Western Sydney head coach Alen Stajcic believes it will not be long before his new-look Wanderers side begins to fire on all cylinders.
The Wanderers came away from Go Media Stadium empty handed in Round 2 after succumbing to a 1-0 loss to last season’s Premiership winners Auckland FC.
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That result, coupled with their opening-round draw against Melbourne City, means Stajcic’s side have just a solitary point to their name after two outings.
However, the Wanderers boss believes it won’t be too long before fans begin to see what his new-look side is fully capable of.
“There have certainly been elements within the games,” said Stajcic when speaking at his pre-game press conference ahead of Saturday night’s showdown against local rivals Macarthur Bulls.
“Against Melbourne City, I thought we had better fluency in attack, definitely, than what we had against Auckland. So I’ve seen elements of it, but we just want to see it more consistently throughout a game.
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“We know we’ve got the quality to do it, but talking about it and doing it are two different things, so we’ve just got to do it on the field.
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“Albeit, you’re right against two good opponents, Auckland, who are very good defensively, and yet we still created four or five decent chances in the game, and I think we’d all acknowledge we weren’t at our best.
“So to do that when we’re not playing our best away from home against last year’s Premiers shows that we’ve got potential to be a good team, but again, we’ve got to turn that potential into reality.”
Whilst their defensive unit remains intact from the 2024-25 campaign, the Wanderers have both a remodelled midfield and attack this season following an off-season of change in Western Sydney.
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Having won the 2025 Johnny Warren Medal following an outstanding campaign, forward Nicolas Milanovic was sold to Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen, whilst striker Zac Sapsford and midfielder Oscar Priestman also made the move to Scotland, joining Dundee United and Motherwell respectively.
Those moves, coupled with the exit of Spanish World Cup winner Juan Mata, prompted both a change of personnel and tactics from Stajcic going into the new Isuzu UTE A-League campaign.
“I think we’ve adapted more, rather than had a set plan back in June,” revealed the Wanderers boss when asked how his side went about replacing some of the talent that departed.
“As we know, in that time, we’ve lost a couple of players, one or two that we thought were going and then one or two that were a little bit unexpected. So as it comes to the season, we really didn’t know what we’d have.
“So we’ve adapted as we went along.”
In terms of incomings – specifically in the midfield department, the Wanderers were able to bring in Western United midfielder Angus Thurgate following a stellar individual season which saw him finish runner-up to Milanovic in the race for the Johnny Warren Medal.
Joining Thurgate in the Wanderers engine room was Championship winner Steven Ugarkovic, who arrived from title winners Melbourne City in the off-season.
However Stajcic’s use of the 31-year-old has caught many by surprise this season.
Predominantly used as a central midfielder during his days at Melbourne City, Ugarkovic has been deployed in a wider role on the right of the Wanderers’ fluid 4-4-2 system, and his coach believes it’s a role he’s playing with distinction.
“Steve’s not the only one who’s played in that role in this team. So he’s the one who’s really embraced it and taken it on board, and he really could have scored on the weekend as well in that role,” Stajcic said.
“I think he’s actually done quite well in that role, and he’s really improved, even just from pre-season, in the two competitive games that we’ve had.
“But you know, whether we keep him there or start having some of our other plans as well, we’ll see as we go along, but certainly, as I said, we’ve seen good elements of our attack, and he’s been a key part of that.
“From memory, the first attack of the season, when we had a great little combination play there with (Brandon) Borrello, and Borrello just missed the volley from outside the box.
“It just shows what it’s like to have good players in and around and close to each other who can combine in that part of the field.”
He continued: “So you know, we’ve certainly shown strengths, but as I’ve said already, parts of that chemistry still have to improve through all the aspects of our front line and our midfield.
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“We know we’ve got quality there, but you know quality on paper, as I’ve said before, and quality on the field and consistency on the field are two different things, and we’re still striving for that. No doubt.”
The Wanderers take on a Macarthur Bulls side on Saturday night fresh from securing their first win of the new Isuzu UTE A-League season after they defeated Adelaide United 2-1 on Monday night.
