Radoslaw Majewski is out before he was even in, but it’s how the Wanderers respond to that setback that could determine whether the sleeping giant awakens.
“Western Sydney Wanderers FC today confirmed that Radoslaw Majewski has suffered a serious knee injury and will be sidelined for an indefinite period,” said the club in an official statement late yesterday.
“One of the Wanderers star signings for the new season was injured in training yesterday with scans showing suspected anterior cruciate and medial ligament injuries.”
The news of the Polish playmaker’s season-ending injury has the potential to derail Western Sydney’s campaign before it even begins. But it shouldn’t.
The Wanderers have all the ingredients in place to monster the A-League like never before – even without Majewski.
It would have been easy to sack coach Markus Babbel after the Wanderers missed the finals by 16 points and finished eighth last season, but it also would have been the wrong decision.
And lately chairman Paul Lederer and chief executive John Tsatsimas haven’t shown much inkling to make too many of those.
The club’s new centre of excellence isn’t just spectacular, it should also help the Wanderers produce a conveyer belt of talent for their various teams.
And retaining Babbel has helped the club tap into a line of bona fide Bundesliga stars.
Swiss midfielder Pirmin Schwegler should have no trouble adjusting to the A-League, but it’s Alexander Meier in attack fans should really be excited about.
No disrespect to the departed Oriol Riera, but Meier is a major step up in class.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt striker was one of the Bundesliga’s biggest stars and he would have scored more than his 93 top-flight goals if a couple of campaigns hadn’t been wrecked by niggling injuries.
And what should most excite Wanderers is the fact Meier can score goals from anywhere.
Western Sydney Wanderers coach Markus Babbel (Nigel Owen/Action Plus via Getty Images)
At nearly two metres tall, Meier has never had any problem winning aerial duels, yet the imposing striker has a surprisingly deft touch for a big man.
Most importantly, he’s got a killer eye for goal. The second A-League defences drop off is the second Meier will ping an unerring strike into the bottom corner.
He’s also played for two of German football’s genuine cult clubs in Eintracht Frankfurt and St Pauli, who play in front of capacity crowds every week irrespective of the division they’re in. So Meier won’t be fazed by running out at Bankwest Stadium; he’ll be inspired by it.
And Western Sydney’s jaw-dropping new home ground is their biggest weapon of all. It will only take Wanderers fans one visit to realise they play in the best stadium the A-League has ever seen.
They’ve been a fan base with more excuses than a first-year Arts student these past few of seasons, but the buck stops here.
If Wanderers fans don’t pack Bankwest Stadium for their Round 1 clash with the Central Coast Mariners, it will simply mean they’re happy to live in the shadow of NRL side Parramatta Eels.
Bankwest Stadium (for an NRL game). (Matt Blyth/Getty Images)
But there’s no reason to suspect that will be the case.
What’s more likely is that after years of playing second fiddle to Sydney FC, the Wanderers will suddenly start to dwarf the Sky Blues.
The centre of excellence. The Bundesliga talent. The stadium. It’s all coming into place in Western Sydney.
It’s just a shame that A-League fans have been robbed of the chance to see not only Majewski in action but also Newcastle Jets star signing Wes Hoolahan.
One of the many side effects of the salary cap is that teams invariably struggle to replace key players who go down injured. But that shouldn’t prevent the Wanderers from becoming genuine contenders this season.
And if you put your ear to the ground around O’Connell Street, you may just hear the sound of a sleeping giant awakening.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
No the leagues club is only partially on private land, where they plan to put the hotel would be across both private and public land. Where did you get the idea that being on private land excluded one from planning laws anyway. Furthermore the stadium could have been bigger if the roof was flat. It also could have held a lot more people with a smaller corporate area.
