Will Booth 
Sydney FC 2024/25 A-League season preview. Photo: Supplied by Sydney FC. Design: Round Ball Australia
Sydney FC’s 2023/24 campaign was a mixed bag, getting their pre-season under way with a dominant run in the Australia Cup where they overcame Brisbane Roar in the final, but a poor start to the regular season meant that a big shake up of personnel was imminent.
Steve Corica had delivered the club their first silverware since the 2019/20 season, however, some poor performances to start the season saw Corica part ways after 5 years in charge, with Ufuk Talay coming in as his replacement to see out the rest of the season.
After an understandable period of transition, results on the pitch steadily improved, as did the perception of the playing style by the fans who had bought into the new manager’s vision. A Sydney Derby loss was hard to swallow at first, however, the 1-0 defeat was soon pushed out of the memory for the Sky Blues as they went on to overturn the deficit against their rivals with victory in the remaining two clashes in the season.
These battles with the Red and Black Bloc are circled in the A-League Men calendar for fans of both sides and are used as a litmus test that exists outside the realm of league tables and points tallies.
No derby will be under the microscope more so than the one that headlines Round 1 in the 2024/25 season, where the Wanderers play host to a Sydney side that will want to make their mark as early as possible this season, avoiding last year’s sluggish start.
The fixture promises to captivate die-hard and casual fans alike, allured by the biggest pair of signings the league has ever seen in the 10 days that separated the announcements. Douglas Costa v Juan Mata: two names that would have had you locked up in some sort of asylum if you had mentioned them in the same breath as the A-League more than a month ago.
Sydney’s 2024/25 campaign lies in the hands of one of the most decorated footballing names of the past 15 years in Costa, the electrifying talent that will almost certainly put rear-ends in stands, however, with some smart squad building done by Sydney, he does not bare this weight alone.
The difference between the last campaign and the upcoming one already seems obvious. Joe Lolley and Robert Mak put the whole squad on their back at many points, which was still enough to ensure a finals berth and a season where the results were probably about par in the end; getting knocked out of the finals by the eventual champions is nothing to be ashamed of.
This year, however, appears to be different. Depth was added across the front-line, with key partnerships in vital areas bolstered, albeit with a defence that looks to have been neglected slightly. The game plan appears to be to outscore opponents with free-flowing attacking football, while the ageing-in-some-areas inexperienced-in-others defence is tasked with tending goal.
One thing is for certain; it will be an exciting season regardless of the experiment succeeding or failing, with the latter seeming more unlikely as time goes on.
The Manager: Ufuk Talay
Ufuk Talay’s appointment was a welcome refresher for the club, and although Corica’s reign can be seen as a successful one overall, fans were tiring of the football being played under his helm especially towards the end of his tenure.
Talay, being a former Sydney FC player himself, arrived off the back of four successful years at Wellington Phoenix, where he oversaw the team through a tough period of relocation to Australia due to the pandemic.
In his first year overseeing the Sky Blues, he immediately gained the support of fans by trusting in the successful but largely untapped youth supply coming through the ranks of the side’s NPL team which acts as pathway for those aged under 20.
He made some small tweaks with personnel but was rewarded with outstanding performances coming in the way of his new centre-back partnership in ex-schoolmates Hayden Matthews and Jake Girdwood-Reich. The pair instantly looked as if they had been playing together for years, which they actually had, but the impressive part was the arena in which their displays were given.
Both players looked at ease after stepping into the A-League on a permanent basis, with Girdwood-Reich making a handful of starts, mostly in midfield, the year before.
It was the willingness to finally develop some home-grown talent that brought the fans onside, something that had been missing in Corica’s tenure. Add the proper introduction of Jaiden Kucharski, who under Talay had his A-League minutes quintupled, and you have a recipe for success. Belief in the players that are coming through, which in turn instills a winning mentality inside a club.
Talay does not have his sides playing revolutionary football, but it is an aggressive front foot game with an energetic press that is enjoyable to watch when it is ticking. Add in the names he has in his arsenal this year, and it seems as though he is the right man for the job at this moment in time.
