Tony Popovic and Graham Arnold in it for the long haul Exhausted: Tony Popovic has cut a dishevelled figure of late, with the Wanderers' gruelling travel demands having taken their toll. Sydney derby: All you need to know The season has barely started, it seems, but the second Sydney derby and all it entails is already upon us. While the year still has three quarters to run, deep divisions have emerged. The first four are already battling for the coveted inside barriers of finishing top two, the rest will grapple to scrape into the top six. Long game: Graham Arnold is building Sydney FC up from scratch. We had grown used to feeling that the Western Sydney Wanderers were bulletproof, champions in waiting. An armoured tank with a Teflon coating. Nothing could get in their way; nobody could get a hand on them. The absolute opposite was true of Sydney FC, experts at finding or even creating hurdles where seemingly none existed. But sleep deprivation has again proved itself among the most effective of all torture techniques, in the fields of battle and football. The Wanderers still appear to be suffering the effects of clocking up endless frequent-flyer miles and a haphazard pre-season. Coach Tony Popovic looked so tired and dishevelled in his post-match press conference after the 2-1 defeat Perth Glory that it seemed his face could fall flat on the desk in front of him. Wild hair sat atop bloodshot eyes, his tie loosened raggedly. For a man so meticulous about many things, his appearance included, it was telltale. His body and his mind had given up trying to figure out what time zone it was in after three matches in three different countries in two weeks. Imagine, then, how the players are feeling. Make no mistake, this A-League season is a test for Popovic, perhaps his biggest yet. For once, nothing is going his way, with the Club World Cup and the next Asian Champions League campaign set to complicate matters further. Even Jose Mourinho would battle to make ends meet. Some opposition sides are even out-wandering the Wanderers, deploying plentiful numbers behind the ball. They have been the undisputed kings of this style, a formula perfect to the point of continental success. However, it may need some tinkering and updating. Coach Graham Arnold pointed out on Thursday that nothing had changed about the Wanderers' system since day one, barring a switch in personnel. He is right. You could set your watch to their 4-2-3-1 formation. Popovic's rhetoric remains just as unyielding. Since he took the job, he has been absolutely determined to shield his players from any criticism, never more so than now. Seldom does he separate himself from the players, always using sparse, collective phrases: "We can always improve" is used in virtually every interview. Lately, when asked about results, he has claimed performances are on a sharp improve. But when one determined TV reporter sought a snappy grab for the 6 o'clock news, asking if the derby was a "must-win," Popovic replied: "Well, that depends on your definition of 'must-win'." He's doing all he can to obfuscate external pressure from unsettling the artificial harmony inside the Wanderers' bubble. "Results will come" is another favourite cliche. He absolutely believes it, too. When pressed directly where Mark Bridge - a key player in the first two seasons but recently dropped to the bench - fitted into his thoughts, Popovic's answer didn't even acknowledge the player, either by name or pronoun. Don't dare ask about the "rotation policy" either. It's the coach's most detested phrase, arguing privately it implies that some players are better than others. Equality is universal in the quasi-socialist reality that is Wanderland. Arnold - Popovic's former teammate in the Socceroos and housemate when they played for Sanfrecce Hiroshima - has quite a different outlook. He is trying to rebuild Sydney FC from scratch, yet is worried the unbeaten start to his tenure will fool the public into thinking wholesale renovations are nearly complete. Arnold is on a three-year mission, not a three-month sprint. That's why he's doing all he can to douse expectations, a hard thing considering the notorious impatience of Sky Blues fans. No sooner had his players walked off the pitch after last week's 2-1 win over Melbourne City - a superb performance - than he was questioning why they took their foot off the pedal for 20 minutes. Just as Popovic wants to avoid creating a spectre of gloom about the Wanderers' results, Arnold is determined to mitigate the hype. He often does this with detailed tactical explanations, much of which goes unreported. Arnold firmly believes Sydney's ultimate ceiling is higher than Adelaide's or Melbourne Victory's, although he rates them as being more advanced on the development path. He accepts, as evidenced by recent matches, it may be difficult to claw them back in his first season. But winning this year's title is not his immediate mission. Paradoxically, it would not assist his ultimate goal of eradicating the club's cultural cracks, which he doesn't intend to paper over with silverware. The Sydney derby offers both coaches a chance for short-term glory - not to mention temporary bragging rights - but expect no man to deviate from his path, regardless of the outcome.