Western Sydney Wanderers fans will always remember 2014 as the year they conquered Asia. However, continental success has come at the expense of domestic form.
Is it now too late to make a run to the A-League finals, and was coach Tony Popovic always prepared to accept struggles at home as a consequence of their success?
Making excuses is frowned upon in football, but this can sometimes cause basic facts to be ignored.
The Wanderers’ A-League campaign was always going to be significantly compromised by the various distractions that came their way.
With the latter stages of their triumphant Asian Champions League campaign – and the subsequent Club World Cup – playing havoc with their fixtures, their squad has been tested in a way no other A-League club has experienced. Their schedule has resembled that of a top European club, albeit with a much smaller squad and budget.
It could be said that Western Sydney’s entire season will be subjected to disruption, with the Asian Cup break about to take effect and the next Champions League campaign commencing in late February. Their domestic schedule has not been helpful either, having already played away against Perth and twice against Wellington.
Popovic would have had the foresight to realise all of this even before the season began, and perhaps was prepared to accept a dip in form in the A-League as a result. He would have had faith in his squad to at least remain in touch with the top six in the first half of the season, before going on to get the results necessary to secure a spot in the finals.
His team have demonstrated their ability to get results anywhere in Asia, so Popovic would not have been phased about the prospect of playing away from home in the play-offs.
The extent of the Wanderers’ struggles in the A-League has caused almost universal surprise, surely also to Popovic himself. Their poor form left them nine points adrift of the top six at the turn of the year. In particular, the failure to win during a run of four home games between the Champions League final and Club World Cup would have been a huge disappointment.
Making Western Sydney’s task of breaking into the finals spots all the more difficult is the strength of the A-League as a whole this year. Perth, Melbourne Victory, Adelaide and Sydney FC blazed away at the start of the year with long unbeaten runs. While the latter two have dropped away of late, the likes of Wellington and Melbourne City have now come into form.
At the start of the week Wanderers fans would have been concerned that their coach could be heading back to Crystal Palace. This now appears highly unlikely, and if recent reports of a mini exodus of players in the January transfer window are true then Popovic is at least demonstrating that he is not prepared to just sit back and write off their A-League campaign.
If the rumoured departures do occur then the replacements who come in will need to hit the ground running. Will it be too late to prevent the Wanderers from missing the finals for the first time since their foundation?
Batou
Guest
A-League attendances for the current season. So yes, there's a derby in there which helps bring SFC's average up (accounts for about half the difference with WSW I think ) but they're the numbers. I'm not trying to have a dig at you guys, I just saw your claim that crowds were the same and thought I'd point out that they actually aren't.
britesparke
Roar Rookie
Was Popovic prepared for the domestic woes after a triumphant Asian Champions League? I would say that he fully expected some kind of form slump after the "high" of ACL success. Throw in the unwanted player revolt for better pay for play conditions (fully justified IMO) and there is a list of circumstances that have obviously influenced the "refocusing" of the side for the domestic competition. Then add the "seasoning mix" of new recruits having to find their feet (and the goal mouth) very quickly.....very interesting times indeed and testing ones for the coach. I agree with some comments made that maybe WSW should just do what is possible under the circumstances and just get the team to "gel" ....even if it is at the expense of missing finals football! The finals mix of six from ten may help the WSW if they are inclined to go for a mid season resurgence. Beware the bottom feeder! All the crap comes from above and they swim around in it all day long!
ciudadmarron
Guest
I bet you included your derby and not the FFS cup in there. 14000 on a public holiday. Same as us. But okay let's look at the time to kick in effect. How many losses does it take for your crowds to drop off from your lofty average from the beginning of the season?
Josh
Guest
Does that figure include the 3000 who turned up to the FFA cup match ?
Josh
Guest
Perf are certainly not immune to that, like the time your well ard fans outnumbered some Melbourne Heart fans out for a good night and came off second best...
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
They've just won the ACL FFS. The test will come if they have a rubbish year and the members decide not to renew.
