Tony Popovic – the mastermind.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to coach the new club in western Sydney and I’m really excited about the mission ahead.”

With the Wanderer’s winning streak extending itself to an unimaginable seven consecutive weeks, it is very hard to overlook the incredible impact Tony Popovic has had on the Western Sydney side. It’s a daunting task to take control of an entirely new franchise and often success is not expected, instead the creation of a good foundation for years to come; Popovic has managed to achieve both, masterminding a successful team who have inspired a culture sure to shape the club into the future.

Of course, Popovic wasn’t always on the sideline. He grew up in Fairfield and started his playing career at Sydney United as a centre back. In 1997 he secured a move to J-League side, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, where he scored 13 goals in 94 appearances. The highlight of his career, however, was the five years he spent at Crystal Palace in the Premier League. Arriving at the English club on a free transfer, he made himself an integral part of their defensive line up and eventually was made their captain. Known for his mental strength, character and good leadership he made 144 appearances for the club – a foretaste of the Popovic we’ve come to know today.

The six-foot-four centre back also became a regular for the Socceroos, making his first of 61 appearances in 1992 during the Barcelona Olympics. He was a key player in Australia’s historic qualification for the 2006 World Cup, though disappointedly was injured halfway through the group stages. His love for the country has been a regular factor throughout his footballing career, and the rise of the A-League as well as homesickness eventually drew him back to our shores.

Ironically, Popovic’s first impact in the A-League came for Western Sydney rivals, Sydney FC. He captained the Sky Blues for just over a year before announcing his retirement in 2008. He was stepping down from nearly twenty years of playing, but certainly not from the game he loved.

Shortly after, he accepted a role as Sydney FC’s assistant coach where he learnt the tricks of the trade alongside Kosmina and then Lavicka. After three years in this position he got his big break. Dougie Freedman, one of his former team-mates at Crystal Palace, was appointed the London side’s manager and was quick to offer Popovic the job of First Team Coach.

He became a much respected figure among the players, and was also instrumental in bringing current Socceroo and Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak to the Championship team. But in 2012 the FFA began to put together the Western Sydney Wanderers, a club that would tap in to the local community and build around it. Popovic, a Sydney local and great supporter of Australian football in general was the perfect candidate for the managerial position. Crystal Palace fought hard to keep him, but the opportunity to take full control of a side was too tempting for their former club captain; he wasn’t put off by the challenge either. Popovic evidently saw something in the newly formed club that the rest of the league is only starting to realise recently.

“I grew up in west Sydney and the challenge to start up a club has brought me home.

“I know the region has a great passion for the game, fantastic junior ranks and thousands of life-long fans.

“These are ingredients that can help make our club a success.”

While the club’s transfer policy upon establishment has focused largely on instilling local talent into the team – an ideal that limits the scope of possible transfer targets – the overseas purchases Popovic has made this season clearly highlight his eye for talent. The opportunity to buy German superstar, Michael Ballack, was presented to the Wanderers – a clearly tempting move that would bring much buzz to the club. But building club culture around big-name-hype is not always the correct formula for success. Instead, the Wanderer’s marquee signing became Shinji Ono – a Japanese hero, though not as well known in Europe or Australia. This signing wasn’t made because of the crowd-attracting nature of his name; Ono was seen by Popovic as clearly the better player. A massive call, but one that indicates Popovic’s competence and has ultimately paid off considerably.

Then you take a look at his other foreign imports: Hersi, Polenz, Poljak, La Rocca and Kresinger. Hersi has been one of the league’s best players since his move from Feyenoord, even scoring crucial goals such as that against cross town rivals Sydney FC. Polenz in particular has become an integral part of the Wanderer’s organised defence, while La Rocca – a Lazio youth player – has also been useful. Poljak has impressed all with his industrious and effective appearances in defensive midfield. Arguably, the only lacklustre performer of the lot is Dino Kresinger, who as target man has only managed to score one goal this season. Even then, through his hard work, professionalism and passion for the club, he has made himself a favourite among fans.

The real indication of Popovic’s incredible ability as a leader however, is seen when you examine the other players in the team. Locals, who’s careers have faltered elsewhere, but have flourished into some of the league’s strongest players under Popa’s guidance. Mark Bridge was considered by many as one of the worst strikers in the league, only making a name for himself in one good season and riding on that performance for the rest of his career. However, not only was he the Wanderer’s first ever goal scorer, but he has since scored a total of eight goals for the side and two assists. This is in contrast to his two previous seasons where he scored a mere grand total of four goals.

Aaron Mooy was struggling to make an appearance for Scottish Premier League club, St. Mirren and was certainly in no contention for an international cap. Since moving to the Wanderers he has become one of Australia’s best young midfield prospects and earned a call-up to the Socceroos squad in the East-Asian Cup. Western Sydney’s centre back pairing, Nikolai Topor Stanley and Michael Beauchamp, have established themselves as two of the most consistent and difficult to break-down in the competition. Both, former Sydney FC players, struggled to make such an impact at their former teams. Beauchamp was heralded by many Sydney FC fans as a waste of space, while Topor Stanley was good, but never outstanding at Newcastle. Even Ante Covic, the Wanderer’s keeper, has had a superb year despite being released by Melbourne Victory at the start of the season for being past his prime. Popovic has been able to bring out the best in these players, with a degree of success that would’ve seemed literally impossible at the start of the season.

