On 7/7/2017 at 11:22 AM, GoatyMcGoatFace said:

they should have used this harbour bridge

 

 

i actually would love it if the wanderers did this one day, just to mock sydney fc and a bit of self mocking in there too

Should do it for the next smurf we sign.

Vedran would have been perfect.

52 minutes ago, btron3000 said:

Should do it for the next smurf we sign.

Vedran would have been perfect.

There is one signing where it would be, on the mark 

they did pictures in front of the real harbour bridge sadly

Riera has arrived in great shape, when compared to most visa players.

Played last 15 mins of trial game today & slotted a penalty to break the ice.  

Just did something Pio couldn't do. 

Yeah, exactly the opposite start to Pio, with that stupid half-outside-of-the-foot, half toepoke penalty crap.

I totally forgot that **** but now it has come back like it was yday 

the writing was on the wall there we should have dropped him back st Kingsford smith that **** night 

Bossi alert

---

Western Sydney Wanderers' bold pitch to sign Oriel Riera as their A-League marquee

It was a very simply, yet incredibly bold statement that convinced Oriol Riera to leave the top flight of Spanish football and pack his bags for Australia. The 31-year-old striker was tired of being part of relegation scrap-fights in La Liga where teams would set up simply to salvage a point and coaches' tenures were precarious and short-lived. He had decided with his wife that he wanted a new adventure and having played more than 100 games for Deportivo de la Coruna and Osasuna, the centre-forward had no shortage of options to move elsewhere in Spain or Europe.

Instead, it was the first line in the pitch from Western Sydney Wanderers assistant coach Andres Carrasco that convinced Riera to look beyond the continent and relocate to the furthest corner of the world: "We want to play like Barcelona."

Each year, Western Sydney Wanderers embark on an evolution of their football style and after a staccato performance last season, coach Tony Popovic is on a mission to value possession more, play quicker to feet and more fluid than ever before. At the heart of their new project is his assistant who spent 15 years at La Masia. When the Wanderers needed a striker to execute their project, Carrasco suggested to a man he spent years watching as the former striker partner to Leo Messi in Barcelona's youth team to become the Wanderers new marquee player and the club was suitably impressed, offering Riera a two-year-deal outside of the salary cap.

"When I was in the second team, Andres was in the younger teams. He explained to me about their project, about the gaffer, about the club and after that I made a decision to come here," Riera said. "The club told me about the football they wanted to play and practice. They convinced me that they want me to come here and they want to play like Barcelona's school. For me, playing like this, remembering how we played at Barcelona, keeping the ball, I know this football so it's easy to play like they want to."

Riera admits he knew close to nothing about Australian football before making the biggest leap of his career. However, in the Wanderers pitch was not only a sense of familiarity for the mobile centre-forward but a philosophy that tugs at the pride of his home. 

"For us Catalans, playing like Barcelona is the greatest thing. That this club [Western Sydney] wants to play like Barca is a great project for us," he said. "Possession with the ball, without possession we try to control the games. To score through passes while being organisation. It's difficult to play like Barca but many teams in Spain try do the same things and this is the best way to win games."

With a club vision so bold, there will inherently be pressure on Riera's shoulders to deliver as their marquee. However, he believes his role in the team is more than providing goals.

"I just like to win games. If I don't score but my teammates do, then that's the most important thing," Riera said. 

Still with the "play like barca" thing huh

9 minutes ago, Erebus said:

Still with the "play like barca" thing huh

We really need to cut our losses on this "Barça" bullshit. 

4 minutes ago, spectacular291 said:

 

We really need to cut our losses on this "Barça" bullshit. 

It genuinely kills goal scoring opportunities. When we did kept possession, the opposition parked themselves in the 18 yard box and it became way to busy to get through. Bonevacia has the potential to hit bombs from 25 yards but that isn't going to coax them out when he missed 9 out of 10.

Playing fast and direct stops slow HAL defences from organising and keeps the midfield out of the equation. 

To play this possession based game you need to be able to move the ball fast enough to freeze the midfield. Martinez and JumpLow took way too long to move the ball for this to work. I thought the addition of Roly signalled intent to play faster and more directly... apparently not

3 minutes ago, Upthehill said:

It genuinely kills goal scoring opportunities. When we did kept possession, the opposition parked themselves in the 18 yard box and it became way to busy to get through. Bonevacia has the potential to hit bombs from 25 yards but that isn't going to coax them out when he missed 9 out of 10.

Playing fast and direct stops slow HAL defences from organising and keeps the midfield out of the equation. 

To play this possession based game you need to be able to move the ball fast enough to freeze the midfield. Martinez and JumpLow took way too long to move the ball for this to work. I thought the addition of Roly signalled intent to play faster and more directly... apparently not

I agree with you. 100%. 

It's probably all 'publicity fluff' for the sake of an article re: the Barça speak. 

To play like Barça actually requires simple basic qualities such as first time passing, trapping the ball, etc. stuff we lack last season.

3 minutes ago, spectacular291 said:

I agree with you. 100%. 

It's probably all 'publicity fluff' for the sake of an article re: the Barça speak. 

To play like Barça actually requires simple basic qualities such as first time passing, trapping the ball, etc. stuff we lack last season.

