Churn burns young
SYDNEY FC captain Alex Wilkinson says the player churn caused by short-term contacts is one of the ALeague’s biggest problems and needs fixing.
The 35-year-old centre back on Thursday signed a one-year contract extension through to the end of the 2020-21 season, but said many younger players were not offered the security of multi-year deals and leave.
“One of the biggest problems in the A-League is the player churn with short-term contracts, that’s something that the PFA have highlighted over the last couple of years,” Wilkinson said yesterday.
“It’s something we need to look at fixing because shortterm contracts and the constant player churn isn’t great for footballers’ careers and their ability to improve.
“It’s one thing Sydney do very, very well, is keep players together and keep the core group together.
“I was more than happy to extend my time here.”
Defending champion Sydney has won five of its first six games before a trip to GMHBA Stadium tomorrow to take on Western United
“It can always be difficult the season after winning the grand final to back it up, we’ve started really, really well,” Wilkinson said.
“But we’re not going to rest on our laurels by any means, we’ve still got a lot of improvement to come.”
One area that remains a sore point is Sydney’s failure to keep a clean sheet.
“That’s one area I’m pretty disappointed in and we work very hard on our defensive structure as a team,” he said.
Tomorrow, he will oppose his central defensive partner in last season’s grand final in
Aaron Calver, who he remains in regular contact with since he joined United.
“I was pretty sad to see him go, he did very well for us,” Wilkinson said.
“He’s had a few little injuries here and there throughout his career that have probably limited him playing as regularly as he would like to.
“Now that he’s back in the Western team, hopefully he can stay injury-free and get a full season under his belt.
“He’s great with the ball, he’s quick, he’s a good athlete and hopefully he can push on.”