Wanderers : the good times are back

My football journey is taking me to many different places recently, and one place I really enjoy visiting is Commbank Stadium. This is a fabulous arena to watch a game of football; modern and spacious, every seat has a great view and the higher up you get the steeper the pitch of the seating, so you have the feeling of being high up looking down on the action, like a Roman Emperor at the Colliseum. Another set of photos in the bank, I knocked out the following piece which was too late to be relevant for any of the usual news outlets. Enjoy. I welcome your feedback.

“A comfortable victory for Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday night at Commbank Stadium was not quite the blockbuster that we had been expecting. The new look Jets were nowhere near the strength and quality of their opponents and left their travelling fans with an empty feeling after failing to spark a realistic challenge for the points. Even when the darting Reno Piscopo was presented with a gilt-edged chance in front of the Wanderers fans, Laurence Thomas was more than equal to the effort. So what do we know now that we didn’t know before?

Milos Ninkovic still has it
Whatever you hear about Sydney FC’s former hero being past it is completely false. The touches are as sublime as they ever have been, the way the number 10 links the play with clever feet and unparallelled vision is a joy to behold, even for the most one-eyed of Sky Blue fans. The reason Ninko only played a bit part in last season’s dismal campaign was not due to fitness or the inability to last a whole game, it was due to a lack of trust from his former coaching staff. Now that he is in an environment where he is revered once again, this could be a majestic season for him in the twilight of his career.

The mood in Western Sydney is upbeat
When the drums started up with their hip-swaying samba beat just after half-time, the general mood was one of positivity and happiness. You could have been transported to a game in South America. The game itself on Friday night was by no means a classic, but the uplifting rhythm brought the fans together and made for a joyous atmosphere, especially at the final whistle when the players and fans saluted one another with broad smiles and clasped hands. Winning does help admittedly, as do perfect weather conditions.

The Wanderers defence is solid
This might be easy to say based upon the results so far, but the Western Sydney Wanderers defence looks very capable. At no point during Friday night’s match could you say that the defence was caught out of position, and the undoubted trickery of the Jets attack was powerless to the well organised and imposing rearguard of the home team. Everyone put in a shift, the players were calm on the ball and they bossed their opponents.

Could this be the year that brings the good times back to the West of Sydney? So far so good for Mark(o) Rudan’s team, and we look forward to seeing more of the same at Commbank Stadium. Another home game and another stern test against the Central Coast Mariners on the weekend – this will surely give us a further indication of how far things have come and where Western Sydney should sit when the clamour for a finals spot heats up early next year.”