Tony Popovic insists Western Sydney controlled large sections of their first-half downfall in Tuesday’s 5-1 Asian Champions League thrashing but were undone by Shanghai SIPG’s star foreign legion.
The Wanderers were thoroughly outplayed by the cashed-up Chinese Super League giants on a torrid night for Australian football, during which Brisbane were also belted 6-0 by Ulsan Hyundai, while earlier in the week Adelaide United went down 3-0 to Gamba Osaka.
For Popovic’s humbled side, the gulf in class was striking and the contest essentially over at the half-hour mark, by which time Brazilian trio Hulk, Oscar and Elkeson had led Shanghai to a 4-1 lead.
But the coach, who has been under the pump juggling his squad between a sardined set of A-League and ACL fixtures, was adamant that “if you look at the score in the first half then maybe you didn’t watch the match”.
“We felt we did good with the ball, we controlled large parts of the first half,” Popovic said.
“But every time SIPG entered the box with the quality they have and their foreigners, they always create something.
“And when they hit the target, nine times out of 10 it’s a goal. That was the difference.
“We had 56 per cent of the ball in the first half – that’s not bad away from home, at Shanghai.
“But what we did with the ball wasn’t enough.”
The loss leaves the Wanderers bottom of Group F with a -8 goal difference, and their fans with little hope of a sharp turnaround like the one they pulled off to lift the 2014 trophy.
While that campaign also started with a loss to Ulsan Hyundai, this time there was no rebound from last week’s 4-0 trouncing by Urawa Red Diamonds.
There are mitigating circumstances – this was the fourth game in 11 days taking in flights to Perth and then China.
But in a tough group also featuring upcoming opponents FC Seoul, the Wanderers are up against it to make the knockout stage.
Popovic has already saved his most valuable attacking threat Brendon Santalab exclusively for A-League duty, while also preserving some other preferred options for the fight to save the club’s domestic season.
“We have a small squad … we had a lot of younger players on the field today. They will gain a lot of experience from this match,” he said.
“Our squad is what it is, so we have to move forward.”
Ian
Guest
Yes, good article. Also, Kate Cohen used to write for The Leopold Method and was very good at providing in-depth analysis of how A-League games were won and lost.
Tom Jones
Guest
What are your comments about?
punter
Guest
I'm calling out Bozza & Rudes, because they go along with public critique. Ange called this out during Pim's 2010 WC campaign & Bozza had no idea, that we were falling way behind Japan especially. Bozza thinks we used to produce quality players. We have never really produced players that are comfortable on the ball, apart from a small handful, we used to produced lots of British type players. I'm all in agreeance with JB's criticism as we don't produce players of this irk,never in our history apart from the odd few. Ange has done something about it & so has some of teh HAL sides, hence why you see so many mistakes from pressing, we just don't have the cattle. This is not a new phenomenon that has started under the A-League or under the FFA. Bozza & Rudes are about 5-6 years too late. Ange already took action with the BR side back then. Craig Foster (hate him or love him) has been banging on about it for even longer.
Midfielder
Guest
AZ Well put ....
c
Guest
gee fuss we are going to be struggling to match $2bn
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Well said.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Spot on jb. The real issue is the development of local players. Too many comments here getting stuck into Bozza and Rudes because we fear a bit of criticism but they make valid comments. I also sympathise with HAL sides having to play the ACL with no relief from A-league games and with a squad size that is too small to accommodate the demands on these clubs.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Yes Aus football has come a long way since those dark days when there was no professional football in Aus and before that when a 4 figure crowd was noteworthy. Yes the TV deal and the mainstream exposure is bigger and better than ever. Yes the standard of football on show week in week out is miles ahead of where it was just a few years ago. Yes we are Asian champions. Yes there's a lot of talent going around. Yes we've done really well in the ACL in the past. But that does not mean that fans can't be frustrated. That does not mean that we should watch our representatives in Asia concede 20 goals in 5 games mostly at home and be okay with it. We are allowed to be frustrated when we see our teams build a great squad and then have no choice but to lose them all. We are allowed to be frustrated when season after season passes without any hint of expansion. We are all significant stakeholders in this game. We all go to watch our team no matter how they play. We are deeply invested in the local game. Radan and Bosnich go on these rants because they care. I write these sorts of posts because I care. I'm not going to sit silently.
