Limp performance from Western Sydney Wanderers sparks walkout from fans

The Wanderers’ supporters group walked out on their side last night after a limp loss to Melbourne City.

Lachlan Wales of Melbourne City threads his way through the Wanderers defence. Picture: Getty Images

The Wanderers are supposed to be calling in some extra troops in this month’s transfer window but they might be better off bringing in the whole cavalry if they want to rescue their A-League season.

It’s become increasingly clear for coach Markus Babbel that his squad is simply not good enough and that was certainly reinforced last night as he watched their inept performance in the 2-0 loss to a 10-man Melbourne City at ANZ Stadium.

Even when a man down, the Victorians, who had Rostyn Griffiths sent off in the 56th minute, were outstanding as they consigned the home side to their fifth loss of the season while advancing themselves into fourth spot on the table.

While the Wanderers had a late flurry, forcing City goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic to make three stunning saves in the space of about five minutes, it does nothing to hide the fact they were poor last night and did not deserve to come away with anything.

Wanderers fans showed their disgust with the performance with several members of the Red and Black Bloc (RBB) making a beeline towards the players’ tunnel to vent their disgust at halftime with their team 2-0 down.

Having seen enough after 10 minutes of the second half, the RBB walked out en masse.

City were great value for their win but they were helped by a Wanderers side that lacked any intensity and appeared to just go through the motions.

Babbel admitted the Wanderers’ first 45 minutes was not good enough, suggesting they lacked energy. However, he was happy with their second-half effort.

“If you concede two goals like we did then it makes it very difficult,” Babbel said. “I told them at halftime that it wasn’t good enough because I couldn’t feel the energy. But we changed some things in the second half and we did better. We created chances but couldn’t score and this is a big problem for us.”

Little wonder Babbel has already started the January recruitment drive with former Gold Coast United and Brisbane Roar attacker Kwame Yeboah joining the club this week after a three-year stint in the lower leagues in Germany.

And there is more to come with suggestions that Melbourne City midfielder Luke Brattan is one of a number of players Babbel is looking to bring in to bolster his under-performing squad.

Whether the changes will be enough to revive the Wanderers’ season remains to be seen as they are already staring down the barrel of missing out on the finals and only just one third of the season has passed.

The loss leaves them in eighth spot with nine points — 14 points behind competition leaders Perth Glory and six behind sixth-placed Wellington Phoenix.

On the other hand, Melbourne City are travelling along smoothly, having notched three wins in succession to entrench themselves in the six.

City boss Warren Joyce couldn’t hide his delight with the effort of his team, especially after they went a man down.

“The first half, we played some really good football and were good value for the two goals,” Joyce said. “We could have had a couple more.

“We were in a good position until the send-off and that put us under pressure but we showed great spirit and kept driving for the third goal.”

City built last night’s win off the back of a two-goal burst in the latter part of the first half.

The first goal came on 35 minutes when City took a quick throw in that found Lachlan Wales, who raced into the box before sliding the ball into the net. City only had to wait another two minutes to double their advantage, hitting the Wanderers on the break.

Riley McGree raced down the right flank before cutting the ball back for Ritchie de Laet and the Dutchman did the rest, neatly tucking the ball away.

But the last word was left to those fans who stayed till the end. The chorus of boos said it all.