The Squad
Club captain for the 23/24 season Luke Brattan headlines the departure column for Sydney FC and is joined by Robert Mak and Jake Girdwood-Reich as players who held starting roles in the previous season.
Brattan and Mak’s departures have been directly addressed with permanent signings, though Girdwood-Reich’s exit may have the most ramifications.
His move away secures the club a nice chunk of profit in the chequebook with St. Louis City paying a reported $1.3m for the 20-year-old, a record for Sydney, but was it the right time to break up a promising partnership with no clear contingency plan in place?
The only defensive addition to the squad was the loan signing of Alex Popovic, which appears to be a band-aid placed on a crack in the foundation, which now only contains three certified centre-backs, with a makeshift one in the shape of Jordan Courtney-Perkins.
Pair this with the drop-off in form of mainstay goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, and there is trouble brewing. The defensive rank shortages do not end there either, with both fullback positions, especially that on the right with Rhyan Grant, leaving a lot to be desired.
If anything derails Sydney this year it will be defensive frailties, but, as Talay has shown, he has trust in his young deputies to step up if required.
Moving further up the field is another story altogether. Leo Sena looks to be a shrewd pick-up in defensive midfield, and if he can find the form that saw him lined up for a move to Fiorentina for $17m before the pandemic struck, Sydney will be laughing at the bargain they have on their hands.
Anas Ouahim joins after a career mostly spent in Germany, with a ceiling that has not been reached yet. He will add another element to Sydney’s front-line, comfortable playing in the number 10 role along with stints on either wing. His versatility will be key for Talay, and it remains to be seen where exactly he settles in the side.
Douglas Costa hardly needs an introduction, and 1000 extra words would be required to list the silverware obtained in his illustrious career so far. Predominantly a right winger by trade, not many signings would have been able to shift the ever-dependent Joe Lolley out of his preferred role, however, Costa could do just that.
There will be a slight headache for Talay as he has to make the decision of who starts on either flank of the attack, but the decision seems arbitrary when you remember who you are referring to in this equation. Lining up on either the right or left wing, we are likely to see Costa get the best of his markers this season, and his flair and trickery will be key in any run Sydney make this season in the A-League and especially the ACL Two competition.
To spearhead the attack and bring all of these signings together is Patryk Klimala, arguably the most important of these imports so far. He will need to be in the right places at the right times in order for his team-mates efforts to not go wasted.
If he can step up and play the goal scoring role consistently enough, then this new-look Sydney FC will be a side that demands respect from the rest of the league.
The Off field: Re-engaging fans
Sydney FC have been a controversy-free club as of late, and the smart plan would be keeping it that way. One thing that requires attention however is their life in the refurbished Allianz Stadium. Although some caveats do exist, they were one of only four sides to have their attendances decline from the previous year in the 2023/24 season.
Although they still do boast the highest attendance average in the league, one wonders if there is still margin for improvement. The facilities have been provided, the players have been signed, the platform has been built. Everything looks on the rise in the East of Sydney, however a feeling that more could be achieved remains.
If Sydney FC continue their run of form in the pre-season that has seen them playing exciting football once their new signings arrived, there is no doubt Allianz Stadium could be truly intimidating place for opposition to visit, which would be the icing on the cake for a side that looks to be making all the right decisions on the field.
Expectations
In no uncertain terms, it would be an absolute travesty and failure on the management’s behalf if a side this talented do not finish in the top three. Sydney enjoys a financial security that most other teams look upon with envy, and it is their time to make the most of it and deliver silverware.
Whilst they have not necessarily improved on their defence from last season, it has not been pilfered in the ways that other clubs have had to deal with and keeping a unit together that has experience on the pitch with each other could prove beneficial in a transfer window that has seen lots of movement in both directions.
A strong showing in the ACL Two is important and realistic following the Central Coast Mariners’ triumph in the relative competition the season prior, especially considering the talent gap when comparing the two squads on paper. Only mismanagement will get in the way.
Another toilet seat added to the collection looks like a plausible task, and it would be a failure if a serious challenge for it is not given. The range of clubs at this point who have the credentials for a premiership and championship has been narrowed, and Sydney FC look primed and ready to pounce while other clubs are left treading water.