18 November 2014
Western Sydney Wanderers have a heavy travel schedule as Asian champions. Is it too much?
The Western Sydney Wanderers are living up to their peripatetic name.
It was interesting to read this report today. Western Sydney Wanderers goalkeeper, Ante Covic, has ‘blasted’ FFA over their failure to consider the Asian Champions League in putting together the A-League schedule. Covic suggests that, even though the Wanderers were already through to the quarter-finals when the Draw was finalised, no account was taken of the likelihood of the Wanderers’ progressing – let alone winning the Asian championship.
It’s something the Wanderers’ coaching and playing personnel feel deeply. I was on the same flight as the Wanderers last Sunday when they returned from Perth to Sydney and the same comment was made to me by three non-playing staff with the team in trying explain the winless start to the season.
“The schedule has been exhausting, and it’s actually easier in to fly to Japan or Korea than it is to travel to Perth, where the time difference is greater,” one senior member said.
“Everyone is really tired. It’s really hard on the players. Look at them,” he continued as they shuffled down the aisles of the aircraft.
The view from the camp is that the Wanderers must pick up six points out of their next two games against Central Coast Mariners tonight and Newcastle Jets on Saturday to give themselves any reasonable chance of making the top 6. Both matches are at home.
After this weekend, the Wanderers have another three A-League matches (two at home against Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar, one away against Adelaide) before travelling to Morocco for the Club World Cup where they play their first game on December 13th in Rabat.
While understanding Western Sydney Wanderers’ viewpoint – which is the same as Adelaide United’s in 2008 – FFA probably felt they had little room to move either within the TV schedule, and other commitments including the FFA Cup and international fixtures, or outside the currently assigned TV schedule. Given the choice between being Asian Champions or not; playing at the Club World Cup or not (and potentially playing Real Madrid); or not being so tired … what would you choose?
By the way, the map in the main image from FIFA shows that Western Sydney has moved to be somewhere around Lake Yamma Yamma near Tanbar in far-west Queensland – approximately 2,000km out. If anyone from overseas is looking at the map, it is wrong. Western Sydney is actually in Sydney.
Postscript: In good news for the Wanderers, since this was written around 7am on 19 November, FFA has announced changes to fixtures which sees two of Western Sydney Wanderers matches pushed-back to March. Win-win.