Football
Pamela Whaley 4y

Baumjohann defends early Sydney FC form

After what was labelled his best game in sky blue, Sydney FC midfielder Alex Baumjohann has defended his early form for the A-League table-toppers.

The 32-year-old made two assists for Adam Le Fondre in Sydney's 2-0 win over Western United last weekend, upping his tally to three for the season without any goals.

Minus Milos Ninkovic who was sidelined with a stomach bug, Baumjohann announced himself for Sydney on Sunday, but said it has taken time to get used to playing in tandem with another attacking midfielder.

"You always get more attention when you get assists or goals but I think I've played some other good games already where I maybe could have had more assists or scored by myself," he told AAP.

"It's not easy. It's a different position I'm playing here and it's much different. I never played a position like this. We play with two 10s now and it's much more work and you're not involved in all attacking patterns.

"I played my whole career as the only 10. Every attack with the ball went through me so now I have to be a little bit more patient but I think I'm getting used to it and better week by week.

"I'm very happy with my performances every week."

Baumjohann is in the first year of a two-year deal with Sydney after coming across from rivals Western Sydney Wanderers in the off-season.

And while it's been a challenging transition to adapt to Steve Corica's systems, the German said he wants only success for Sydney and to remain at the club long term.

"The most important thing for me is we have success for the team and this is why I'm here, I want to win trophies and I want to be on the top of the table and I think we're on our way," he said.

"On one point it's not easy to adjust but on the other it's so easy because all of these guys have played together for such a long time and they make it easy for me to come in and I've felt at home from day one.

"It's so much fun every day I'm enjoying when I drive to training to play on the weekends and I hope I can play a really long time for this club.

"The players have been together now for a long time and hopefully we can hold the squad together for the next years and I think it would be fun to play a long time here."

It comes as the club announced the re-signing of rising stars Trent Buhagiar, Luke Ivanovic, Joel King and Thomas Heward-Belle on Thursday.

Buhagiar, Ivanovic and King have all been locked in for a further two years, while Heward-Belle's contract has been extended until the end of next season.

Sydney are two points clear of Melbourne City on top of the A League ladder and face Brisbane Roar at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday night.

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