I hope to Bhudda you are right

Possession just doesn't make sense with our signings. Clisby and Risdon want the ball out in front of them. Baccus can play a mean long pass. Bonevacia is aggressive in playstyle. #Herb is a ball winner, not Iniesta. To top it off, Riera looks like a weapon in the air and his best chance of getting headers on target is fast crosses from Risdon and a relatively traffic free penalty spot. 

3 minutes ago, Upthehill said:

I hope to Bhudda you are right

Possession just doesn't make sense with our signings. Clisby and Risdon want the ball out in front of them. Baccus can play a mean long pass. Bonevacia is aggressive in playstyle. #Herb is a ball winner, not Iniesta. To top it off, Riera looks like a weapon in the air and his best chance of getting headers on target is fast crosses from Risdon and a relatively traffic free penalty spot. 

Couldn't agree more. 

Saw him walking around Parra Westfields by himself this afternoon after the JD Sports event.

Glad he is getting acquainted with the true local Western Sydney sites. Next up should be El Jannahs (or Hawa... Prydz), then the Vegas of the West and finally he should be taken to our place of origin at Cook Park so he can appreciate our roots and get a true westie park football experience. 

**** the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Bondi Beach. 

I hate when they translate interviews with foreigners and use the word 'gaffer'.

3 hours ago, luisenrique said:

I hate when they translate interviews with foreigners and use the word 'gaffer'.

Yeah but in Spain they often use the word "mister" for the manager, and that's just weird. Still, they could probably just write "boss".

or coach or manager?

Translation from his Twitter account

VVery pleased with my debut with @wswanderersfc before @Arsenal and against 83,000 people @ANZStadiumery pleased with my debut with @wswanderersfc before @Arsenal and against 83,000 people @ANZStadiumVery pleased with my debut with @wswanderersfc before @Arsenal and against 83,000 people @ANZStadium

He put in more effort in his 30 mins than Pio did in all his time with us. You can tell he has a great touch and is a big physical presence, it's exciting to think of how he's gonna monster a-league defences. How we go will largely depend on him staying injury free and the kind of service he gets. With Roly, Baccus and Bridge around him I'm confident he'll get enough, but one other class player would be ideal. You could see how well he made runs and got away from people, and we have the midfielders to be able to pick him out, as they showed yesterday. 

2 minutes ago, luisenrique said:

He put in more effort in his 30 mins than Pio did in all his time with us. You can tell he has a great touch and is a big physical presence, it's exciting to think of how he's gonna monster a-league defences. How we go will largely depend on him staying injury free and the kind of service he gets. With Roly, Baccus and Bridge around him I'm confident he'll get enough, but one other class player would be ideal. You could see how well he made runs and got away from people, and we have the midfielders to be able to pick him out, as they showed yesterday. 

Early days, but encouraging signs he will buy in to the WSW ethic. He got in a few good positions and made the runs and effort to get there, the rest will come hopefully. Even if there is no end product you want to see a forward making those runs and getting to those areas.

On 7/16/2017 at 2:51 PM, luisenrique said:

He put in more effort in his 30 mins than Pio did in all his time with us. You can tell he has a great touch and is a big physical presence, it's exciting to think of how he's gonna monster a-league defences. How we go will largely depend on him staying injury free and the kind of service he gets. With Roly, Baccus and Bridge around him I'm confident he'll get enough, but one other class player would be ideal. You could see how well he made runs and got away from people, and we have the midfielders to be able to pick him out, as they showed yesterday. 

Not to mention he was not afraid to shoot..and god knows we need to shoot *****

Decent pass.

That is orgasmic.

14 hours ago, mack said:

Decent pass.

omg! we did a thing!

It's that good it makes me wonder whether he did it on purpose.

I mean, he looks up and sees him, but still.

IIRC, Ori has found the net on 8 occasions (2 x pen) during the pre-season 

Played:
Wanderers v Blacktown City 2-0 Not in country
Wanderers v Olyroos 2-2 Late sub on - Scored 1 (Pen)

Arsenal v Wanderers 3-1 Late sub on

Wanderers v Sydney United 4-1 Scored 1
Wanderers v Wellington Phoenix 1-0 (FFA Cup) Scored 1
Edgeworth Eagles v Wanderers 0-4 Late sub on 
Wanderers v Brisbane Roar 4-0 Late sub on 
Wanderers v Bankstown Berries 2-0 No goals
Bentleigh Greens v Wanderers 0-4 (FFA Cup) Scored 1
Brisbane City v Wanderers 1-3 Didn't play?
Moreton Bay v Wanderers 0-2 Scored 1 
Wanderers vs St George 5-0 Scored 1
Blacktown City v Wanderers (20th Sep) 2-2 (2-4 penalties) (FFA Cup) Scored 2 (1 x Pen)

Upcoming:
Melbourne City v Wanderers (22nd Sep)

A-League begins 6th Oct

Enjoying his work so far. Has a great motor and a big heart and unlike a few past strikers seems to understand the offside rule.

Strongly reminiscent of a Spanish Juric...

On 24/09/2017 at 2:44 PM, ManfredSchaefer said:

Enjoying his work so far. Has a great motor and a big heart and unlike a few past strikers seems to understand the offside rule.

Strongly reminiscent of a Spanish Juric...

I don't  think Riera considers himself Spanish but rather a Catalan.

And speaking of that... with the Catalunya independence... what would be the odds of riera playing for them once they gain independence? 

Just watched the twitter interview with the kid, Oriel and Jada Whyman.

He gets us being workers (most of us anyway).

Worth a watch