Football Season Guide

Western Sydney Wanderers

In


Daniel Margush (gk) Perth Glory; Ziggy Gordon (def) Central Coast Mariners; Anthony Lesiotis (def) Melbourne Victory; Phillip Cancar (def) Dragovoljac; Graham Dorrans (mid) Dundee FC; James Troisi (mid) Adelaide United; Berni Ibini-Isei (att) Newcastle Jets;

Out


Pirmin Schwegler (k) (mid) end of career; Mitchell Duke (k) (att) Taawon; Matthew Jurman (r) (def) Xanthi; Nick Sullivan (sp) (mid) Perth Glory; Radoslaw Majewski (sp) (mid) Wieczysta Krakow; Nick Suman (gk) Macarthur; Tristan Prendergast (gk) released; Mathieu Cordier (def) released;

Wanderers had very up-and-down season last term and, despite a mounting late push, they missed out on the play-offs by just 4 points in the end. Wanderers showed that they have the talent to beat anyone with their 2 regular season wins against champions Sydney FC, but many points were dropped against much lesser teams and this proved costly. Coach Babbel was sacked even before the previous campaign reached its climax and in the summer Wanderers showed ambition after stealing Carl Robinson from Jets to become their new Head Coach. Robinson prefers style with lots of attacks channelled down the two wings and he made sure to have the right players for his tactics with his summer activity. Ibini-Isei and Troisi were signed and both should play key roles, while Dorrans arrives as direct replacement for the retired Schwegler to take the role of anchor-man. The other 2 major departures during off-season were that of centre-back Jurman and team’s captain and top scorer Duke. Former not such a huge loss considering the great depth in defence, but in Duke’s absence someone else would have to step forward and score the goals. It seems it would be German-English attacking duo up front with Muller and Cox scoring 4 goals each in pre-season. With Yeboah, Adam and Ibini-Isei also there Wanderers are unlikely to struggle for goals. The squad looks well-built and also there’s healthy competition for pretty much every position on the pitch so Wanderers shouldn’t be too bothered even if some injuries occur during the campaign.

Target


Wanderers are desperate to return to the play-offs and it seems this season could be the right time for them to do that. Squad looks well balanced and the manager is very experienced. Grand Final would be a push too far though.