Almost from day one Western Sydney Wanderers assumed a distinctive identity. Thanks to Tony Popovic the red and black hoops quickly came to represent hard work, organisation and resilience. Shinji Ono shone as a marquee playmaker but even he bought into Popovic’s mission. “We work tirelessly on our formation and our defence, and that all comes out of his mind,” the Japanese international said in 2013.
In their first A-League season the Wanderers conceded the fewest goals in the competition. The following year they conquered Asia through sheer bloody mindedness. This season’s squad may sport the same crest, but that’s about all they have in common.
Following defeat to Melbourne Victory on Saturday night Western Sydney are now 12 points adrift of their crosstown rivals after six games and possess the worst defensive record in the league. The concern is not so much that the Wanderers were outplayed by Victory, they weren’t, but that their deficiencies were so un-Popovician; the calamitous defensive mistakes, the questionable on-field organisation, the lack of leadership.
The starting point as to why is straightforward: Popovic cannot select the same calibre of player as previous seasons. Each winter A-League coaches run the gauntlet of squad turnover. Success leads to a talent drain (see: United, Adelaide), and the salary cap and visa limitations make the job of replacing like for like challenging. Before you know it only nine of the 22 that began the 2015-16 grand final in May are turning out in round six 2016-17.
It takes time to bed in a new group of players, especially with changing combinations at the heart of the back four and the base of midfield. These relationships have always been Western Sydney’s strengths but increasingly they are proving their weaknesses.
It’s a problem exacerbated by the dispersion of the core group that helped establish the Wanderers’ culture. Of Saturday’s starting line-up only Brendon Santalab had featured more than 35 times in red and black. The club’s three most-capped players have each left voids that remained exposed on the weekend.
Ante Covic’s gloves have been filled by Andrew Redmayne, but they would have been just as much use filled with sand and propped up at the foot of one of the goalposts. Redmayne’s continued selection is an indictment on the state of Australian goalkeeping, and his failure to deal with Victory’s second ended what remained of the contest at the 65th minute.
Popovic has still to figure out life after Nikolai Topor-Stanley, and at Etihad Stadium neither Aritz Borda nor Jonathan Aspropotamitis enhanced their reputations. Mark Bridge’s departure has led to an over-reliance on Santalab which has in turn led to a calf strain, the kind of injury overworked 34-year olds have a habit of suffering.
If Popovic needed an example of the kind of player his club is missing, he could have watched him playing out of position at left-back for the opposition and putting in a near man of the match performance. Leigh Broxham is a soft target for critics who see only a limited job-doer. But those “water carriers” (as Eric Cantona once famously called Didier Deschamps) are integral to the fabric of football clubs.
Broxham embodies the non-negotiables that newcomers to a team need to understand. He has to – he doesn’t possess the natural talent to make a living as a professional footballer otherwise. He chases lost causes, battles tirelessly for possession, settles scores and refuses to take a backward step, the kind of qualities that hold teams together under pressure. The qualities Popovic built the Wanderers on.
Popovic has also yet to see the best of his star signings. Recruiting players from overseas into the A-League can be a lottery. Last season Popovic’s numbers came up courtesy of the dual pivot of Dimas and Andreu, and the defensive assurance of Alberto. On the evidence of these early weeks, Borda and Bruno Pinatares are not in the same class, and for all the glimpses of brilliance displayed by Nicolás Martínez and Jumpei Kusukami in innocuous areas there has been a worrying lack of threat in the penalty box.
Typically, Popovic is unperturbed by his club’s temporary plight. In his post-match press conference he shared his confidence that with time and familiarity his latest game plan would bear fruit. “Our football is excellent,” he said. “We need to do better in that final third with the final pass and shot to actually get rewarded for our good play.” It’s confidence well-earned after navigating the Wanderers through choppy waters on numerous occasions. But with the Asian Champions League on the horizon they’ll want to get a wriggle on rediscovering the identity that made them such a force.
View all comments >