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Squad Development 2017/18 Part 2

mack

By mack
in Western Sydney Wanderers

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WestSyd

WestSyd

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, FCB said:

You may as well replace the word Gombau with Popa in your statement.

Last season we had a cobbled together side with an accounting marquee who joined late, where the other imports were so "good" that they were pushed out of the starting 11 by Aspro, Baccus, Soririo, and Antonis.

This season we have a very different squad that was put together early, with two marquees. Different management, yet the results are the same. 

With Popovic we'd be in the top three, on the Smurfs heels.

Antonis and Janjetovic are what saved Popa last season. His strengths in coaching relate more to what he can get out of his players and making them fight hard. His tactical nous is average at best. 

We would have been on the Smurfs heels if he was here? Nah, I don't think so. Probably 4th or 5th if everything went right for us. SFC, Newcastle and Adelaide are clearly better teams than us, and their coaches could easily outsmart Popa in any game situation. 

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Zelinsky

Zelinsky

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, WestSyd said:

Antonis and Janjetovic are what saved Popa last season. His strengths in coaching relate more to what he can get out of his players and making them fight hard. His tactical nous is average at best. 

We would have been on the Smurfs heels if he was here? Nah, I don't think so. Probably 4th or 5th if everything went right for us. SFC, Newcastle and Adelaide are clearly better teams than us, and their coaches could easily outsmart Popa in any game situation. 

No arguments from me about Popa's tactical tool kit.

We tried to sign Antonis (and I think Snake) in the off season but the time wasn't right. We needed them badly when they joined, and we needed Cornflakes to come good. We were sooo **** last season. 

In S1 we didn't play the best football, but had the grittiest side. And luck. Lots of it - when I think about the five games against the Roar, or  the game in the Gosford rain....

That grit walked out of the door with Popa. I believe it's what would have made this squad perform. I don't think we would have leaked that many late goals and drop points unneccessarily. Oh well. 

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WestSyd

WestSyd

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, FCB said:

No arguments from me about Popa's tactical tool kit.

We tried to sign Antonis (and I think Snake) in the off season but the time wasn't right. We needed them badly when they joined, and we needed Cornflakes to come good. We were sooo **** last season. 

In S1 we didn't play the best football, but had the grittiest side. And luck. Lots of it - when I think about the five games against the Roar, or  the game in the Gosford rain....

That grit walked out of the door with Popa. I believe it's what would have made this squad perform. I don't think we would have leaked that many late goals and drop points unneccessarily. Oh well. 

I think the word you used, 'grit', says it all when it comes to our time with Popa. With him at helm we will always have that 'battler' element about ourselves. Battling and fighting every games takes its toll on players. It's probably why there was such a high turnover rate every season. We couldn't keep playing that way. I mentioned on here previously that we rarely ever smash or rip apart teams. Even when we had the players to do it. I would say even Perth and Wellington have thumped more teams than us. It was in Popa's DNA to be conservative, even when we had the players to win and entertain.

Gombau is a different kettle of fish. You get the feeling he has a way of playing that if the players get it, we'll be hard to beat and playing with a bit of style. Should we risk giving him next year to prove himself. Some think yes, and some think no. We will most likely get to see it. I am sure everyone will say "I told you so" if it doesn't work out. But I want to see what happens. There are plenty of other coaches to replace him with if things go pear shaped.

But for me going back to Popa is like going back to something where you know what you will be getting. Maybe some people want that. I don't. I think the club needs to go in a new direction.

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Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Ossified said:

Just been reading the last few posts and Animals are very prominent for some reason any ideas anyone?

 "he made a dog's breakfast of it."

 "until the cows come home."

"and I think Snake"

 "different kettle of fish"

 

5 minutes ago, marron said:

That line of thought is a bit of a red herring.

Don't be a jackass!

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Zelinsky

Zelinsky

Posted
Posted

What I would like to see is the VIC kind of grit. More often than not they show up for the big games. With us it seems the other way round.

We nearly signed Dirk Schuster, and with him we would have been defensively strong and tough as nails. But then we opted for something totally different with Gombau. Go figure. 

Popa has shut the door on the club. The timing, him trying to take all three assistant coaches with him - if he really loves the club as much as was said then he had a strange way of showing it. Good luck to him, but elsewhere. 

Now: have we signed any one of these players yet who are trying to break our doors down so they can join the wsw fun fare? 

 

 

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JayZko

JayZko

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, ZachMercer said:

I feel like we need a resurrection. We need to sign a god damn phoenix (not former player) to rise from the ashes and breath some fire back into the club and strike fear into our opponents. A game changer. Dust Shingi off. 38 is just a number.

fGPyMw4hVVd2HxVGHeN2nxEQwftLwQNp0QIF8Naw

we will never sign a Phoenix because we’re tight arses but we’ll sign a few galahs

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Erebus

Erebus

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, GrEmIoWaNdErEr said:

 so who else could we go for possibly marco Rojas on loan who isn't getting game time at Dutch club right now idk so.....

Meh to Rojas. He keeps jumping back and forth between Euro and the HAL instead of fighting it out over there. Also, he is Kiwi and thus a Visa spot.

Time for some new blood not the same recycled bs. No wonder everyone says the HAL is stale.

