Seven rounds into the A-League and Adelaide United appear a side still stuck in the pre-season.
That they lost their seventh match in a row to bogey team Melbourne Victory, 2-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night, was less significant than the manner of the defeat, which saw numerous players put in rusty displays not befitting of a match well into the season.
Afterwards Reds coach Aurelio Vidmar and captain Travis Dodd spoke of their squad’s desperate need to sharpen up in the attacking third of the pitch, to keep possession more calmly, and to brush off the rough edges that have seen the club squander a favourable draw.
To have only won twice when five of their first seven matches were at home now means United face an exceptionally difficult task to keep pace with the top four over summer.
“I’m gutted with the result, two wins out of five we’ve had at home this year is not good enough,” Dodd said.
“We need to get our act together, the whole team, the whole squad, quick smart because it’s getting to that stage where every game is becoming a crunch game for us.
“We need to sort ourselves out in front of goals, keep possession and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.
“The goals will come but we just need someone to get the first one. But we need to work hard on other things in our game, keeping possession is a big one for us, it has been all year.
“We just need to keep our heads a bit, keep composed.
“We say it every week, every day in training, we’re the ones in control of the ball and we control the tempo, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way in a game situation.”
Dodd and Vidmar both denied their club had a mental barrier to contend with when facing Melbourne, but the fact they were so poor against an opponent shorn of two key performers – the transferred Danny Allsopp and the injured Billy Celeski – suggests otherwise.
By contrast, Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick could have been forgiven for wondering where this sort of form had been in the previous six rounds, as last season’s dominant side meandered through the early rounds.
But Merrick acknowledged the return of talismanic captain Kevin Muscat had made everyone walk taller, particularly defensive duo Rodrigo Vargas and Adrian Leijer, who were both excellent in defusing the numerous free-kicks and corners that veered into the Victory box.
“Kevin’s just a huge addition to our back-line because everyone’s about five per cent sharper when he’s around,” Merrick said. “And I think Adrian Leijer and Rodrigo Vargas played out of their skins as well (with Muscat alongside them).
“Kevin certainly makes a difference, there’s no doubt about that.
“I think we’ve played some good football without him, but he’s a key player in our team and, if he’s not in, it’s not the same team.”
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