Wandering into the A-League
Western Sydney Wanderers Announce First Ever Team Manager

I have done it. I am a manager now. Western Sydney Wanderers decided that a new club deserves a...
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Preseason:

The Squad:

The squad is a bit bare, with the youth squad containing exactly 2 players!

The main man in this team is the Japanese marquee man Shinji Ono. He’s the glue that will hold this rag tag midfield together if we want to end up off the bottom of the table

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He will be ulitied mainly as a MC, but he can push forward as an AMC which is always nice.

The best young player in my team is Aaron Mooy. A home-grown future star, if developed right, he will be taking over from Ono as the team's central force.

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For now I’m going to play him at AMC, because hes bound to thrive with Shinji behind him.

The last player worth mentioning in this squad is nice Dutch import named Hersi.

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A tidy little winger, he tirelessly runs up and down the right hand side of the pitch, creating some good width and pressure off Ono and Mooy in the middle.

The rest of the squad can be viewed here:

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Note: some transferred players already appear on here, sorry didn’t get the screen shot in time.

Transfers:

With a small squad, it wasn’t likely for me to cut any players, and no one has wages in excess of their ability, except maybe Mark Bridge, so I was only looking to bring players in to add to my squad.

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Firstly, I picked up Jason Culina on a free transfer. This Australian legend, who, despite getting on in years, can really add some depth in the midfield and a second play making option.

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Then I picked up Adam Sarota, an Australian playing for Utrecht in the Netherlands. They really wanted to get rid of him, so I got him for the bargain price of $1500AUD (minimum price). He’s going to play as a AML for me, so I started training him for it straight away.

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This guy is going to tear up the A-League, and for a bargain wage, so my Australian Marquee spot is still available…

…for this guy.

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Joel Griffiths tore up the A-League with Newcastle back in the day, before going to join Shenhua. But with the arrival of Drogba, they had to offload someone, and luckily I pounced on him as my Australian marquee man.

Tactics:

Due to my large number of centre mids and attacking mids, I have decided to employ a 4-3-3 with an AMC (or a 4-2-3-1 to some)

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Results:

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A pretty successful preseason. Mainly against state league teams, absolute minnows, but a win against A-League heavyweights the Mariners, and a solid draw to Sydney FC. The only negative was the loss to Bankstown, but I put that down to the team still learning the formation and tactics. Solid defence was also a surprise due to the attacking nature of the tactic, but a pleasant surprise.

Other News:

Disaster! Marquee superstar Shinji Ono out for two months.

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Luckily this was early in the preseason so he only misses the first game of the season, but still, not the start I wanted with this team.

Also, Wanderers establish a link with Sydney United

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A new feeder team, and one of the few with 20 youth recruitment in Australia. Bonus, especially considering that we have next to no youth facilities at all, and no money to upgrade them.

On to the start of the season! Excitement is in the air. How do the bookies see my chances this year?

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Ouch! By this, it looks like it will be a long season.​

October:

Results:

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1-1 vs CCM

First competitive game of a new club, wonder start with a great header by Topor-Stanley early on in the game. Let one back in the second half but overall a good performance we can build on.

3-1 vs Adelaide

Ono didn't make it back to fitness in time for this match, and Culina was out with a knock as well. Mooy got injured early and without our big 3 midfielders we were really up struggle street.

Griffiths tore up Adelaide's defence and scored an absolute screamer of a volley for his second. Worth every cent of marquee money we are paying him.

We had a red card early in the second half, now wishing I had trained a park the bus formation in the preseason. Still a few defensive shouts see me through the rest of the game only conseeding one goal and walking away with our first competitive win.

0-4 vs Sydney

First ever Sydney derby, and we did not put in a good showing. Wow, del Piero is in a league of his own. It was like men vs boys. He cut through our defence like a hot knife through butter and when 3 of your 4 defenders walk away with match ratings less than 6, you're never gonna chalk up the victory

3-1 vs Brisbane

Needing a good result to bounce back from that horror derby, an early goal to Ono has the league leaders reeling, and thats his first for the club. Moving him up to AMC in place of the injured Mooy turned out to be a good option. Brisbane peg us right back with a goal to Berisha, but a disasterous back pass puts Griffiths a one on one with the keeper, and he's not going to miss those. We extend the lead to a safe 2 goals with a header by Beauchamp from an ono free kick.

Great win, but a tad aggressive, picking up 6 yellows cards in the match, but surprisingly, no reds.

In other news:

Mooy's injury against Adelaide has him out for 4 weeks. That is not good news for our young prospect

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Transfers:

No transfers in, but loaned out one of the two youth players to our feeder club.

Player of the month:

Griffiths. Singly-handedly won me the game against Adelaide and another great performance against Brisbane. Worth the marquee spot

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Team stats:

Both marquee players as top two players this month. Looks like the rest of the team needs to step up.

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League table:

****** close at the top, with 5 teams tied at the top, and 2 more only one point behind. This will be an interesting season

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League stats:

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November

Great form continues, but a setback to end the month

Results:

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2-1 vs MH

Great start with an early goal. The ball falls to jason Culina outside the box from a corner and he has a crack, finishing it perfectly in the bottom right hand corner. They draw level and at half time its 1-1. In the second half Shinji Ono pops up in the box to score from close range and win us the match

4-0 vs NJ

another great start, a goal in the first minute from a corner. Our set pieces are coming together quite well at the moment.

HAhAHAHhAHhAHAAhaAhhAHAH!!! thats all i can say about the second goal, have a look: Wanderers 4-0 Newcastle United Jets - Match Highlights - YouTube

Culina makes it 3 with a nice near post finish

Salt in the wound for Newcastle with an injury time breakaway goal for Kresinger. Great little flick by Sarota to put him in space.

3-1 vs Perth

Slow first half where we were outplayed in the midfield. Gave them a kick up the **** at halftime and saw an absolute howler by their keeper give us the lead early in the second half. Kresinger then comes on as a super sub and finishes a nice one on one to give us a two goal cushion.

They pull one back but we regain the advantage almost straight afterwards from a corner to see out a good win.

Aaron Mooy also made his return from injury in this match, coming off the bench for a solid 30 minutes

0-2 vs MV

I don't know what to say, we had so much possession in the game, but almost zero chances. It doesn't help that our goalie was playing like someone with no arms, but I'm going to put it down to complaicancy from the players after such a good run. I gave them an almight yelling after that pitiful display and I hope I never see it again.

Player of the Month:

Mateo Poljak

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Steps into the starting lineup after Mooy's injury, he has excelled, giving me some tough choices ahead now that Mooy is returning to full fitness

Team Stats:

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This team is becoming less of a one trick pony, with more and more players putting their hands up at crucial moments as the season goes on

League table:

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Still congested at the top, but the two Sydney teams starting to pull away oh so slightly.

League stats:

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ADP is loving life down under and is tearing up the league, while old faithful Berisha and Smeltz chipping in with goals as well

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