Tarek Elrich is delighted to be part of the new Wanderers FC side and is confident the newly-formed club will have instant success.
Tarek Elrich is delighted to be part of the new Western Sydney Wanderers FC side and is confident the newly-formed club will have instant success.
The former Newcastle Jets defender was one of three players announced as the first signings for the club on Monday as they continue their build-up towards their debut season in the A-League in 2012/13.
And rather than take a conservative approach ahead of their inaugural season, Elrich is dreaming big and is confident the competition new boys will be a contender from day one.
“Given some of the players we’ve signed it looks like we’ll have a lot of quality,” Elrich said.
“This club is not a club that’s signing players as last resorts or ones that are going bad at other clubs.
“There’s a lot of interest and a lot of players are wanting to come to this club, even players that are on contract want to come here.
“It’s only big things for this club and I can’t see why we can’t be successful from day one.
“We’re human, they’re human, Tony Popovic has spoken about the type of football he wants and the way he was explaining things to us, if we have half the drive he has I can’t see why we can’t give it a good shake.”
Fellow signing Aaron Mooy added: “We’ve got Tony Popovic who is a great coach and will put the team together well and create a winning team.
“I know all I want to do, and I’m sure the other players do as well, is win.”
Elrich, who was a Parramatta junior, was an inaugural member of the Jets squad in season one and spent the seven campaigns in the Hunter.
While he loved his time at the Jets, Elrich said as soon as he knew a team in Western Sydney would be included in the A-League he wanted to be a part of it.
“It was pretty easy to come here and as soon as I heard the club was being formed it sunk straight into my heart and I felt at home,” he said.
“My brother (Ahmed Elrich) actually played here with Parramatta power and I was big fan and had a season ticket.
“Those were great days being a young kid coming through the ranks and enjoying my football here.
“The young kids of this area need idols and people to look up to and that’s what we’re here for.
“Hopefully we can work together and make this club the biggest.”
Wanderers FC executive chairman Lyall Gorman said the club were still looking at various stadium deals but indicated most games would be played out of Parramatta Stadium.
