Wanderers seem to be along with Central Coast, the worst run team in the league now. 
On paper, they seem to have a team which is easily top 6 quality (Lopar; Georgievski, Jurman, McGowan, Ziegler, Russell; Baccus, Schwegler; Muller, Cox, Duke), yet they are being outperformed by weaker squads like Adelaide and Newcastle. But they play an incredibly unattractive and inefficient style of football, they have been through one manager this season, and another is performing poorly, and this was supposed to be their rebound season in their new stadium!! Where have the RBB been this season??? 
They also have outstanding youth prospects - teenagers, and early 20s - in Grozos, Tass, Auglah, Lopane, Nikolic, Natta, Carluccio, yet these guys never get a go, and there seems to be no long-term strategy for developing these guys in comparison to Adelaide and CCM who seem to be consciously developing youngsters. 
They have outstanding facilities, yet this seems to make no difference; compare their results now to their results in their first seasons under Popa. 
They hired JP de Marigny, who is an assistant, not a head coach - and this seems to be apparent in their results. 

What has gone wrong? Love to hear from WSW fans who may have some insight into what the issue is. A strong Wanderers means a strong A-League - and I'm a Sydney fan. 

it was always going to go downhill since they lost Tony Popovic as their manager. After his departure, they have never recovered.

The problem ive got with this WSW side is how reactive they are with and without the ball, their front 3 dont press as one at times and often they look too narrow when they attack on the break and rely alot on the wingbacks for chance creation with alot of crosses of wide.

I dont think a 3-4-3 suits them, they should play 4-3-3 with a front 3 instructed to press high as I think their strikers like Duke, Yeboah, Adam are mobile enough to do this, they got a good midfield that is hard working and efficient and can still use the wingbacks as full backs in a back 4 pushing up high.

The way they play I dont want them involved in the finals at all, WSW fans deserve better football on display.

Tbh, I think the back 3 of  Ziegler, McGowan and Jurman just isn't good enough. Fornaroli was allowed to do whatever he wanted last night by Ziegler, despite Ziegler having the height/speed advantage, McGowan does McGowan things that make no sense, and Jurman has little to no pace whatsoever. So If Georgievski gets beaten, he doesn't have the pace to recover and help Jurman, who is up against someone running at full speed... that won't end well!

They have some good players at the club, but then they have some head scratchers there too. JP Marigny has won more points in his first 10 games than any other WSW coach before him, think it was 16, but I think his appointment was a Covid-19 inspired appointment. If we weren't in the midst of a pandemic, lockdowns, etc. then I imagine they would've scoured the world to get someone else. I'm not that fussed by Simon Cox either if I'm honest, but I really rate Schwegler and Muller. Two very good players, who I hope are still around next season.

The way Gombau was handled and the appointments since then, the fault lies squarely with staff behind the scenes. 

yeah I knew something was up when Gombau was sacked in that fashion. Disgraceful.

But they seem to have a stable owner who is investing where it counts so they may get their shit together on the pitch sooner rather than later.

Gombau sacking was shocking at best, he wasn't given enough time to impose his ideas from the start.

I recalled he got Adelaide United playing some great football under his wing but it didn't quite work out for WSW.

With any team sport, if a handful of players (especially the leadership group) don't buy into the coaches philosophy and strategies, then it simply doesn't work out. That's exactly what happened with Gombau at WSW. The problem is compounded in the AL, because a coach doesn't have the ability to dump and/or transfer players due to the salary cap and lack of transfer/loan system. It was a big shame. I always enjoyed watching Gombau AU games.

I'd laugh but the jammy pricks still find a way to beat Sydney in the derby.  

The back three is horrendous - Ziegler would have to be one of the most disappointing A-League signings ever. Tass needs to play, and hopefully next season, if fit, Mark Natta will get a game. There are enormous wraps on him around the club. Apparently an imperious, ball player centre back. 

Not really. WSW derby record is poor.

Sydney Derbies: 25
SFC wins: 12
Draws: 7
WSW wins 6

SFC Goals: 41
WSW Goals: 24

But lately it's been much better & I have no idea how. 

Seems to me it's coaching issue.  

