Dino Kresinger, Tarek Elrich, Joey Gibbs & Rocky Visconte have been released from the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Kresinger, who scored two goals for the Wanderers, was released from the club and left the country late last week. Apart from short term signing Carlos Salidarre, it marked cult hero Kresinger as the first player to be released from the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Elrich, Gibbs, Visconte were also confirmed as being released.
Inside sources suggested that the players knew who has been released or re-signed last week but no official confirmation from the club had been published until this afternoon. Labinot Haliti, Jason Trifiro and Tahj Minniecon were not included on the list of released players, suggesting that they have all signed new contracts.
Manager Tony Popovic & Assistant Manager Ante Milicic have left Australia on scouting missions as they look to strengthen the squad for next season.
The release of Kresinger was inevitable due to his lack of scoring. Rocky Visconte impressed me during his short time at the Wanderers as an injury replacement but obviously he was not the direction that Popovic wanted the squad to go in. Joey Gibbs did some good work early in the season but fell off dramatically towards the end as Haliti stamped his position as 2nd choice forward with the match winner against the Mariners. Elrich was rumoured to be unhappy at the club midway through the season due to a lack of game time, and his release could be more about a desire to play regular football than about his ability on the pitch or love for the club.
While I do not believe any of the players released should have been a certain re-signing, I can sympathise with all the players who have put in a lot of work and effort to help the club to the Premiership in this inaugural year. This is the nature of football, players leave and join the club, even if they've poured their heart and soul into the club and the shirt with every performance. Visconte & Elrich should find positions at another A-League club, with Melbourne Heart looking to fill a number of squad positions in particular, while Gibbs could end up back in an A-League youth team once more.
With Yianni Perkatis & Josh Barresi both signing first team contracts for next season, the current squad including Minniecon, Haliti & Trifiro numbers 20 out of 23 positions.
If the status of the players mentioned is correct, the squad balance comprises:- 2 Goal Keepers (Covic, Tyson).
- 4 Fullbacks (Cole, D'Apuzzo, Polenz, Caira).
- 3 Central Defenders (Beauchamp, Topor, La Rocca)
- 1 Attacking Midfielder (Ono)
- 1 Defensive Midfielder (Poljak)
- 4 Central Midfielders (Trifiro, Mooy, Perkatis, Barresi)
- 4 Wingers (Hersi, Bridge, Tahj, Kubi)
- 1 Forward (Haliti).
With the ability of Haliti to play as a wing-forward, it is very likely that at least two of these three spare squad positions will be filled with out and out strikers, one of which is almost certain to be a foreign player.
Potential transfer targets for the Wanderers include:
- Richard Garcia from Melbourne Heart.
- Matt Simon who was recently released from the Chunnam Dragons K-League team.
- Corey Gameiro who played this season at Wellington on loan from Fulham.
- Evan Kostopoulos from Adelaide United.
- Mitch Nichols from the Brisbane Roar.
- Promoting Nick Olsen from the Youth Team squad to the First Team.
The Wanderers have not used their Australian Marquee or Junior Marquee positions, allowing the club to keep an Australian player outside the salary cap, or partially out of the cap in the event of signing a Junior Marquee. Utilising the spare marquee positions will allow a much higher level of wage to be offered to a 3rd player.
While other clubs like Melbourne Heart are in the process of rebuilding, the Wanderers have kept the core of their Premiership winning squad and can only need to focus on adding strength to the attacking end of the pitch. This concentration of effort will allow the coaching staff to look intensely at their targets and to make the best decision for the club on who to sign. The only other position that will be looked at is a 3rd outright central defender, as cover in the event two of La Rocca, Beauchamp or Topor-Stanley are unavailable. The Wanderers were reportedly interested in signing Brisbane Roar's central defender Matt Jurman, but he has chosen to sign for Sydney FC, a club he previously played for.
The major problem the Wanderers had this season was a lack of goals up front. If they can rectify that problem it will go a very long way in allowing Western Sydney to repeat their Premiership heroics from Season 2012/13 while pushing for success in the Final Series & Asian Champions League.
