Western Sydney Wanderers are the “standout team” in transition this Isuzu UTE A-League season as they buck an historical trend, according to retired Socceroo Tommy Oar on this week’s episode of Total A-Leagues.
The Wanderers are a side on the rise amid their pursuit of the Finals Series, with fourth-placed Western Sydney in the midst of a five-game unbeaten streak and three consecutive victories.
Western Sydney, who missed out on the top six last season and have not won a finals game since reaching the Grand Final in 2015-16, have won three straight games for the first time since March 2021.
A point behind second-placed Western United, the Wanderers have also scored a league-high 43 goals in 19 games as Nicolas Milanovic and Zac Sapsford shine in attack.
A-Leagues icon Archie Thompson had rave reviews for the Wanderers during this week’s A-Leagues Download episode, lauding their intensity and transitional football.
While Total A-Leagues host and Sydney Morning Herald reporters Vince Rugari said he was “not as hot on the Wanderers at Archie”, former A-Leagues star Oar debated his case for Western Sydney’s resurgence after agreeing with Thompson.
“I think in transition, they’re probably the standout team in the league,” Oar insisted. “I think that when they have to make the game, there’s still question marks around them.
“They have scored the most goals of any team this season.”
Rugari then asked: “Does that mean they have the best attack in the league, though?”
“Well, on paper, no because I think that the likes of Sydney FC and other teams have better players individually, I would say,” Oar responded. “But ultimately, the mobility of their front third in transition is deadly.
“I think the issue for them, and the reason that they probably haven’t even been even better is because defensively, they obviously leaked so many goals.
“I think the reason that we’re kind of sceptical about the Wanderers, for me, is more down to their defensive displays rather than their offensive displays.
“It’s worth saying as well, the likes in (Nicolas) Milanovic, (Bozhidar) Kraev, they’re kind of sharing the load in the front third. There’s no like Noah Botic, for example, coming in and scoring all their goals.
Rugari added: “It’s historic for me as well. “There’s been times in the past where the Wanderers have looked good and lost a key game, or had a period of good form and then followed it with bad form.
“I’m not buying their stock just yet. They have the bye this weekend, then they play Melbourne Victory at home next weekend. If they’re fair dinkum, they’re winning that game and if they win that game, then I’ll start to be a little bit more okay, what can they do? But until then, I’m just a little bit sceptical.”
Oar continued: “It’s fair. I think that if you look at Wanderers in seasons gone by, there’s reason for you to have that view.
“But I think the one thing I can say that seems a little bit different this year, maybe, is that if you look at other seasons, the Wanderers have started really well and kind of tapered off, or they’ve imploded mid season and they’ve taped off towards the end.
“Whereas they’re doing the complete opposite this year. It’s only now that they’ve been in the six, I think it’s for the first time in the whole season, almost. So the fact that they’re climbing and finding form, obviously three wins in their last four, it should be four wins, I have to say, because that game against Sydney FC, they were much better than Sydney FC in the last derby.
Rugari finished by saying: “I hope they do because the league is better when the Wanderers are strong and it’s been a long time since the Wanderers were consistently strong.”