I think there's an issue with the defence as a whole.

1. The wingbacks have a responsibility to come out to press on the flanks. The wingbacks they've played recently are all more offensive players (Russell, Georgievski, Kamau), and they're not especially good at defending (which is...fine)

2. The outside centrebacks must cover the flank behind them, coming forward and out wide to cover the flanks. Jurman is a great stopper, but he can easily be pulled out of position and beaten for pace. Ziegler is more of a ball-player than a defender, and he's definitely not as strong as a pure stopper.

3. McGowan acts as a sweeper/covering defender behind the other two, and I think he can struggle when the opposition attacks him directly.

So it can be easy for a team to pick them off methodically one at a time - draw out the wingback (opening the flank), draw out the outside centreback who's covering the wingback, and attack the centre (which is now undermanned and scrambling to reorganise).

The midfielders aren't particularly defensive either to help with the centre - O'Doherty is a passer mainly, Baccus is decent but not someone who can anchor in front of the defence on his own, while Schwegler is good but doesn't get around as quickly. Sullivan hasn't played much, but has a lot of energy to screen the defence.

I wouldn't judge JP too harshly at this stage as he's inherited a squad which I feel isn't made up of the players he wants for his style/system. Also bear in mind that a lot of these players were signed to play under Babbel's 4 at the back system, so there might be a fair amount of square peg round hole at the moment.

PS: I wrote an analysis on the side as a whole during the shutdown period, you can check it out here.

Our track record is still poor. Only the last 5 games or so where we’ve had the upper hand.

As for Gombau, he had a pretty poor record with us as well. I’m sure there was more to it behind the scenes which led to his dismissal.

Pretty sure Babbel wanted to play 3 at the back but it never played that well. Then Rado was injured.

Combination of coach and players imo. No cohesion between the current players recruited. The way the wanderers have set up under JP is way to defensive. Josip would have worked, but needed time.

Yeah, probably deserved the win in the Kogarah game just before the lockdown but we absolutely battered them at Parra at the start of the season and somehow didn't score.

I said it in another thread. It’s a disgrace this club is where it is and it is clear as day to me that the manager is the issue.  

Besides  Popa leaving I reckon the next biggest problem was them moving from Parramata stadium. That place was as iconic as can be for a club so young. Then the fiasco with the ffa and supporters. This is more a club issue and not football but still no less important imo. 

They lost their soul once Poppa left

I think people overlook the fact that Sydney FC is just better than every other team in the league, winning title after title.

The blame lies squarely on Lederer and on JT. In my opinion after Popovic went we really should have stuck it out with Hayden Foxe. He was a young manager with ambition on the rise who came from Western Sydney and who was well versed in the squad that Popovic brought in. He could have easily managed that side and then slowly stamped his own footprint on the team. We also gave Tony Popovic a lot of autonomy which can be a good thing and a bad thing. We honestly should have planned this better because as it turned out we always knew that Popovic was a danger of leaving , which is fine, but where is the succession plan. 

Then we fell in love with Gombau or at least Lederer did. This obsession with trying to be like the Barthellona of the West, it's not in our DNA and I have heard Lederer on a number of occassions trying to say that is the club they are trying to model ourselves on. We are more like Athletico Madrid than Barcelona in terms of the syle of football and our DNA if you will.  We could have succeeded with Gombau but so many people were running out of patience even though they knew full well that is what they were getting. There were good signs at the end of his tenure. Then again we make the mistake of giving Gombau free reign to sign players with no intention of keeping him or changing their minds at the last moment. Another big bistake. It screwed the next manager coming in being Babel, who was actually a mess.

In all honesty I dont think JP is our guy, but I would prefer to give him a chance over the next season or two and at least lay the foundation for the next manager. We have signed JP for one year, at least he can build a case for himself. He at least would have more of an idea than Babel only because he understands the region and the mentality of what we want for our football team. Simple, honest, hardworking, football. It doesn't have to be too flash or extravagant but the effort has to be there or you can gtfo. 

SFC are definitely a cut above the rest since Arnie.

But again, on paper, WSW has a top 6 if not top 4 side. Our back office is also strong, so the weakest link seems to be time and again the coaching. 

