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Alen Stajcic unloaded on star player Juan Mata’s agent after Sydney FC continued their dominance over Wanderers with a commanding 4-2 Sydney Derby triumph at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Zac Sapsford scored against his former employers for the third time since crossing the Harbour City to level proceedings at 1-1 just before the half-time break but it all fell apart for Stajcic’s side after the restart, conceding twice in six minutes to make it an awfully tough task to snap a three-match losing run in the derby.
Marcus Antonsson converted Mata’s corner to reduce the deficit to one and give his side some hope but Patryk Klimala sealed the victory just four minutes later.
The Unite Round showpiece was a tense affair, with gatherings between the two sides threatening to spill over and projectiles lobbed onto the field in unsavoury scenes.
Marquee import Mata was once more overlooked for the starting 11 and was only brought on for the last 30 minutes.
Stajcic launched an unprompted dressing down of Mata’s agent Fahid Ben Khalfallah post-game, describing the former Victory star’s comments on the A-Leagues Off Air podcast – where Stajcic was criticised for Mata’s lack of playing time – as “cowardly”.
It’s not that common for one word to really shock a room full of reporters but that was the scene in the bowels of Allianz Stadium long after The Cove had celebrated with their players and the Wanderers received an intimidating reception from the RBB.
Asked a fair question about Mata not starting such an important game, Stajcic was clearly miffed.
“I don’t understand the premise of the question,” the Wanderers gaffer began.
“This has all come up because his agent said some stuff in the media last week. His agent doesn’t control the team. We’ve got 25 field players in there who I’m concerned about, we’ve got 20 staff members attached to the club, 20,000 members – they’re my priority. Every single one of those is an equal priority.
“Juan’s come into the team – he’s humble. I’ve got 12 guys who don’t play every game… I don’t get phone calls from every single agent whose player’s not playing. I think (Ben Khalfallah) has got a bit too much oxygen – his comments were out of order.
“Juan came on and had some good moments, it was obviously a tough game to come into. He controlled the game a little bit, there were moments he could’ve done better but he’s an important player for us at the moment. There were moments in the game we needed him and he had some good actions.”
What will be the fallout of Stajcic’s comments? (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Stajcic then got more frustrated when a follow-up question was posed.
“I don’t need to talk to agents when their players aren’t playing,” he said.
“I think (the comments) were out of order. They were cowardly. And they were cowardly for a number of reasons.
“I’ve only spoken to him two or three times in my life and he’s spoken to me about how so many of his players in Australia have been mistreated by coaches, they’ve been vilified or abused emotionally, physically, whatever (but) he’s never opened his mouth to protect his player.
“His player on this occasion was on the bench and that’s “disrespect”. I think his comments were cowardly.
“If he had some courage, he would’ve stood up for his players before, last year, when they were in the positions they were in, across the world. I don’t like hearing stories like that and then all of a sudden he’s got the courage to come out and speak now without any comeback or right of reply.”
While Mata was brought on as part of a four-man shake-up with 30 minutes still to play, all is clearly not well between the manager and player if a former Premier League star who ostensibly still has the legs and ability to make a difference at this level is not a guaranteed starter week in, week out at Wanderland.
This is not prime Mata, who played almost 200 matches in the Manchester United jersey, of course. The argument could be made that he is now just a shell of that player, but why was he brought to the club in the first place?
Australian clubs simply do not bring in a vastly experienced and talented player – a World Cup winner, no less – to ride the pine with prospects and A-League journeymen.
Wanderers have struggled in the derby in recent times, tonight’s defeat marking the fourth-straight loss to their cross-town rivals. The home side edged the majority of the first half before Sapsford finished off a perfect counter-attack, giving his team a big boost going into the dressing room.
Things quickly unravelled, however, with Jordan Courtney-Perkins getting Sydney back in front with a header then Rhyan Grant used all his experience to draw contact from 21-year-old Anthony Pantazopoulos to win a spot-kick that was duly dispatched into the bottom left corner by substitute Anas Ouahim, despite WSW captain Lawrence Thomas guessing the right way.
Stajcic’s frustration quickly boiled over as he received a 59th-minute booking for dissent after another instance of his side losing concentration at key stages of matches.
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It was a much-improved showing from Brisbane Roar in the opening 45 minutes of Saturday’s first game, but Ruben Zadkovich’s side lost for the fourth straight time against Adelaide to remain stranded at the bottom of the table after giving up two leads.
Zadkovich pointed to his side’s tough draw to open the 2024-25 campaign but the wins will need to start coming soon, or the 38-year-old may join David Zdrilic as the most under-fire managers in the A-League.
Credit must go to Adelaide for the come-from-behind victory, climbing to second after their third straight win. Stefan Mauk scored a goal and was tireless in midfield, and Archie Goodwin opened his account for the Reds, showing glimpses of his undeniable talent.
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