TheWomensGame | Womens Football | W-League

There are not many teams in the Westfield W-League who would be disappointed with a second finish come  end of season. And Sydney FC were definitely disappointed.  Regular season premiers, the Sky Blues were rolled by fierce rivals Brisbane in the final and regaining that title will be top priority in Season Four.

Due to a raid on their talent,  that goal will have to be achieved in the absence of at least  10 11 players from last season’s squad.  However coach Alen Stajcic has  been quick to replenish the club with players equal  to or greater than those that have  departed. Matildas defender Thea  Slatyer  joins the Sydneysiders  from Newcastle while the American  trio of Allison Lipsher,  Estelle  Johnson and Megan Rapinoe will be sure  to serve them well.

Despite a disrupted pre-season and the squad upheaval, Stajcic expects his side to once  again be the League leaders.

“It is one our goals  to be one of the premier teams and we have  prided ourselves on being  a performer in the first three  years.”

“Our expectations are obviously high and we know the calibre of players within our squad. We know what we are capable of and our expectations match  that.”

Technical, highly skilled players have  allowed  the Sky Blues to play a possession based attacking brand  of football with great  effect.  Kyah Simon and Leena Khamis last season combined for more than  20 goals  between them while Kylie Ledbrook,  Heather Garriock,  Renee Rollason and Teresa Polias  gave  them supply aplenty. With all those players back again,  it will be much of the same from Sydney.

“We have  those kind of players in our team  so that has  to be our foundation for success.”

“However, we all know there  is two main sides to the game and it is also important  for us to be strong  defensively as well.”

“We have  our usual  suspects of Ledbrook,  who is a fantastic player,  Polias,  Brogan,  Foord

and players like that who really are a class above. We are putting our hopes on the solids foundations of our starting  line-up last season.”

The Strength

In the last two seasons Sydney have  proven time and again  that they are an exciting

team  going forward and formidable  team  in defence. The acquisition of Lipsher,  Johnson, Slatyer  and Rapinoe will adds to an already dangerous combination and this across the park strengthening will make  them a very difficult team to combat.

The Challenge

Depth  will the challenge for the Sky Blues as the Season Two champions have  lost several highly regarded fringe players.  While the additions

look like future prospects, they are still untried at this level.  Although not regular starters, Young Matildas Kennedy, Bolger and  O’Neill were quality substitutions for Alen Stajcic and  their loss could become significant if injuries or form force changes.