Good post. I also think Lederer has made some shocking decisions for the club and deserve most of the blame. Falling for Gombau's shit and the obsession with emulating Barcelona.was a really poor move. Everything about that was something that never really fit West Sydney as a style or mentality.

Tough, high tempo, counter attacking football is what i associate with the Wanderers and they have never really looked dangerous when they moved away from that.

Most club issues are the result of poor decisions higher up in the chain of command. Even if a coach fails, someone made a judgement and appointed him in that position. 
I also agree with the posts above that wsw need to find their playing philosophy again as a club. 

The blame has to be with JT, Lederer and Jensen.

We have cycled through coach after coach. With Popa we had security, we knew the way we played, and it worked. I never understood why some supporters wanted him gone, and I guess time have proved these people wrong. Gombau was a good bloke with good intentions. However, going from Popa to Gombau was a massive difference, and I got the sense that under Gombau there were 'too many chiefs, not enough Indians'. In saying this, he should have been given more time, and this was a chance to tell the players at that time 'no, we will back the coach not the players unrest'. You could see, especially after that game in Newcastle that some players did not care. Then Babel came, and we all had hope, however it was the wrong time to go to an inexperienced coach not unknown to the Australian system. At this time they should have gone to someone who had NPL expierence or knew the Australian way, I think Rudan had just worked wonders with Sydney United. If it is true, IF, that JPDM played a part in undermining Babel, then he should have never been given a chance. However, he has now and he deserves time. Going from coach to coach has not worked, and it is about time someone higher up is to blame and sacked.

It was interesting that someone brought up Parramatta Stadium. If I had the choice of the current Bankwest or old Parra Stadium, 100% I would choose the old Parra Stadium (but I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing). The old Parra Stadium had more of a 'soul' and 'old school' feel. The current Bankwest is all about new lighting and fancy crap, which goes against what the club was initially built upon.

Under the current administration of JT and Jensen, not much has happened. Yes Lederer financed an Academy, and credit to him for that. But the stadium move was built upon what happened under Gorman and the success of Popa and the ACL. There is no leadership. JT will make a perfect politician with the amount of bullcrap he speaks. Jensen decided to focus his early attention but going to war with the RBB, and look at what that has resulted in. Personally I think this club is a perfect representation and fallout of the FFA failing to support the supporters and bending over for the non-football people. Western Sydney is an area that knows football, and we can see the bullcrap of the FFA and many have turned their back and thought 'is this worth it'. In the end, whether you agree or not, a strong RBB means a strong Western Sydney and a strong Western Sydney means a strong league.   

For the future, what I would like to see is JT stepping down. Under his watch too much has gone wrong, and it is about time someone other than a coach takes the fall. JPDM deserves time, but it is about time we don't look at only making the Top 6 but look at finishing in the top 3 at least. 

Despite it supposedly being against everything the club stands for, I reckon WSW need to find their bling. It is no coincidence to me that their best days were when Ono was with them, they had a solid manager and they were recruiting the best young Aussies in players like Mooy and Juric.

Schwegler and Muller are class but they need a genuine marquee scoring and creating goals for them. And they need to bring through some genuine youth prospects again. The team needs some swagger, it just doesn't give the impression that they are the best team in the comp, which they aren't.

On paper, yes, any team can look good on paper. It means squat on the playing field, where the team with the better coaching/players/culture, wins. No one can stop Sydney FC and the derby statistics reflect this

Good post RBBA and good to see you post again mltezer.
heyitsrobbie as well, good foes for us SFC supporters.
Agreed as other have quoted.
I classify youse as the Oz united in a way, once red nose departed never been the same just as poppa leaving WSW.
Its always starts from the TOP of the tree/head.
Yes we need WSW strong, we need active support back.
Even your current squad with a full RBB behind them they'd be lifting big time, do it with bugger all against us early this year as we saw and I was there but its a pale what it once was incl the Cove.
I agree about the bankwest comment, one size does fit all, not talking about the modern stad per say, the shoe doesn't fit the brand.
Perfect example about the TOP good management decisions - LFC :)