Mr Personality: Brosque on crazy team-mates, Arnie, goals and Suits

Sydney FC captain Alex Brosque is the latest subject of a regular feature where The World Game has a bit of fun with the game's stars by asking them questions they wouldn't normally be asked and letting their personalities shine.

Alex Brosque has no plans to coach (AAP) Source: AAP

Brosque told The World Game:

Who he rates as his craziest teammate ever;

What the Graham Arnold experience has been like for him;

Why he's on fire in the goalscoring department;

Which television show he never misses;

How he switches off from football;

Why he doesn't think he'll be a coach.

TWG: What sort of captain are you?

AB: That's a good question. I'm someone who is more about atmosphere and keeping the boys happy and having a joke. That's always been my character and my nature, to come in and have a laugh and just keep players relaxed, I guess, and that's the sort of person I am. I'm not someone who, in training, is barking orders and instructions, that's not me. I'm probably the one who is a bit more light-hearted, I'd say.

TWG: And on the field?

AB: On the field I tend to help a little bit more with the organising stuff. Obviously Arnie (coach Graham Arnold) can't do everything and as players we see things sometimes that aren't being seen from outside the pitch, or we get a different feel, and with the amount of young players we have in our squad it's about trying to keep everyone focused and switched on at certain times. So I'm a bit more vocal on the pitch than during the week.

TWG: Do you want players - particularly younger players - to be prepared to come to you with problems, whether they be football-related or personal?

AB: Yeah, and to be honest some of the guys have actually come to me at different stages about things - sometimes football-related, sometimes not - and it's good to feel that you are approachable and players aren't scared to come up to you, because when I was younger sometimes I was scared to go up to the older guys and ask them something, when that feeling shouldn't be there. I like the fact that if they feel the need to ask something, they know they can.

TWG: The Graham Arnold experience. What has it been like?

AB: It's been great. I've worked under Arnie several times at different stages of my career and I look at him as someone who seems to have learned so much from the people he has worked under. He spent a lot of time as an assistant and it seems as though he picked the brains of each and every coach he worked with and borrowed the best out of all of them. The way he handles a squad of 30 players when he can only pick 11 in the starting side, yet keep everyone happy and relaxed and enjoying what we're doing, I can't even imagine how hard a task that would be. It honestly is enjoyable coming to training. We love coming here and doing what we have to do. Nothing seems as though it's work.

TWG: Arnold said he got Andrew Clark, the head strength and conditioner at Sydney FC, specifically involved with you when you returned from the Middle East, to get your pace back, your strength back and your enthusiasm back. It appears to have worked.

AB: Yeah, I spent a few seasons away in Japan and the UAE and obviously being a foreigner in different leagues, it's difficult, you don't get the same sort of hands-on stuff that you do at home. It's harder to communicate issues that you might have physically and just being away from home you don't stay the hours that you should to look after your body, because you want to go home to your family, so for me it definitely was about getting my body back on  track and where it needs to be to play in such a physical league as this one. Clarkie has been fantastic and it's not only what he does, it's also Arnie by realising I was going to need time to get back to where I needed to be and allowing me to get that work done with Clarkie.

TWG: Arnie said "they don't train very hard in the Middle East". Is that a fair description?

AB: Absolutely. I mean, it's difficult, their culture and nature over there is a little bit different to how we are. Australians generally are at a different level physically to most nations around the world and the amount we train here, it doesn't compare over there. The heat over there, as well, doesn't allow you to train as hard as you might want to.

TWG: You're scoring at a greater rate than ever, with three doubles in your last four games. Why is it so?

AB: Sometimes, when you go on a run, it's luck, it's persistence. At the start of the year I was getting a lot of chances, easier chances than what I'm getting now, and they just weren't going in. Then all of a sudden you get one and it starts something. When you're not scoring you're thinking 'gee, how did I miss that' and you end up over-analysing it, so it's a confidence thing as well. The longer you go without scoring or having a good game plays on your mind, and then you see it happen, once a striker scores one or two they seem to keep scoring. My first goal last Saturday capped off the fact, for me, that luck does turn around, really.

TWG: Who's the craziest team-mate you've ever had?

AB: You wouldn't realise it now, but Terry McFlynn. He acts all proper and does the office-type role now, but he was without doubt the craziest guy. He was my roommate, so I saw some things that probably not everybody gets to see. So him or, now, Ivan Necevski.

TWG: What is your dream, holiday destination?

AB: Probably one that I've already been to, which is the Maldives. I was lucky enough to go there with my wife on our honeymoon and that was absolutely fantastic. It's a brilliant place, away from anywhere else in the world, a few little islands out in the middle of nowhere - it's the perfect getaway.

TWG: What sort of music is on your iPod?

AB: A bit of everything, probably more house music than anything else.

TWG: Is there a TV show you simply have to watch every week?

AB: One that I really enjoy is Suits. It's fantastic. True Detective only went for eight episodes, but that was another one that was great.

TWG: How do you switch off from football?

AB: It's simple for me now. It used to be harder, I'd have to go and do something completely different, like play golf, but now I go home and see my little girls and they have so much energy I don't have time to think about anything else. Christina is five and has just started school, and Mila is 18 months.

TWG: The back-heel goal against Adelaide United last Saturday. How many text messages did you receive about that one?

AB: A fair few, some with some nice pictures showing the actual moment as well. It was something you don't practice because it's more an instinctive type thing, but when I do try it in training more often than not I don't connect with the ball at all. I connected this time and it snuck in and it was right when we needed it, just before halftime, which was great.

TWG: The story went that you were seriously contemplating retirement at the end of the season. Was that the case and why have you decided to play on next season?

AB: The story was a bit like Chinese whispers, it just seemed to get more dramatic on its own. It wasn't that I was contemplating it, my only comment was that at the age I am now I don't want to be a player who over-stays his welcome and plays past when he should stop. When I came back to Australia I thought I'd re-assess at the end of every season and if I felt as though I had more to give and I was contributing and still happy, then I would go on another year. When that stops, when I feel as though I'm not contributing to the team, or even enjoying football, I think that's the time to call it quits, but at the moment that's not the case, so I'm not thinking of giving it away.

TWG: Are you interested in coaching or at least staying involved in the game when you finish playing, or are you thinking of doing something completely different?

AB: I'd like to stay involved in the game, but I don't think I have what's needed to be a coach. I don't think I have the personality. It's a difficult job and I think you appreciate that and see it more clearly, the older you get. To keep 30 or so players happy, I think I'd struggle with that and struggle to have to disappoint players by leaving them out. I don't think coaching is for me, but to stay involved in some aspect with the club, I'd love to go on with Sydney FC and be a part of the club for many years. But in what role, I guess we'll see.