SYDNEY -- Western Sydney Wanderers technical director Ian Crook says the club's aim is to end their A-League Grand Final hoodoo this season and "get the monkey off people's backs."
Wanderers were beaten 3-1 by Adelaide United in the Adelaide Oval in May -- their third Grand Final defeat in the past four seasons.
Former Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City midfielder Crook dismissed the suggestion that it was a psychological issue, but said the club was determined to win the league's denouement this term.
"We want to win a grand final. We've finished top of the league before, we won the Asian Champions League [in 2014] but we've been in three Grand Finals now and lost them all. It would be a nice monkey to get off people's backs," Crook told ESPN FC when asked about the aims for the new season.
"We've lost a few players from last year but we're hoping for a young player or two to break through and we want both [new signings] Bruno Pinatares and Jumpei Kusukami to be big successes. But it's difficult to pick an actual individual and say that they'll be the difference, so we're looking at the squad as a whole."
Asked why Wanderers have failed to win the showpiece event since their founding in 2012, Crook said: "It's been a little bit of everything.
"We were very unlucky not to win in Brisbane two years ago and last year we were beaten in Adelaide after playing 120 minutes in the semifinal the week before, and coming from 3-0 down to win 5-4 in a very emotional game. There have been a lot of reasons but it just hasn't been our day. Hopefully we'll put that right this year."
However, Crook believes the Wanderers will face tough competition from a number of strong clubs this season and said it was essential that coach Tony Popovic and the players start the season well.
"With the A-League salary cap in place, anybody can beat anybody. You have a number of different contenders for the [English] Premier League and we've got Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory, Brisbane Roar who will challenge; Perth are looking much stronger; Adelaide will be strong again. And Melbourne City have the backing of Manchester City now.
"It's really tough. That's the thing about this competition, you can be in the mix one year and then out of it the next. Sydney FC won a grand final two years ago and last year didn't even make the six. We went from second to bottom to second to top in a season.
"A good start is the most important thing. In the first 10 games, it's important to establish a foothold. The sides that are in the top three or four after 10 rounds tend to stay there right the way through the season."
Crook's former club Tottenham spent last week in Melbourne for the International Champions Cup, where they lost to Juventus and Atletico Madrid in the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The matches attracted crowds between 30,000 and 45,000, with all three clubs leaving their Euro 2016 representatives at home, and Crook believes the tournament was poorly timed.
"The three clubs that came are worldwide names," he said, "But the timing of it is crucial -- they came on the back of the Euros and couldn't bring their top players here, and the crowds didn't come out like they might have done. When Spurs came to Sydney last May, the ANZ was buzzing because they had all their stars and that helps build the profile of the game."
Crook believes that Man City's relationship with Melbourne City will be a plus for the league as a whole but said investment is the key to growing football in Australia.
"It's had a positive impact. David Villa came for a guest appearance before he went to New York City FC, and Melbourne have been able to sell a couple of players to City and get them back on loan. On the whole, it will make the league stronger."
He added: "Money makes the world go round. All the clubs have great ideas and good coaches. The games are a good standard but to be able to push off nationally, finance is key. It's difficult to challenge the AFL and the NRL. But there's a great support and football has a bright future here."