Conjecture over the legacy of Ange Postecoglou, continuation of playing styles and debates of local or foreign coaching options have created a world of white noise around who the next Socceroos coach should be, and what they should be determined on. However, Arnold believes the requirements for the next coach should be much more acute.

"Winning. Winning and being successful," Arnold said. "I think we've got a great draw, I think we've got a fantastic draw - better than any other draw we've ever had and I expect the Socceroos to get through the first round and go from there."

In detailing his own expectations of the national team, Arnold's dropped the biggest hint yet of his interest in leading his country to a World Cup. The Sydney FC coach says nothing is more important than results in international football, especially after Australia received a fair draw at the World Cup that provides the Socceroos with some hope of progressing from a group with Peru, France and Denmark to the second round.

"The best chance is beating France in the first game," he said. "Whoever the coach is has to expect to win every game. They need to go to the World Cup expecting to win the World Cup, not just going there to play well ... otherwise you may as well not turn up."

Arnold says he's had "zero" discussions with senior management at the FFA to take over the Socceroos' top job and while it's understood he'd consider if approached, his immediate attention is solely on winning the Sydney derby on Saturday night.

"I don't know if there's applications but at the end of the day I'm doing my job here at Sydney and my main focus is winning with Sydney. I have a contract here and I respect that. That's it, I love these players and I love this club," Arnold said.

Sydney FC received notice from Western Sydney confirming their intention to make transfer approaches for three of the Sky Blues' starting defenders in the coming weeks with Alex Wilkinson, Michael Zullo and Jordy Buijs on top of the Wanderers' shopping list.

Arnold wasn't concerned with his rivals' potential approach to his players, but says he is more worried about the families of the Wanderers' current defenders, suggesting their positions and jobs appear to be under threat for next season.

"They've done what you can do by the law. I'm very flattered they want nearly our whole backline," Arnold said. "I'm nervous for the families of their players, if their players are getting that signal this early that they're after our backline."

Arnold revealed it's not the first time a rival A-League club has pursued some of his players this season but says most of the interest for his in-form squad has come from abroad.

"I also know a lot of other teams are looking at our players all around the world when they see what they're doing, as well as the staff. They're well within their rights, but to go down that path is maybe a little bit early," Arnold said.

Western Sydney Wanderers coach Josep Gombau hesitated to comment on the club's approach for Sydney's defensive trio when asked on Friday morning. While not denying the Wanderers submitted the letter to Sydney FC, he remained tight-lipped on potential approaches for his rivals' players.

"We don't discuss about this. But at this moment, the players in my team are the best," Gombau said.

The Wanderers coach says he will not waver from his major overhaul of the club's playing style after ripping up much of the foundations of the season by implementing a contrasting style of play. Western Sydney midfielder Kearyn Baccus says the players have struggled to perform having been overloaded with new information from their new coach, but Gombau says the project has more long-term goals than a derby win on Saturday, with a view to next season.

"No, no, no. We are in this process. For us, we have a clear photo of what we want to be in the next years," he said. "Now, not for a game will we change this."