Batou
Guest
Except that you don't get as many as the other side of town. Not even close actually. So far this season WSW average crowd is more than six thousand less than SFC. And as someone else said, it takes time for the effect to really kick in.
ciudadmarron
Guest
http://smh.com.au/sport/soccer/were-as-frustrated-as-you-are-wanderers-shannon-cole-understands-fan-anger-20150102-12h2bu.html
ciudadmarron
Guest
One bloke being held back and told to shut up by all around him is hardly as remarkable, no matter how foolish.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
You forget so essily. What about Robert Middleby?
Kevin Moody
Roar Rookie
Regarding Saba, scouting goes beyond just what they can with the ball, it's what they bring to the team and club as a whole. If he is not going to adapt tactically as required, this should have been identified before he was recruited. Similarly, if there is an issue with a player's attitude, this is an area that should have been researched.
ciudadmarron
Guest
It's foolish but not remarkable. If you've seen the footage it was handbags with those around him holding him back from doing it. It's not like he waited in the car park rill afterwards now is it. As for the crowds thing, you make a lot of sense. I wouldn't use it if every second anti WSW comment didn't gleefully read "watch the crowds go down when they start losing". I'll shut up when they do. Don't forget we've got a waiting list and plenty of demand.
ciudadmarron
Guest
It is foolish but it's not remarkable. One bloke attempts it and is held back by everyone else around him? Handbags. I mean, come on. It's not like he waited in the car park and assaulted him or something.
Ian
Guest
And Josh will still be providing material daily. There will be no shortage - that is not a end of mining boom comparison. On crowd figures there is no point saying my team is last and we get more than the team that is first. That's an inexperienced comment. What you find is that there is a lag effect between crowds dropping and crowds jumping when a team performs well or poorly. I've seen it happen with Brisbane. 2012/13 season we maintained almost exactly the same regular season crowd despite a mediocre two-thirds of the 2012/13 season. That will be lost on some though. I personally hope A-League crowds always increase,- teams will generally have a rise or fall at different times. WSW are not some unbreakable force that is immune from this. And fans lashing out at players is quite remarkable, and foolish.
LordBrucie
Guest
The wsw are where they deserve to be as they have been shamefully poor this season and clearly thought all they had to do was turn up in the a league. If I was a wanderers fan I would be upset and embarrassed at the team (as clearly some are!) however luckily I am not a wsw fan! If Victory get three points against them next week, then the wsw will be without a win until February at the earliest. Surely that must be an a league record? However the real farce is that due to the lack of teams in the comp and the ridiculous finals system, they could still play finals!
langou
Roar Guru
"apart from never having won a GF, there’s not much left, soon there’ll be nothing." We will always have the WSW fans doing dumb stuff and providing us with material
Josh
Guest
Exactly, the usual insults against WSW are drying up pretty fast - apart from never having won a GF, there's not much left, soon there'll be nothing.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Wait till you have a bad run they said. We've had the worst start of any side in the comp ever and we still get as many as the other side of town who've had their best start in quite a while. So now it's "wait till you've had a few bad seasons". Keep moving the goal posts knockers. I love it.
Kevin Moody
Roar Rookie
There is also the salary cap to contend with, which in terms of football salaries worldwide is extremely modest. Recruiting in these circumstances means you have to be clever, ensuring you make as few mistakes as possible. Injuries are unfortunate and almost always out of a club's control. But scouting and profiling is completely under their control, and if you invest in players who ultimately fail to fit embrace the culture or team ethic you are trying to foster, then as a coach or scout you have to take a big chunk of the responsibility for not being thorough. It sound as though Mike Mulvey paid the price for this at Brisbane by recruiting players purely on video evidence.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Dino suited popa's set up very well up front. Mooy didn't as much (in the no 10 role at any rate). The thing I don't get is that Saba was supposedly on popa's radar for a long time. If so, you'd think he would be closer to what is required in the system.