Of course, a manager’s role is not simply to focus on man-management, but to guide these individual players on the right direction as a team. In less flowery terms: tactics, playing style. Sometimes these two elements go hand in hand; certainly the case at Western Sydney where the team’s highly organised and structured approach to each game has been successful in such a way only achievable through intelligent leadership.

Popovic has instilled into his team a fantastic, industrious attitude towards their defensive roles.  They are very rarely caught-out on the counter and haven’t leaked many goals in defence, as evident when glancing at the A-League table where they have conceded the least goals in the competition (alongside the Central Coast), only 18 in twenty two games. Comparatively, third placed Adelaide have conceded 32 goals and fourth placed Melbourne have conceded 38. They defend all over the pitch, with their strikers pushing high on opposition defenders forcing them to play the ball wide to fullbacks and jumping on this opportunity to apply pressure in their opposition’s half.

An incredible testament to this ethos is the two recent performances against Melbourne clubs. Against Victory, in a fight for second place, they faced a predominantly counter-attacking team with arguably the strongest offensive third in the league. The Wanderer’s managed to render this attacking lineup mute by applying constant pressure across the entire field, keeping the ball in the Victory’s half and maintaining sound structure to negate their attempts at quick counters. On Australia Day, against the Melbourne Heart, the Wanderer’s had a man sent off early in the game. Instead of shying away and trying to hold onto a draw, Popovic made the audacious move of backing the player’s organisation and fitness by moving to an aggressive 4-1-3-1. This allowed the squad to continually apply offensive pressure on the Heart goal, but also required the two wide attackers to drop back into a 4-3-1-1 when Melbourne was on the ball. A bold, risky move – but one that paid off. With ten men, they managed to win the game.

At the start of the season they struggled to score enough goals to match their defensive organisation, but things started to click and they haven’t looked back since. In recent weeks, goals have felt all too inevitable for the Wanderers. Popovic has managed to organise a lineup consisting of Mark Bridge, Hersi, Kresinger and Gibbs into one of the league’s most consistent attacks. This is despite Kresinger nor Gibbs finding their goal-scoring boots this season. They don’t score in large numbers (unless, it seems, against Adelaide), but they score week in, week out and enough to have secured them seven wins in a row. This is notwithstanding the fact that the Central Coast, Adelaide, Victory and Sydney FC have scored more than the Wanderer’s total of 31 goals.

To compliment this high-pressure, assiduous style of play Popovic has successfully rotated his squad throughout the season, and as a result has had key players available for key moments and been hindered by very few injuries. One incredibly notable example of this is when the Wanderers went to Perth just before the New Year. They had just come off a 6-1 trouncing of Adelaide, and had their eyes set on their upcoming battle with the Melbourne Victory. Popovic rested Hersi, Ono, Polenz, La Rocca and D’Apuzzo against Perth, instead bringing in players such as Trifiro, Elrich, Appiah-Kubi and Haliti. They still came out with a valuable point. Ono, Hersi, Polenz, La Rocca and D’Apuzzo returned to the squad against Victory the next week, with fresh and eager legs. This allowed Popovic to apply his particularly high-pressure game against the Victory which would require Hersi and Bridge to back-track in defence all match to restrain Rojas and Thompson. They won the match fairly convincingly, with this tactic executed perfectly. At the same time, this also gave players such as Trifiro and Elrich who have had opportunities few and far between this season to impress and prove that they are capable of coming away with points. It was a masterclass in squad rotation.

He has made similarly bold moves all season; leaving Aaron Mooy on the bench in the Sydney Derby (which they won), instead of rushing him back into the side after playing for the Socceroos. Despite this historic derby victory, Popovic then made three changes to the side to face Adelaide the next week – notably bringing Mark Bridge in, who scored a hattrick in what was eventually a 6-1 thumping.

Of course, it hasn’t solely been Popovic in charge of Western Sydney’s operation. It wouldn’t be fair for me to write this article and not mention the other members who have been so crucial in the team’s technical staff. Particularly, the side’s strength and conditioning coach, Adam Waterson, who is tasked with ensuring the players are fit enough to play week in, week out. His impact was particularly notable in the 17 day period around Christmas and the New Year where the Wanderers had to play four games. If the Wanderers make the Asian Champions League next year, he’ll have even more on his hands. Ante Milicic, the assistant coach, has been at Popovic’s side all season and has surely been a great contributor to the big man’s tactical prowess. Goalkeeping coach, Ron Corry, has gotten the best out of Ante Covic who has been one of the league’s best keepers this season. Finally, Youth Manager, Trevor Morgan, has had a lot on his hands – tasked with creating a youth system for the club from scraps. Western Sydney has been a footballing talent hotbed for decades, and the Wanderers will have a lot of young talent to be nurtured to their full potential.

It’s truly amazing what Tony Popovic, only 39, has been able to achieve in his first season at the Wanderers. His team has every opportunity of claiming the championship in their maiden season, an achievement that would be recognised on a global scale. Championship or not, his performance as Wanderer’s mastermind will not go unnoticed. Fans of the club will hope he stays for many more seasons and continue to develop the club’s culture of success and tactical organisation. However, do not be surprised if he finds himself managing a team in Europe, or even the Socceroos sometime in the future.

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