Nemesis
Guest
You're talking about Cup Matches? Yes, the fluke good result can occur. The ACL Group Stage is 6 matches. Home & Away. A fluke result gets you nowhere. 12 months ago, SydFC & MVFC were within touching distance of a Quarter Final spot in the ACL. That's not a fluke. That requires teams to be competitive & mentally tough. I recall when Victory played in Jeonju it meant flying to Soeul then a 3 hour coach ride to Jeonju. Then hop on the coach back to Soeul, the plane back to Melbourne. Arrive in Melbourne on Friday afternoon. Played an ALeague match on Saturday night.
j binnie
Guest
Nemesis- If we are to take your observation on "foreign players" over "local players" as being correct then surely that is pointing to poor recruitment policies being followed by the managers/coaches of our 9 top teams. I too can think of many "failures", but to be honest, I find that a simple search of a player's past history. is usually suffice to make an assessment on whether he is likely to succeed in our environment. That flaw in our recruitment process does not alter the fact that most of our young,local, HAL lads cannot match their young Asian counterparts in demonstrating their growing mastery of the basic skills inherent in our game. Also I do not blame those same youngsters of ours for the present state of affairs,for it is now 43 years since we had a Director of Coaching who described his main reason for being in Australia was to set up a system where we had coaches teaching coaches all over the country.. My simple question . What happened to that idea????. It was resurrected 10 years ago at almost horrendous cost, but we are still waiting to see the end product. THAT IS WHAT THE TWO MARKS WERE TRYING TO SAY. Cheers jb.
me too
Guest
massive gulf between premier league and semi-pro, but you still see the occasional team make the last 16. The reality is there is a big difference, and it's going to get bigger with the cash flowing around in some of the Asian leagues. Not sure what we can do about it, other than enjoy the quality and learn from it.
punter
Guest
The majority of players produced by the NSL played the Australian way, very physical, very fit, very fast, very strong but only a handful had tremendous skills. We produced a lot of great British type players, very few Sth Americans or Southern/Eastern European players.I don't recall too many Castros or Ninkovics in the Socceroos sides. These players are no longer the flavour of the month.
punter
Guest
Bosnich has done great things for football in this country since his return. He's gone mainstream, he also respects other sports (publicly) but you are 100% correct he lacks tactical insight. When Ange was on the Foxsports commentary, he left Bozza for dead with his tactical insights. Rudan is not that much better, the best 2 foxsports had was Ange & Alosi. (John). The difficult questions needs to be asked, a change is required, but we don't need people highlighting the problems, we need people who highlight the problems to come up with the solutions/actions to change. Being a father, criticism without being constructive is only damaging. We need leaders that are visionaries that take actions. This is why I like Ange, many are critical of him, just like those in England of Pep & Kloop. there is no plan B, no plan B is to do plan A better. Ange got a lot of criticism of the game against Japan (rightly so), but I have never seen a Socceroo side so outplay Japan. We just lack the cattle, how do we get the cattle, do plan A better. JB has said, we need to start producing players with the tactical know-how, the first touch, the passing the ability to beat a player.
punter
Guest
Thanks Nemesis.
Mark
Guest
The players of the 'golden generation' succeeded despite the NSL, not because of it.
Fadida
Guest
Great article. All of those proclaiming the end of days should read this
Fadida
Guest
Ha ha! I've always thought he looks like a Jetstar employee
Nemesis
Guest
"I reckon,when watching a team playing in an HAL match ,I can pick out the imports against the locals ,simply by watching for factors like first touch ,vision, passing, shooting and of course, movement on and off the ball." I agree the best foreigners exhibit all the attributes you mention. I've done a quick look a the squads & I'd estimate 50% of foreigners in the ALeague are no better than locals for the attributes you've stated. I don't want another Kewell, or Viduka. I want every player in Australia to be technically & tactically competent. If we get the occasional superstar - fine. But I'm not waiting for the next football Messiah to be happy.
Kaks
Roar Guru
"these are things the shambolic NSL didnt have a problem with and still produced better players with." The NSL commenced in 1977 and folded in 2004. Please remind me what Australia won, and how many World Cups we qualified for, within that time span. Can you also name me the production line of high quality players who started their career's in the NSL? From where I'm sitting, most of our tremendous footballers developed in European academies.
j binnie
Guest
Nemesis -While not wishing to get into deep discussion on this matter it is necessary to stop trying to assess the outcome of outside influences such as travel ,distance ,no of games etc. While these are all contributors to our chances of success, it is in the assessment of players that one has to measure where we are at in the pecking order of World ,or Asian ,football. The best way to do that at the moment is not to dwell on past achievements, but to simply assess each player individually as to theIr levels of skill ,fitness, tactical know- how, and those other factors, like attitude and desire, when comparing as to how we, as a nation, are performing in the greater scheme of things. I don't consider myself a book of knowledge but I reckon,when watching a team playing in an HAL match ,I can pick out the imports against the locals ,simply by watching for factors like first touch ,vision, passing, shooting and of course, movement on and off the ball. Listening to the two Marks, they were pontificating, about how far we have slipped behind the Asians,actually stating what Verbeek told us all those years ago and we all know what happened to him. I don't regard their views as earth shattering,I don't see that much has changed at all,we are still importing players to fill key positions,even the runaway league leaders are doing that, and yet no one appears to ask the question,why, after 27 years of semi professional football,and a further 12 years of full time professionalism can we not produce a Johnstone or Kewell straight from our own HAL sources?. The answer has to lie somewhere. Cheers jb.