Sydney FC has two games to salvage its season written updates:-
IF Sydney FC have any finals aspirations then they must beat the Melbourne Heart at Allianz Stadium today. It's that serious.
Their hugely disappointing season has reached a critical point and if they cannot collect a maximum six points in their next two games at home against the Heart and Wellington Phoenix, then they can forget about fighting it out for the title.
The best Sydney FC can hope for is to finish either fifth or sixth. Any higher up the ladder looks beyond them.
Jason Culina is the player who must grab the game by the scruff of the neck and really dictate the tempo.
That's what Sydney FC needs, especially at home.
Culina should control the game, ensure the midfield are more protective of their possession.
If he can do that, then you are really going to see what the great Alessandro Del Piero can do in the final third of the park.
And one thing's for sure, it will be pretty to watch.
They may only be four points out of the final playoff spot but for a team sitting dead last with just 14 points and a horrendous for and against of -14, anything less than two wins from their next two games won't be enough.
Dropping points in these home games will leave them too far behind the finals-chasing teams.
Today is a fantastic opportunity for the Sky Blues to turn things around.
They face the sixth-place Heart (18 points) and have an opportunity to take points off them, while the Phoenix (16 points) play a tough home match against Western Sydney before crossing the ditch to face Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium next weekend.
There's been some really positive signs since Frank Farina took over the team.
Granted, the Glory outplayed them for large parts of last week's 2-2 draw, they showed a lot of fight to come back twice from a goal down in Perth to grab a point.
It wasn't a great performance but the toughness that they showed to keep coming will have Farina in a positive mood.
Sydney have had a rollercoaster season, it's just unfortunate that the rollercoaster is stuck at the bottom of the hill.
But if fans start to see a bit more of the combinations they saw for their first goal against Perth last week - Del Piero-Emerton-Culina - then they will be more than capable of salvaging something from their campaign this year.
Farina will be hoping he can keep Culina and Del Piero on the field consistently, so they can find some continuity and rhythm and guide the young guys around the park.
But the midfield has to do the leg work for ADP, work extra hard in defence so he doesn't have to and leave him close to the opposing goal.
That's where you will see the benefits of Del Piero.
That will also help the defence to concede fewer goals, as we all know they've been terrible in that department this season.
Farina has put his senior players on notice with plans to start young attacker-turned-defender Aaron Calver today.
The 17-year-old has done very well since coming into the team and by not being afraid to throw a kid into a fierce environment against the likes of Josip Tadic and Dylan Macallister, Farina has shown that he's not afraid to make big decisions.
If Sydney can show the same fight they did against the Glory over in Perth last week, I feel the Sky Blues could be in for a resurgence.
But they don't have a choice. It has to be today, or it's all over.
* I WAS pleased to see Central Coast's Tom Rogic turned down a move to English Premier League strugglers Reading last week - common sense shone through there.
I hope his week-long 'training visit' to Scottish giants Celtic is just that, and he returns to the Mariners to finish the season.
Celtic would definitely be a better move than Reading. They are a big club, who will be playing big European games, but with no Rangers to compete against and the physicality of the game, I still don't think it's the right move for Tommy in a footballing sense.
The futsal prodigy is still a baby when it comes to the 11-a-side full-field game and he should stay here, learn to handle the physical rigours of the game better.
This way he will put himself in the best position possible to make the Socceroos' squad for the World Cup.
Then, he can start looking at first-team football overseas.
I see Tommy's skills being better suited to a competitive English Premier League side, or in France or Holland where he can dip his feet in, so to speak.
There's no rush and while there's enormous risk and possible enormous benefit from going overseas, there's little risk in him hurting his footballing future by committing to the A-League for a couple of years.