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wendybr

wendybr

Posted
Posted

Gulp - I've taken some of the observations of one of my respected forum  pals...and thrown in my thoughts here. :huh:

You guys have football brains - I  know very little, and  I learn from you all.

I bumble around here - but these are my reactions to some of FCB's observations.

Quote

Last season we had a cobbled together side with an accounting marquee who joined late, where the other imports were so "good" that they were pushed out of the starting 11 by Aspro, Baccus, Soririo, and Antonis.

Hmmmm- who selected them – yes, it might well have been with inadequate funding, but other coaches have managed recruitment much more effectively than Popa has done.

Quote

This season we have a very different squad that was put together early, with two marquees.

Different management, yet the results are the same.  With Popovic we'd be in the top three, on the Smurfs heels

Pure speculation. :meep:

 

Quote

Another way is that the coach is given a budget by the chairman. Last year's was slim. 

Taurus may correct me: Popa was in charge of recruitment, and one can argue that he made a dog's breakfast of it.

Yes this. As has happened season after season...... AFTER season 1, where Popa did a brilliant job.

 

Quote

Tactics/formations/squad selection - that's a matter of opinion, and one could argue about that until the cows come home.

What can't be argued is that Popa was able to make players better, and squeeze performance out of players. Ono and Castelen are on public record in that matter.

Yes - in Season 1

Ono and Castelen –  fair enough. They sang his praises.

What would Aaron Mooy, Dino, Vitor Saba, Piovaccari, Mark Redmayne,  a couple of the Spaniards and many many other players say about that – some who may have temporarily stood out (like Mooy and Butters did initially) before fading out  in their second season with us…if they actually lasted for one or two whole season, that is.

So many of our players lifted for a while - perhaps due the the excitement of being part of what we had atmosphere-wise early on,  then seemed to slump.

A number  of them have done/are now doing fine in other A League teams all over the country, and seem to  regain a spark that faded as time went on with us (think NTS, Jamo, Redmayne…) Not all - but certainly a few of them.

I watch them and think  - dammit - why aren't they still part of our team? :sorry:

PS I wouldn't swap Vedran  for Redmayne tho.

Quote

Popa would have squeezed performance out of the current lot.

I believe that Gombau did the opposite by tinkering too much too quickly, and pissing off players in the process. 

I don’t disagree that he tried to go too far too fast.

Quote

No arguments from me about Popa's tactical tool kit.

Ummmmmmmm...................is that  something to be brushed over lightly? :shok:

Arnie has run rings around  Popa every time we played his teams - well mostly.

 

Quote

We tried to sign Antonis (and I think Snake) in the off season but the time wasn't right. We needed them badly when they joined, and we needed Cornflakes to come good. We were sooo **** last season. 

In S1 we didn't play the best football, but had the grittiest side. And luck. Lots of it - when I think about the five games against the Roar, or  the game in the Gosford rain....

Yes - grit and lots of luck. So - not all Popa's skill.

And hey....You’re leaving out the RBB and 15,000 fans on the sidelines as part of that equation – and that was a MASSIVE factor for those first few seasons.

That wasn’t Popa – that was energy and a sort of delirium from many who finally had their own team to follow. and it had a huge impact on our success.;)

 

Quote

That grit walked out of the door with Popa. 

That grit departed from our players a few seasons before Popa walked out the door imho.

 

Quote

He may not be an idiot (even though in my opinion he is), but Mr we-will-win-the-derby certainly talks and coaches like one. 

He (apparently) told his squad that sixth spot will do this season, and hurray to everyone who thinks that's good enough. 

I feel skeptical for this season tbh. Time will tell.

PS I was never part of #Popa out -at all.

But I'm part of #GiveGombauAGo!

 

PPS Hope we're still friends FCB  :grouphug:

:D:D

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wendybr

wendybr

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, mack said:

Who?

Yeah  yeah OK!  :P 

But he spent the season with us like a deer in the headlights...and well..... now, he's the GK in the best team in the A League.

Not that he can take much credit for that.

But his career certainly didn't flourish with WSW under Popa, that's for sure.  ;)

 

EDIT - Mack laughed at my mistakenly calling Andrew Redmayne "Mark". :P ..and I still didn't get what he was telling me. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Carns has subsequently been kind enough to point out my error!   :lol:

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Carns

Carns

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, wendybr said:

Mark Redmayne

 

20 minutes ago, mack said:

Who?

 

10 minutes ago, wendybr said:

Yeah  yeah OK!  :P 

But he spent the season with us like a deer in the headlights...and well..... now, he's the GK in the best team in the A League.

Not that he can take much credit for that.

But his career certainly didn't flourish with WSW under Popa, that's for sure.  ;)

You do realise his first name is Andrew, not Mark, right?

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ZachMercer

ZachMercer

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, GrEmIoWaNdErEr said:

So guys article came out and they interviewed gombau and told him if he had interest in bangoura he said no and said he read the article of the rumour but said no he isn't interested so who else could we go for possibly marco Rojas on loan who isn't getting game time at Dutch club right now idk so.....

Don't think he'll be interested. Kiwis aren't going to WC so he'll sit back and collect his euros then jump to another euro outfit.

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