Paul
Guest
FWIW, The Parramatta Leagues Club is on private land and is not subject to the antiquated planning laws that affect Parramatta. That is despite the major growth in tall buildings in the Parramatta CBD. The stadium could have bigger but laws would have had to changed and the stadium wouldn't be open today.
josh
Guest
You know he's not just talking about on the pitch right ?
shane
Guest
Helluva lot of assumptions in the article. "What’s more likely is that after years of playing second fiddle to Sydney FC, the Wanderers will suddenly start to dwarf the Sky Blues." How about we wait for a ball to be kicked first before assuming the overtaking of a Championship-winning squad whose core squad has been bedded in for a good 3 seasons now? WSW still have a long way to go on the pitch, despite all the new bells and whistles.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
that makes no sense, look at the stadium if height and size was a concern how does that explain the roof which is jutting out and raised above the stands. The friends of the pool, well the pool was the first thing to go, Mack mentions these guys I wonder why. Has anyone mentioned the 17 storey hotel that the Eels leagues club are looking to build. It looks like there are plants on the WSw forum working for the Eels spreading their lies. Be grateful for standing seats ,while we get rid of the pool, expand our leagues club further onto public land, have the whole western side corporate, and then proceed with an even bigger development at the site.
josh
Guest
So after listening to the WSW CEO speak on Friday i'm convinced WSW will be one of the biggest clubs in any sport in the country in a matter of years. A 7-11 and McDonalds are being built right now - owned by the club. A retail precinct which will bring the club rental income. A hotel style setup where kids can stay for football camps. A Leagues Club where fans can go to watch away matches and support the club - we'll be forceful about not having poker machines though. This is going to be big. I mean really big. WSW aren't messing around anymore.
c
Roar Rookie
Brainstrust is it fair to say that we were treated as second class citizens in our endeavors re stadium builds ?
c
Roar Rookie
if the a league does not monster this game in aus now that the big afl and (nrl shortly) is over where we will be competing with the horse races and the ladies afl and cricket and trade talk over summer then a casual fan i don't think that we will monster this game for a long time
con
Guest
Its all on the park that will make or break WSW and only time will tell ,it would be great for football to see them win the league but that's harder said than done ,HEY
Paul
Guest
@Was, Think the restrictions on injury replacement players mean they are meant to be a like for like replacement so a visa player can be replaced by another visa player but paid the equivalent or less. If an Australian player needs to have an injury replacement, then Australian has to replace that player on the same or less money. I don't think salary cap banking is in the equation here. So we couldn't replace Majewski with Ben Arfa (currently a free agent) unless he agrees to getting a much reduced salary since Ben Arfa is listed at over 20€ on transfermarkt.
Paul
Guest
The restrictions on the stadium capacity limited the size of the stadium. I believe that we lobbied hard to increase to 35K but the location in Parramatta Park meant it could not tower above the trees. Plus we had the Friends of Parramatta Pool lobbying against the build. The Parramatta NRL didn't want the safe standing as a permanent state so those seats are changed for different codes.
Nemesis
Guest
"40k would be a better size for MV" As an MVFC fan, for me, this is rubbish. Playing in a 40k stadium each week would be awful. 30k is perfect for Melbourne Victory for the past 8 years and, most likely, for the next 10 years. Thereafter, who knows?
