Melbourne Victory are favourites, Melbourne City have the flashiest toys in the playground, Brisbane Roar remain the dominant club and Western Sydney sit on the cusp of being Asia's best, but it is worth pondering where Sydney FC stand as they launch into their tenth season.



A decade ago, the Sky Blues went unchallenged as the league's self-styled glamour club. Such aspirations remain intact but if they were the original Ferrari, the A-League parking lot has gradually filled up with Maseratis and Porsches, not to mention Tony Popovic's blood-splattered Hummer.



But Sydney FC are nothing if not magnetic; they filled The Westin's ballroom in Martin Place on Wednesday with many of the city's big hitters. Ahmed Fahour – once in charge of NAB, now of Australia Post – talked about the need to recruit the right staff and look after them before expecting results. The club hasn't always heeded such advice.

At least they've promised to give Graham Arnold time and support to rebuild. Literally in some cases; Arnold recently ordered the demolition of part of their outdated training facility to provide space for the players and coaching staff.



Now he has the keys, Arnold has no doubt about the direction. Speaking to 650 or so present, the coach was asked how he hoped the club would be known in 10 years.



"Manchester United. That big," he said. "These boys have to go out and believe they are at the best club in the country. I believe they're at the best club in the country. I've only been here four months, but I've fallen in love with the club."



He's not the first to evoke the Old Trafford line (Branko Culina famously did) but the scope of Sydney's growth seems less chaotic these days.



As Arnold addressed the launch crowd, which doubled as an edition of the biannual Sydney FC in Business lunch, the size of the task dawned on him.



"It was always my ambition to coach Sydney FC but today it's hit home. I knew I was coming to a big club but seeing how many people are in this room, and the support Sydney FC have, has proved it," he said. "We'd have struggled to have filled the front table if we had something like this at Central Coast."



There is a clear maturing of the football marketplace in Sydney, a sense the code's followers now care about winning with panache as much as an iconic name on their replica shirts.



After all, in spite of his impact, Alessandro Del Piero's tenure produced a losing record. He's gone, but the fans' response to targeted investment in a winning team – not just one player – has been cold, hard cash.



"Sales have been incredibly strong, in fact they've been the best we've seen here at Sydney FC," chairman Scott Barlow said. "Already we've passed 10,500 members and we'll set a new record of 11,000 members in the coming days."



Members, new and old, would be rapt to see Alex Brosque elevated to the captaincy. It was they he thrilled for six seasons, becoming the club's all-time leading scorer. After stints in Japan and the United Arab Emirates, he's back to lead his home town.



"There's been so many captains in the past who've been given the role not only because of what they produced on the field but because off the field they were great blokes as well," Brosque said. "That Arnie and the coaching staff think I'm capable of filling those shoes is just a huge honour. I didn't expect it."



With his thoughtful demeanour, Brosque is a far cry from the classic leader's mould but said a former Sydney skipper never needed to raise his voice to make a difference.



"I said to Arnie 'I'm not your typical, barking-orders-type captain' but [assistant coach] Steve Corica was in on those meetings and said he was the same. Quiet, but he let his football do the talking and we all followed him," Brosque said.

Honoured: Alex Brosque is applauded by teammates after being named Sydney FC captain on Wednesday. Credit:Getty Images

"I can leave the yelling and screaming to [vice-captains] Sasa [Ognenovski] and Nikola [Petkovic] on the park."