# 2022–23 Western United FC season

The 2022–23 season was the fourth in the history of Western United Football Club. In addition to the domestic league, Western United also participated in the Australia Cup for the second time.

## Review
### Background

The 2021–22 season saw the club finish in third place, its highest ever finish and compete in the finals for the second time. The club then went on to appear in and win its first ever grand final on 28 May 2022 against Melbourne City.

## Players
### First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Jamie Young |
| 4 | DF | SUI | Léo Lacroix |
| 5 | DF | AUS | Dylan Pierias |
| 6 | DF | JPN | Tomoki Imai |
| 7 | MF | MLI | Tongo Doumbia |
| 8 | FW | AUS | Lachlan Wales |
| 9 | FW | AUS | Michael Ruhs |
| 10 | MF | AUS | Steven Lustica |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Connor Pain |
| 14 | MF | AUS | James Troisi |
| 17 | DF | AUS | Ben Garuccio |
| 19 | DF | AUS | Josh Risdon (vice-captain) |
| 20 | FW | AUS | Ramy Najjarine |
| 21 | MF | AUS | Sebastian Pasquali |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 23 | MF | ITA | Alessandro Diamanti (captain) |
| 24 | DF | AUS | Connor O'Toole |
| 27 | DF | AUS | Jacob Tratt |
| 31 | MF | AUS | Adisu Bayew (scholarship) |
| 33 | DF | AUS | Ben Collins (scholarship) |
| 36 | DF | AUS | Ajak Deu (scholarship) |
| 37 | GK | AUS | Ryan Scott |
| 38 | FW | AUS | Noah Botic |
| 42 | MF | AUS | Rhys Bozinovski |
| 44 | DF | AUS | Nikolai Topor-Stanley |
| 49 | FW | AUS | Jake Najdovski (scholarship) |
| 88 | MF | AUS | Neil Kilkenny |
| 99 | FW | SRB | Aleksandar Prijović |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred from | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 14 | MF | James Troisi | Western Sydney Wanderers | Free transfer | 1 year | 17 July 2022 |
| 27 | DF | Jacob Tratt | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 22 August 2022 |
| 7 | MF | Tongo Doumbia | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 24 August 2022 |
| 9 | FW | Michael Ruhs | Central Coast Mariners | Free transfer | 2.5 years | 7 January 2023 |
| 24 | DF | Connor O'Toole | Sydney FC | Free transfer | 1.5 years | 7 January 2023 |
| 20 | MF | Ramy Najjarine | Western Sydney Wanderers | Free transfer | 2.5 years | 7 January 2023 |

#### From youth squad

| N | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Age | Notes |
| 49 | FW | | Jake Najdovski | 17 | 2 year scholarship contract |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date |
| 13 | DF | Ivan Vujica | Unattached | End of contract | 10 June 2022 |
| 16 | MF | Rene Krhin | Unattached | End of contract | 10 June 2022 |
| 27 | MF | Jerry Skotadis | Unattached | End of contract | 10 June 2022 |
| 34 | FW | Christian Theoharous | Central Coast Mariners | Mutual contract termination | 17 January 2023 |
| 12 | DF | Dalibor Markovic | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 20 January 2023 |
| 9 | FW | Dylan Wenzel-Halls | Central Coast Mariners | Mutual contract termination | 29 January 2023 |
| 25 | MF | Luke Duzel | Adelaide United | Mutual contract termination | 6 February 2023 |
| 26 | MF | Nicolas Milanovic | Western Sydney Wanderers | Mutual contract termination | 7 February 2023 |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Name | Position | Duration | Date | Notes |
| 4 | Léo Lacroix | Defender | 1 year | 29 May 2022 | extension triggered |
| 44 | Nikolai Topor-Stanley | Defender | 1 year | 10 June 2022 | |
| 33 | Ben Collins | Defender | 1 year | 17 June 2022 | |
| 21 | Sebastian Pasquali | Midfielder | 1 year | 1 July 2022 | |
| 17 | Ben Garuccio | Left-back | 2 years | 7 September 2022 | Contract extended from end of 2022–23 until end of 2024–25. |
| 42 | Rhys Bozinovski | Midfielder | 2 years | 6 December 2022 | Promoted from a scholarship contract to a senior contract |
| 11 | Connor Pain | Winger | 3 years | 25 January 2023 | Contract extended from end of 2022–23 until end of 2025–26. |
| 38 | Noah Botic | Centre forward | 2 years | 8 March 2023 | Contract extended from end of 2022–23 until end of 2024–25. |
| 10 | Steven Lustica | Central midfielder | 1 year | 16 March 2023 | Contract extended from end of 2022–23 until end of 2023–24. |
| 27 | Jacob Tratt | Central defender | 1 year | 23 March 2023 | Contract extended from end of 2022–23 until end of 2023–24. |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| A-League Men | 7 October 2022 | 29 April 2023 | Matchday 1 | 7th | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 034.62 |
| Australia Cup | 3 August 2022 | 14 August 2022 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 37 | 49 | −12 | 035.71 |
Last updated: 29 April 2023 Source: Soccerway