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The land which the extension for Parramata leagues club was built on is public land and because that extension was approved it meant they had to demolish the local community pool for the sake of the Parramatta Eels expandede gambling den in order to construct the stadium. No newspaper reports on this. The worlds largest corporate area alongside the Eels gambling den would have been incredibly expensive to build and added further cost to the stadium, while reducing the capacity. Yet go to WSW forum and their Mack says it funded the stadium not the publc purse it seems. You have to wonder who he is really working for. No newspaper reports on this. The safe standing area is of minimal expense. and a small section. Yet a lot of newspaper reports about how the government and the Eels were bending over backwards for this so called expensive addition to the needs of WSW. Unbelievable. The public purse has paid top dollar to facilitate a high roller attraction for Parramatta leagues club whereas a 40k stadium would have attracted billions with a world cup . the difference with AFL is every team raids the public purse continously whereas not just the Eels in rugby league. In AAMi stadium the original plan was 20k with training facilities including indoor pool and offices for the Melbourne Demons AFL side. So in other words part of the expense of the stadium is being spent on that rather than a higher capacity. The influence of MV raised the capacity but the spending on these extra facilities was still there if that had been put on further increasing the capacity 40k would have been achievable. In the end the AFL team didnt even want to use the facilities because it meant sharing training grounds with Collingwood who were given the Lexus center. So money down the drain. 40k would be a better size for MV and WSW because the average fan likes to sit on the sides, not in a better quality corner seat, and then they could get big crowds for derbies,in particular with WSW the western stadium only has 3000 capacity which is the biggest joke of all time. Then you have the world cup implication for the same money we could have had two 40k stadiums and we dont, and that would have made a world cup bid super easy.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Insurance stops when the player is declared fit, presumably by an independent Dr but I’m guessing that’s a process open to abuse lol. Once a player is fit he returns to the squad and the injury replacement leaves. His/her contract is only for the duration of the other players injury.
Nemesis
Guest
Parramatta Stadium is owned by the Government of NSW. They paid for the structure. How can you possibly blame WSW for that? WSW are to be commended for pushing the Govt to allocate a small section to Safe Standing, which the NRL club were opposed to. And, I don't understand your comment about AAMI Park. What "facilities for the AFL" are there at AAMI Park? AAMI Park is owned by the State Government of Victoria. They wanted to build a 20k rectangular stadium. MVFC forced them to build a 30k capacity stadium, otherwise MV said they wouldn't be a tenant. Without MV as a tenant, AAMI Park would never have been viable. So, the Govt built a 30k stadium. It's the perfect size. The perfect location. The perfect design.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Note really. AFL comes in 5th. Please do your homework Redondo :silly: https://www.sportingnews.com/au/other-sports/list/top-10-most-attended-sports-leagues-in-the-world-big-bash-league-afl-nfl-premier-league/1dmuq8utfkumq1ssh8rtjyojq4
Tyke
Roar Rookie
That’s a pretty sweet deal, when does insurance stop paying the salary? How does it work with the salary cap when they get better? and the replacement is still contracted
Paul
Guest
If you look at what Babbel has done in recruiting, despite the injury to Majewski, it is definitely a rebuild. Defence: Quality GK in Lopar, Janjetovic will have trouble getting the no. 1 again, Suman in the wings as well Fullbacks: Georgievski in for Llorente, Russell, Kamau (out of position imo), Elrich, Wilmering, Cordier (Aquilina back on an amateur contract after the mistake of trialling with the Sea-bogans) CB: Jurman, McGowan, Mourdoukoutas, Ziegler (on track to return), Cordier as well. DM: Schwegler (best DM since Andreu), Baccus, O'Doherty (Back in training after the ACL surgery), Monge (Grozos and Wilmering can play DM as well) AM: Need a foreign injury replacement to replace Majewski (who replaced a lazy German) FW: Duke (training again), AMFG, Yeboah, Adam Friendly against Western United next weekend in Geelong, then it's time to put a few past the Mariners in the opening round at our true home.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
They are monstering their own fans with this stadium, why have they got the biggest corporate section in the world, its over a 1000 to sit on the shady side of the field. Parramatta Eels are a dodgy disgrace but why go along with them. They could have built a 40k stadium with the same money with heaps of good seats and used that for a world cup bid but chose the corporate design instead. AAMi park the same issue with facilities for the AFL over extra seats. We could have done a world cup so easy if these two stadiums had their money spentg properly.
Michael Becvarovski
Roar Rookie
I think that WSW will have a better season this time round. Babbel has the ability to put his own mark on this time round. With WSW Centre of Football and the new BankWest stadium now available, we should see a WSW side that represents the early days. The signings look good but again everything comes down to results.