney FC Head Coach Steve Corica.
This season we scored 43 goals, which was six more than the 37 we notched last campaign and one more than in 2020/21 when we finished second with 42 goals. The improvement in front of goal was key to season which saw us finish only two wins from second spot this time.
Other improvements included our goals from outside the area where we scored six this term. That is more than the previous two seasons combined (1 in 2021/22 and 3 in 2020/21). Our overseas signings certainly helped in that department with Robert Mak (2), Joe Lolley and Diego Caballo all contributing, and Max Burgess netting twice from range.
There were also more left footed goals this season than previous, with 12 of our 43 coming from the left peg, 27 on the right and four with the head.
In defence, the clean sheets (5) matched that of the 2021/22 season.
Possession has remained relatively unchanged over the last three seasons, with this campaign’s number (52.7%) sitting 1% higher than the previous two. There were on average 30 more completed passes per game this season compared to previous years.
With the introduction of new players such as Joe Lolley and Robert Mak, this campaign saw an increase in the number of successful dribbles per match at 10.3, compared to 2021/22’s 9.0 and 2020/21’s 8.8. Counter attacks also remained the same throughout the previous three seasons (16).
There was also more red cards this season than any Isuzu UTE A-League season on record and the Sky Blues saw six of them shown their way. This was more than the previous two years combined with four.
Overall, after a slow start, the final table position of 5th had Sydney FC level with Adelaide United (3rd) and Western Sydney Wanderers (4th) in terms of wins (11) which was three more than we achieved last season, and heading in the right direction.
