NICK CARLE has been listening because he didn't know what he was missing. Listening, that is, to Steve Corica, if not the Beatles.
Carle acknowledged to The Sun-Herald he too often felt like he was everywhere yet nowhere on the field. But, whereas he was once Sydney FC's nowhere man, now the world is at his command. The Sydney FC attacking playmaker is moving about the ground with greater purpose and direction this season due to some valuable one-on-one work with ex-Sky Blues No.10 Corica. And the pair's secret link has helped propel Carle back to his best form.
Corica, an assistant coach to Vitezslav Lavicka since being promoted from youth team manager in July, worked with Carle, particularly in the pre-season, on how to use the same economy to greater effect. The positive result of their work will be put to the sternest test today when Sydney take on big guns Brisbane Roar at Kogarah.
''The work I've done with Steve has been very important to me,'' the team's top scorer this season said. ''He was a very good No.10, an all-rounder who was good on the ball and very smart in his play. He's helped me a lot with my positional play, telling me about better runs to make. I'm 30 now, but you're never too old to learn. He's sat me down a few times and we chatted for quite a while about things, which really helped me. I'm very thankful about that.
''This season, I've been playing basically as a second striker, which enabled me to stay more forward and gave me a bit more freedom. I've dropped back a bit in the second half of a couple of games, but even playing in the midfield diamond I've been able to make smarter runs, pick the right areas to move into.
''Before, I was sort of everywhere but nowhere. I ran everywhere. Sometimes I'd get the ball, sometimes I wouldn't. Now it's a lot smarter, making better runs into better areas, where I can be more effective and hurt the opposition a bit more.''
Corica said the coaching staff had wanted Carle to position himself higher up the ground this season. Carle still does plenty of defensive work, but Corica reminded the nimble midfielder that his primary job was to score and create goals.
''We thought he was dropping a little bit too deep and wasn't influencing things as much as he could have,'' Corica said.
''By pushing him further forward, he's back among the goals, he's created some good chances and goals as well. By not dropping so deep, he's been more effective for us.''
The pair were never teammates, so their relationship is respectful rather than matey. A lot of their work has been around analysing videos of games and discussing positioning. ''Things really improved from there,'' Corica said. ''I think he was doing too much work running around. He would say to us that he felt that to play a good game, he needed to have lots of touches. But I told him it's not about that, it's about creating and scoring goals. He's focused more on that and I think that's why he's had a good start to the season. He still does a great job defensively and works very hard. But his main task has to be scoring and creating.''
Corica said the side was mentally and tactically ready for Brisbane today following consecutive losses. But much of their success hinges on Carle's effectiveness in front of goal. ''They're really leading the competition, not just in points, but in the way they're playing football,'' Carle said.
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