O’Neill pencilled in a new contract for the Sky Blues which means he will be at the club until the end of the 2018/19 A-League season.

After admitting he was disappointed in a lack of game time for Perth Glory, O’Neill said the decision was easy thanks to the advice and support of his parents Lorraine and Myles, girlfriend Nicole Blank and coach Graham Arnold.

Perth-born O’Neill has an Irish accent due partially spending his childhood in Dublin with Irish-born parents who worked in printing labels and his sister Ciara.

“They didn’t have a whole lot but what they did have was love for me and my sister, they brought us up and made sure we had the best of what we could do in our life,” O’Neill told FourFourTwo.

“They always reminded me whatever the case or wherever I am they say ‘look, always be a kind person to whoever you’re with and that’s the most important thing in life, enjoying yourself and making sure whatever the case is – you be kind, humble and not take anything for granted’.

“I see it as well, I’m only 22, I see it when people and young lads playing football and sometimes they’re playing it for the sake of it.

“I truly believe every time you play and given the opportunity to be involved in a professional setup, you should just enjoy it because the pressure of football, the scrutiny it comes under, sometimes players, clubs and fans forget that.

“I always make sure no matter what the circumstance is to just do everything with a smile on my face.”

Things have moved quickly for O’Neill in the past 18 months with the 22-year-old close to throwing in the towel at Perth last season.

The young gun was involved in two games for the Olyroos early in the year. He has played all 10 games this season with one goal to his name.

O’Neill spoke about the difficulties of watching the Glory play without him but added there were no hard feelings understanding it was part of the game.

 


 

He conceded he was in a confused state, however, when Arnold expressed interest he felt the need to leave his comfort zone.

“No matter how hard I worked nothing was really eventuating (at Perth),” he said.

“As a young player sometimes it can go two ways, it can either really batter you, which it did at times, it really did knock me, I wasn’t enjoying myself and my love for the game had gone.

“It was just a turning point really in a career where I had to keep working hard, keep turning up to training with a smile on your face and just hope the hard work would pay off.

“That type of thing has led me in good stead now, I’ve dealt with a lot of things in my early career which has made me a lot stronger mentally.

“If I’m not playing now or had a bad training session, bad game I can just recall where I’ve come from or where I’ve achieved and always kind of cheers me up now knowing what I’ve achieved.”

O’Neill was bold stating they could go all the way this season to win the A-League Championship after falling at the final hurdle in a 1-0 loss to Melbourne City in the FFA Cup Final a fortnight ago.

He was adamant they had the right players and staff at Sydney to win the Championship. 

The club still sits firmly at the top of the table undefeated in the domestic competition and O’Neill believed Arnold and the team collectively was a recipe for success.

“I’m confident we can win the A-League and this can be a season to remember,” O’Neill said.

“It’s amazing what happens when you’ve got good players, the results just seem to happen for you, it’s been very nice to be a part of it all this year.

“I can’t speak highly enough of Arnie, he took me in, he explained the situation I was in – I was coming to a massive club that has aspirations every year of winning the title.

“He knew there’d be a lot of pressure on whoever played, pressure to perform, he took me in straight away and just explained ‘you can’t focus on the external pressure, all you need to do is develop your game and let your football do the speaking’.

“Literally since day one he’s just developed me so much, I can speak to him about anything.”             

Sydney FC take on Perth Glory on Saturday night at nib Stadium.