Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold has labelled the Sky Blues as “the best in the league” in every department bar one ahead of their top of the table clash against the Brisbane Roar at Allianz Stadium on Friday night (kick off 7:40pm).
Arnold recalled stat after stat on Wednesday, as he said the only area for improvement from his squad is goal scoring as he promised a more cohesive front line in the weeks to come.
“We’ve had a good start in terms of points,” Arnold said.
“I’m quite big on stats that are meaningful stats and everything shows that on stats side of it we’re on top in every department except for scoring goals.
“So getting into the opposition’s penalty box or controlling the game in the opposition’s half, we’re the best in the league.
“In the attacking half you’ve got two new players in [Filip] Holosko and [Milos] Ninkovic and even [Andrew] Hoole so trying to blend in new players it’s all about cohesion in the attacking side of things. We’re working on that every day, it takes a little bit of time to gel together.”
Arnold praised the experience in the Roar’s ranks though he noted defensive frailties he hopes to exploit in the Sky Blues first Friday night clash of the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season.
“Brisbane have started the competition well, the Aloisi boys are doing well up there,” Arnold said.
“Brisbane has always been a strong healthy club, obviously they’ve had their off field issues but you can have those types of issues and you won’t be affected when you have the types of people in the dressing room like Matt McKay, Jade North and Thomas Broich.
“They’ve definitely changed their style defensively,” he continued.
“When you analyse them closely and watch them defend it’s definitely a different style for them and at times it looks like they’re struggling to adjust for it. Hopefully we can take advantage of that.”
The Sky Blues Head Coach said Sydney Derby match winner Milos Ninkovic would be available for selection following his absence against the Central Coast Mariners as he confirmed Ali Abbas is only just over one month away from a return.
“Ninkovic will be fit,” he said.
“At this time we have only one player not up for selection and that’s Ali Abbas. At the moment I’ve got 24 players ready to go.
“Ali played in an in house game 50 or 40 minutes the other day so he’s still five or six weeks off. He needs games, training games, he’s not ready for first team football yet.”
Sydney FC take on the Brisbane Roar at Allianz Stadium on Friday 6 November (kick off 7:40pm). Catch the match live on Fox Sport 4, listen live on ABC Grandstand or follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for match updates.
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