BORING. Dull. Lifeless.

The critics have come for Graham Arnold’s Sydney FC, especially after Tuesday’s clash against rivals Melbourne Victory.

Despite being leapfrogged by their old foes on Australia Day, the Sky Blues still sit just three points behind league leaders Western Sydney.

But the table, it would appear, papers over the cracks.

A spell earlier in the season where Sydney failed to score in more than five hours of football exposed problems that have the potential to derail their campaign.

Those problems returned at Etihad Stadium.

Although gritty wins — most notably against Newcastle and Western Sydney — have helped stabilise matters somewhat, those familiar tactical traits, with a focus on defensive stability, were clear for all to see against the Victory again on Australia Day.

Extensive periods where Sydney loaded men behind the ball forced Melbourne, in its efforts to retain possession, sideways and backwards as it sought opportunities on goal.

Sydney’s two banks of four across defence and midfield. Source: FOX SPORTS

The result was a first-half condemned by many as one of the worst of the season.

“Ultimately there was one team trying to win and one team trying not to lose,” Victory manager Kevin Muscat said after the match.

From the outset, there were consistent spells in the match where Sydney FC had every man behind the ball as the Victory were building attacks.

A defensive line of as many as seven and eight players, in addition to the goalkeeper, also forced the hosts to stop and prop on the flanks, with no other option but to move the ball backwards.

In the build-up to Matthew Jurman’s decisive late own-goal, it’s notable that Arnold’s side had all 11 players behind the ball when Victory defender Jason Geria started the attacking move 40 yards from goal.

Sydney has all 11 players behind the ball when Jason Geria picks up possession. Source: FOX SPORTS

While the assertion from Sydney might be that they played more forward passes in comparison, that doesn’t totally reflect the nature of the game.

The visitors played 187 forward passes on Tuesday night, of which 25.1 per cent were long balls mainly to target man Matt Simon. That’s more than double the amount of long passes they have average across the season.

It’s hardly the way to create the type of attacking imagination Sydney has so dearly lacked this season.

Arnold can point to results at Parramatta that show tangible rewards for this style of play.

Sydney had seen just 26 per cent of the ball when they opened the scoring through Jacques Faty against the Wanderers. They finished with just 35 per cent of possession, despite a 2-1 win.

Earlier in the season, Sydney FC defeated its local rivals with just one shot on target.

Sydney has seven men across its defensive line. Source: FOX SPORTS

But it’s hardly the style of football to inspire supporters, especially those that had made the trip south hoping to see a first win against the Victory in more than two years.

“I believe what he (Muscat) said was true. He’s dead right. There was one team trying to win and one team trying not to lose,” former Sydney FC player Mark Rudan said on the Fox Football podcast.

In this week’s Fox Football Podcast, Adam Peacock, Simon Hill, Mark Rudan and Daniel Garb dissect the big talking points, also joined by Melbourne City’s Jess Fishlock to preview the W-League final.

“It’s funny how last week was no different to this week in terms of how Sydney FC set themselves up and approached the game.

“Again, there was very little possession and they won the game 2-1 — albeit from set pieces — but no one says a word because it’s a Derby win.

“They go and play Melbourne Victory, exactly the same style, same possession numbers, same way of playing, defending behind the ball and making it tough for Victory to find any sort of space, they lose the game 1-0 and all of a sudden there’s this outcry that how they’re playing is not pretty to watch.

“That’s what happens when you don’t pick up points.”

Eight Sydney players, plus its goalkeeper, between Barbarouses and goal. When Sydney wins back possession, there are few options going forward. Source: FOX SPORTS

The opportunistic approach can also lend to slip-ups in more routine fixtures. Take the goalless draws against bottom-half sides Perth and Wellington as an example.

Sydney’s 21 goals this season is the fewest of any side currently in the A-League’s top seven.

The last five A-League champions have averaged 1.84 goals per game across the home-and-away season. Last year, the Victory averaged 2.07 goals per game on their way to the title.

At this stage in the campaign, Sydney is way down on that pace.

The stats suggest this is no surprise. From rounds one to thirteen, only 47 per cent of all Sydney passes were moving the ball forward — the worst percentage in the competition.

Although this has gone up slightly in the last month, a lack of creativity and imagination in the final third has remained a stumbling bloc.

That’s a trend that Rudan believes Sydney FC must change.

“I think Sydney FC, as big as the club is and it’s a brand known across Asia, should be more than just a club winning trophies,” Rudan said.

“I think they should stand for something and be known for a playing style.

Relations were less cordial between these two after the match. Picture: George Salpigtidis. Source: News Corp Australia

“When you talk about the number of trophies certain clubs have won in this competition, they don’t talk about how many trophies you’ve won, they talk about the manner and the style in which you’ve won those trophies.

“The Victory did it and that’s what sets them apart. Not only do they win trophies, but they do it in a certain way.

“Brisbane Roar under Ange (Postecoglou) will always be talked about because of the style of football they played.

“A club like Sydney really should sit back, get some good football people around and say ‘alright, if we’re going to move forward in the next 10-20 years and be known as a club that plays a certain way ... we need to start changing things’.

“It can’t just be about changing coaches willy-nilly and playing just for points.”

One mitigating factor might be the loss of Marc Janko’s goalscoring ability and Bernie Ibini’s searing pace from last season.

The players signed to replace the aforementioned duo haven’t fired.

Now the pressure is well and truly on Arnold to find another way around the issue.