Sky Blues still feeling pain
Sydney FC are still hurting over the way their championship defence ended last season, ahead of their clash with Melbourne Victory.
So says coach Steve Corica as he leads the Sky Blues into the Big Blue clash with Victory at Jubilee Oval on Sunday.
It really hurt us not going into the Grand Final last year.
Steve Corica
Sydney FC won the Premier's Plate by a massive 14 points last season and looked a good bet to go on and clinch a second consecutive Grand Final victory, only to be stunned by Kevin Muscat's side in the semi-final.
Corica, who has taken over this season from Graham Arnold as coach, concedes the pain of that defeat would resonate during the build-up.
But it's something the players - seven of whom were involved in that extra-time loss - will have had to tackle on their own as the coach didn't want to focus on the past.
"We haven't spoken about it to the players, but I'm sure that's in the back of their minds at the end of the day," said Corica.
"It really hurt us not going into the Grand Final last year. We were the best team; we finished first by a lot of points and obviously it's disappointing."
The clash is the first between Corica and former on-field foe Muscat, who were prominent figures in the early days of the rivalry.
Corica has respect for Muscat, who has won two championships, saying he was very focused as a coach just as he was as a player.
Meanwhile, Sydney FC will face two league champions in their Asian Champions League group next year.
The Sky Blues have been drawn in the same group as Kawasaki Frontale of Japan and China's Shanghai SIPG, with the final team to be a play-off winner.
Melbourne Victory have been pitted against Guangzhou Evergrande of China and two yet-to-be-determined opponents. One will be the South Korean FA Cup winners, either Ulsan Hyundai or Daegu FC.
The other will be either a Japanese side, Thailand's Chiangrai United, Philippines champions Ceres-Negros or Yangon United of Myanmar.
The Sky Blues are 19/20 to win their next game against Melbourne Victory, who are 14/5, with the draw 13/5.
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Sydney FC are still hurting over the way their championship defence ended last season, ahead of their clash with Melbourne Victory.
So says coach Steve Corica as he leads the Sky Blues into the Big Blue clash with Victory at Jubilee Oval on Sunday.
It really hurt us not going into the Grand Final last year.
Steve Corica
Sydney FC won the Premier's Plate by a massive 14 points last season and looked a good bet to go on and clinch a second consecutive Grand Final victory, only to be stunned by Kevin Muscat's side in the semi-final.
Corica, who has taken over this season from Graham Arnold as coach, concedes the pain of that defeat would resonate during the build-up.
But it's something the players - seven of whom were involved in that extra-time loss - will have had to tackle on their own as the coach didn't want to focus on the past.
"We haven't spoken about it to the players, but I'm sure that's in the back of their minds at the end of the day," said Corica.
"It really hurt us not going into the Grand Final last year. We were the best team; we finished first by a lot of points and obviously it's disappointing."
The clash is the first between Corica and former on-field foe Muscat, who were prominent figures in the early days of the rivalry.
Corica has respect for Muscat, who has won two championships, saying he was very focused as a coach just as he was as a player.
Meanwhile, Sydney FC will face two league champions in their Asian Champions League group next year.
The Sky Blues have been drawn in the same group as Kawasaki Frontale of Japan and China's Shanghai SIPG, with the final team to be a play-off winner.
Melbourne Victory have been pitted against Guangzhou Evergrande of China and two yet-to-be-determined opponents. One will be the South Korean FA Cup winners, either Ulsan Hyundai or Daegu FC.
The other will be either a Japanese side, Thailand's Chiangrai United, Philippines champions Ceres-Negros or Yangon United of Myanmar.
The Sky Blues are 19/20 to win their next game against Melbourne Victory, who are 14/5, with the draw 13/5.
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Source: bet365.com
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