### A-League Men
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 5 | Sydney FC | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 40 | 39 | +1 | 38 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Wellington Phoenix | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 39 | 45 | −6 | 35 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Western United | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 34 | 47 | −13 | 32 | |
| 8 | Brisbane Roar | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 30 | |
| 9 | Perth Glory | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 36 | 46 | −10 | 29 | Qualification for 2023 Australia Cup play-offs |
* ↑ The top two teams enter the finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the finals series at the elimination-finals.
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for Asian Football Confederation competitions as they are based in New Zealand, which is under the Oceania Football Confederation.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 29 April 2023. Source: Ultimate A-League

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | D | L | L | W | L | W | W | D | L | D | W | D | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | D | L | W | L | W |
| Position | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| Points | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 32 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

### Australia Cup

Win  Draw  Loss

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

Includes all competitions. Players with no appearances not included in the list.
    As of 29 April 2023
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | A-League Men | A-League Men | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | | Jamie Young | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Léo Lacroix | 21+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Dylan Pierias | 7+15 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| 6 | DF | | Tomoki Imai | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| 7 | MF | | Tongo Doumbia | 16+3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 |
| 8 | FW | | Lachlan Wales | 24+2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 5 |
| 9 | FW | | Michael Ruhs | 0+7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Steven Lustica | 11+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | | Connor Pain | 24+2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 4 |
| 14 | MF | | James Troisi | 14+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | | Ben Garuccio | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| 19 | DF | | Josh Risdon | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
| 20 | FW | | Ramy Najjarine | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | | Sebastian Pasquali | 2+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | | Alessandro Diamanti | 2+19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| 24 | DF | | Connor O'Toole | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | | Jacob Tratt | 9+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| 31 | FW | | Adisu Bayew | 0+5 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | | Ben Collins | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 37 | GK | | Ryan Scott | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 38 | FW | | Noah Botic | 10+11 | 6 | 0+2 | 0 | 23 | 6 |
| 42 | MF | | Rhys Bozinovski | 1+9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | | Nikolai Topor-Stanley | 13+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 88 | MF | | Neil Kilkenny | 19+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| 99 | FW | | Aleksandar Prijović | 14+2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5 |
| Player(s) transferred out but featured this season ||||||||||
| 9 | FW | | Dylan Wenzel-Halls | 6+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | | Nicolas Milanovic | 3+12 | 4 | 1+1 | 0 | 16 | 4 |
| 41 | DF | | Jalil Regague | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Disciplinary record

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total cards are equal. Players with no cards not included in the list.
    As of 29 April 2023
| Rank | No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | A-League Men | A-League Men | A-League Men | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Australia Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | 44 | DF | | Nikolai Topor-Stanley | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 | DF | | Léo Lacroix | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 27 | DF | | Jacob Tratt | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | 19 | DF | | Josh Risdon | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 23 | MF | | Alessandro Diamanti | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 7 | MF | | Tongo Doumbia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 8 | FW | | Lachlan Wales | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 11 | FW | | Connor Pain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 17 | DF | | Ben Garuccio | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 99 | FW | | Aleksandar Prijovic | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | 1 | GK | | Jamie Young | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | 6 | DF | | Tomoki Imai | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | 10 | MF | | Steven Lustica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | 14 | MF | | James Troisi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | 88 | MF | | Neil Kilkenny | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | 5 | DF | | Dylan Pierias | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Player(s) transferred out but featured this season ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 26 | MF | | Nicolas Milanovic | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 9 | FW | | Dylan Wenzel-Halls | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 53 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 4 |

### Clean sheets

Includes all competitions. The list is sorted by squad number when total clean sheets are equal. Numbers in parentheses represent games where both goalkeepers participated and both kept a clean sheet; the number in parentheses is awarded to the goalkeeper who was substituted on, whilst a full clean sheet is awarded to the goalkeeper who was on the field at the start and end of play. Goalkeepers with no clean sheets not included in the list.
    As of 29 April 2023
| Rank | No. | Nat. | Goalkeeper | A-League Men | Australia Cup | Total |
| 1 | 1 | | Jamie Young | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 4 | 0 | 4 |