Western Sydney Wanderers players need to start taking responsibility for their own performances, rather than looking for fault elsewhere, if they are to salvage their season, says defender Michael Thwaite.
Still reeling from last weekend's 5-0 demolition at the expense of arch-rivals Sydney FC, Wanderers players are desperate to restore some confidence just a third of the way through the campaign.
New coach Josep Gombau finds himself under increasing pressure after just four games in charge, but Thwaite says it's the players who need to accept their role in the club's plunge to second last on the table.
Gombau's decision to embark on a complete overhaul of the playing philosophy so early in his tenure has been widely criticised, but Western Sydney's veteran centre-back says the players need to rediscover their mental resolve.
"We need to take responsibilities as players," Thwaite said. "The only way we can turn it around is for us to play the way he wants us to play."
The veteran defender brushed aside the debate around Gombau's upheaval and says the players need to remember the club's culture.
"The culture is set within the club, with the fans, and they expect us to win," he said. "We need to have that winning mentality and we need to show that we want to play and fight and move us up the table."
Some players have suggested an overload of new tactical information from the Spanish coach has been difficult to digest, while others have found the transition from former coach Tony Popovic's management style to Gombau's difficult.
The process of change was always going to take time, however Thwaite suggests many of the goals the Wanderers conceded in their demolition were not the fault of the coach.
"Sometimes it's not about a philosophy but the fight and the pressure on the ball," Thwaite said. "Collectively we need to get that back and work with what he's trying to say. Whoever plays and whoever doesn't, you work harder to play. We shouldn't have a say, it's not our right, we're not the coach."
Thwaite was one of four key players surprisingly omitted from the starting team on Saturday and needs to adapt to Gombau's style to return to the line-up.
"The players shouldn't have a say, the coach makes decisions about what he sees at training and his style," Thwaite said. "The players that he worked with at the [Australia] under-23s understand the way he plays and therefore he makes the decision on who he thinks can win the game."
Western Sydney Wanderers spent Wednesday afternoon on a cause more earnest than their quest to gain three points. They visited patients at Westmead Children's Hospital and while the Wanderers haven't seen their fans smile for some time, they were moved by the reactions from the children.
"It's definitely good to put things into perspective about what happens in life and outside of the football bubble and see how kids and children who are doing it tough and only dream of doing what we do now," Thwaite said.
