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He might not have the required A-League coaching qualification, but whatever John Kosmina has in his toolkit is working wonders for Adelaide United.
The resurgent Reds outgunned the competition’s form side Melbourne Heart 3-1 at AAMI Park on Wednesday, snapping their five-match winning streak with a performance suggesting Adelaide are live finals chances.
Two goals to Sergio van Dijk and one to Dario Vidosic kept Kosmina unbeaten in his three matches in charge.
But his retooling of the dilapidated shell of a team he inherited from the sacked Rini Coolen last month suggests there is more than just the short-term bounce effect of a new coach at work – and Adelaide’s players agree.
“He’s simplified (things), we’ve gone back to basics, we all know our roles and that’s key,” defender Nigel Boogaard said.
“The boys all believe in the game plan and we’re willing to go out there and die for each other at the moment.”
Kosmina, only leading the Reds under special dispensation from Football Federation Australia as he completes his required coaching licence, admits his side is doing “100 per cent” of what he is asking of them and praised their “smart” football against the Heart.
What Kosmina found most pleasing was how Adelaide recovered from Heart pressuring them heavily in the opening 20 minutes to eventually take control and better the second-placed Heart for the remainder.
Both teams had their chances, and things could have been far different if referee Kris Griffiths-Jones had given what looked a clear penalty for Francisco Usucar’s fourth-minute challenge on Mate Dugandzic.
Instead, the Reds took the lead through van Dijk’s 38th-minute penalty after Simon Colosimo brought down Bruce Djite – a challenge with the double-whammy effect of Colosimo leaving the field having wrenched his knee.
Heart should have equalised on the stroke of halftime.
Defender Aziz Behich brilliantly beat two defenders on the edge of the box, but shot weakly when one-on-one with Reds keeper Eugene Galekovic.
Adelaide stretched their lead three minutes after halftime with Vidosic finishing off neat interplay between van Dijk and Zenon Caravella to silence the 8000-plus crowd.
Van Dijk’s brute strength and smarts resulted in the match-sealer on 79 minutes, as he held off and turned Brendan Hamill before finishing neatly for the Reds’ third.
Striker Eli Babalj scored a consolation goal for the Heart in injury time.
Coach John van ‘t Schip admitted the Heart were well beaten by Adelaide, who have won two games and drawn one since Kosmina took charge.
“We started very well, but if you don’t continue playing like that, the opponent can come back into the game … a game is 90 minutes.
“We couldn’t really come back to that play we had in the first part. Overall, they played a little bit smarter.”
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