A-League: New coach Josep Gombau quickly making his mark at Western Sydney Wanderers

IT’S taken just a day for Josep Gombau to begin the revolution at Western Sydney, with the new Wanderers coach already implementing his own style.

IT’S taken just one day for Josep Gombau to begin the revolution at Western Sydney, with the new Wanderers coach already implementing his own style.

Gombau briefed his players about the new challenge they’re about to embark on together and the training session that followed included emphasis on attacking, one-touch football.

The change of style won’t happen overnight, but Gombau hopes to implement it as quickly as possible.

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“For sure in the beginning we need time to adapt, but I think it can be quick because the players are very good,” he said.

“We want to put our own style and change a little bit the formation in terms of the system, so there is a lot of work to do. But we’ve got good players, they are professional and they understand.”

New Western Sydney Wanderers coach Josep Gombau directs traffic at training as midfielder Chris Herd looks on.

For the Wanderers’ Spanish trio in particular — Oriol Riera, Alvaro Cejudo and Raul Llorente — the change of style will suit them. They have already proven instrumental for the club this season with Riera, with whom Gombau is especially familiar, having scored four goals in five games.

“He was in Barcelona the same time as I was,” Gombau said. “He was in the U18s and I was coaching the U13s, but I have never coached him.

“For me they are Spanish, but they are just players we have — for me all the players are the same and every single player starts from the same point.”

The Wanderers play Melbourne City on Sunday, but Cejudo is believed to be a major doubt for the game after he trained alone on Friday with a bandaged hand.

New Western Sydney Wanderers coach Josep Gombau makes his point at training.

Western Sydney are unbeaten so far, but they’ve won just one of their five games with Gombau insisting some “small details” are needed to convert draws into wins.

And he’s looking forward to getting stuck in to the challenges of club football after spending the last couple of years since leaving Adelaide United as Olyroos coach.

“I am so happy to be back in the A-League,” he said. “It’s something I missed — to have day by day training with the team.

“When you are in the national team your work is more to monitor the players and watch the games, then after that make your list. You have games every two or three months, depending on the competition. Here you have every day a training session and every week you have an exam — that’s the game.”