This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold is grieving the death of Australian football’s winning mentality, saying entertainment is “a load of crap” if it does not generate results.

Arnold’s defensive tactics have come under staunch criticism for being perceivably boring compared to that of some A-League rivals, including the exciting, possession-based brand on show from cross-town rivals and table-toppers Western Sydney.

Last week Arnold’s Melbourne Victory counterpart Kevin Muscat claimed Sydney’s play in their Australia Day A-League clash was far from pretty, stating his was the only team trying to win while Sydney threw their bodies behind the ball in a bid not to lose, which they did 1-0 though only via a late own-goal.

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But the A-League championship-winning coach put this type of talk down to a perception problem, and made no apologies for coaching for results.

Arnold lamented that on the whole Australian footballers have lost the Lleyton Hewitt-esque winning mindset they used to be known for abroad, and said fans would much rather watch their team triumph than go home empty-handed.

“That’s a load of crap - entertaining [over winning],” he said. “Every coach I’ve ever known who’s been sacked, it’s never been down to entertainment, it’s been down to results.

“This is where we’ve lost the plot in Australia. When I got brought up as a kid playing, it was all about winning. When I got brought up as a coach, it was all about winning.

“And the last five or six years – maybe longer – kids have been taught it’s OK to lose, so when they lose they don’t hurt. That’s the difference. When I was younger and went overseas to play, the reason clubs overseas wanted Australian players was our winning mentality.

“We’re like Lleyton Hewitt – that’s what everyone used to say. Now, we’re happy to lose. It’s okay to lose – we give excuses to lose. So I don’t apologise if I put 10 players on the goal line and we win 1-0.”

Arnold does have the credentials to give his opinion weight, having taken Central Coast to a premiership and championship and overseen Sydney’s run to last season’s grand final. The fifth-placed Sky Blues have also conceded a league-low 17 goals this campaign.

However he will need to steer them back on course if he’s to avoid losing three A-League matches in a row for the first time in his coaching career, in Adelaide on Friday night.

Though the finals spots appear all-but tied up, a negative result would see Sydney slip to sixth behind the surging Reds, who would extend their nine-game unbeaten streak.

Arnold said there was no excuse for the ill-discipline that saw his more expansive squad repeatedly punished on the counter-attack in last weekend’s dismal 3-1 home pummelling by Brisbane.

He hoped the individual quality of new acquisition David Carney might help, along with the potential return of injured captain Alex Brosque in another week. A decision on whether the versatile Carney will start against Adelaide will be made after training on Thursday.