How a massive Western Sydney Wanderers recruitment drive has helped club’s playing style evolve

IT was not a coincidence that Tony Popovic enjoyed his month-long sabbatical in Croatia last June more than he has any holiday since he became the Wanderers first head coach in 2012.

Coach of the Wanderers, Tony Popovic, thanks the fans after the Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne Victory A League game at Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta. Pic Mark Evans

IT was not a coincidence that Tony Popovic enjoyed his month-long sabbatical in Croatia last June more than he has any holiday since he became the Wanderers first head coach in 2012.

The season that Western Sydney endured last year — at least in A-League terms — should have generated sleepless nights and angsty days afterwards.

But by the time Popovic allowed himself to relax on a Croatian beach, he knew that much of the transformative work required of his squad was well advanced.

Months before the end of last season, Popovic had made a philosophical decision to overhaul Western Sydney’s style of play — and hence, fundamentally, its squad. Eighteen players left at the end of the campaign, an extraordinary amount, and the recruitment of those to replace them had been deliberate and, in some cases, years in the making.

What frustrated Popovic in the critiques of the Wanderers’ style before — successful though it was in years one and two — was the lack of appreciation that it was driven by the players he had been able to recruit. The unique circumstances of how the club was born dictated how the team would play.

But it wasn’t “his” style, not his preferred style at any rate. Attempts to introduce a more possession-based style in year two had not taken root. This time radical surgery would be involved. Some of the players on his radar had been watched for more than a year, like Andreu and Frederico Piovacarri, and now agreed to sign.

Mitch Nichols celebrates scoring for Western Sydney Wanderers.

Learning from previous mistakes, players were given strict deadlines to to sign, or the club moved on. It meant that by early July, much of the squad was in place.

A phone call to Mitch Nichols, disillusioned and travelling around Europe, secured his signature. Dimas, like Andreu a player with intelligent distribution etched through him, had been pursued by Adelaide United at length, but when that fell over Popovic swooped.

Fullbacks Scott Jamieson and Scott Neville were less heralded arrivals, yet both have played every game this season.

Even when the unexpected happened, like Matthew Spiranovic’s departure for China, there were options to to execute; Alberto, increasingly one of the calmest defenders to have graced the A-League, agreed to come in Spiranovic’s stead.

Later in the piece came Dario Vidosic, in search of a new home after a miserable stint in Europe. “We thought we were strong in attack already and then Popa signed Dario,” said one of the Wanderers players privately in September.

Wanderers recruit Dimas.

But long before that, the key pieces were in place. The players had been training for two weeks before Popovic returned from his holiday, but the change of emphasis was already clear - and that only grew with the arrival of Spanish assistant coach Andres Carrasco. The results have been increasingly spectacular.

Already Western Sydney are four points clear, and could extend that against Perth depending on the result of the Melbourne derby.

Not that Popovic will herald anything, unwilling to do any interviews in depth after just 10 rounds. Besides, he has other things to consider. Dozens more players are now being watched and scouted around the world, ready for future recruitment drives. This is a revolution that won’t stand still.

Originally published as How a massive Western Sydney Wanderers recruitment drive has helped club’s playing style evolve