Western United

Were supremely disappointing last season. Really assembled one hell of a squad but ended up finishing second from the bottom of the league following injuries, poor management, and demoralised players. Also struggled with not having a proper home ground until later in the season. Considering how poorly they did last season, this club has not made anywhere near enough changes. Bringing in Ibusuki up front was a good bit of business, as was acquiring Tate Russel as an FB. They seem to have overlooked that they lost Penha and Wales though, two of their most dynamic attacking threats of last season, which makes providing service to Ibusuki really difficult. They did try their best to keep Penha but he didn't fancy it, and who can blame him? They'll miss Risdon too, despite the signing of Russell - the former was a solid RB for them despite his card problems. The rest of the players they lost were squad players and would ordinarily be easy to replace - except they haven't been replaced. That makes them all potentially problematic departures. Western United started last season with a good squad, and they still have the remnants of one despite players leaving because of that. They really, really need Thurgate, Danzaki, Najjarine, and Pasquali to step it up in order to provide service to Botic/Ibusuki though, and its more likely to come from youngster Walatee, who impressed toward the end of last season - same with Grimaldi. They're intent on relying on younger players this season, which they have a bit of a head start with, having been forced to use some of them last season due to injury problems. It's one hell of a risk though, and one that could backfire horribly on them, especially with Aloisi a very old-fashioned manager that doesn't know how to be anything but bullish with his players. Could be a really disappointing season for them if they don't start well. Likely key players - Ibusuki, Imai, Danzaki, Thurgate.