Adelaide United’s new coach, Spaniard Josep Gombau, says a bit of Barcelona can rejuvenate the Reds.
But Gombau admits he doesn’t know whether he has the players to achieve his lofty goals with the A-League club.
“The style that we want to do is like the style working at Barcelona, the style of the Spanish national team,” Gombau told reporters in Adelaide on Monday.
“Now is so early for me to say I have the right players to do this or I don’t … it’s something that just needs time to work.
“It’s a style to try to keep possession of the ball and attack – beautiful football, this is what we will try to do.”
Gombau, 36, has signed a two-year contract and becomes the sixth man to coach Adelaide in three turbulent years.
He takes over a club which imploded when knocked out of last season’s A-League finals, with captain Eugene Galekovic criticising his club’s poor culture.
Gombau spent six years from 2003 as an academy coach with Barcelona and joins Adelaide after a four-year spell with Hong Kong first division club Kitchee.
He has already lured two compatriots to Adelaide, with 26-year-old midfielder Isaias Sanchez and 28-year-old wing/forward Sergio Cirio to soon arrive in South Australia.
“They are players that want to improve,” Gombau said.
“Sometimes you can bring a player and they come here just to retire … they are young, they don’t come just for the experience, they come to work.”
Franko
Guest
Is that you Osama? No mate, you'll have to work very hard to get back into the first XI. Bring some of the form you had 2 years ago and we'll be pleased.
Gobouten
Guest
No room for Malik, even on the bench? I thought that he was one of your best last season. Watson I found much less impressive...
Franko
Guest
I am not too worried about losing players, look at the guys we have lost over the years and bounce back (almost) year after year: Burns, Djite, Leckie, Dodd, Flores, Ognenovski, Cornthwaite, Romario... ;)
Bondy
Guest
I'm looking forward to the Reds campaign this season should be very interesting although they appear to have a lot of non S Austr there now. What Griffin may face is that if this works Coach and players will be hard to retain at seasons end I,E Flores.
Jukes
Guest
I was there when it happened, when we thrashed you blokes 6-1. After that demolition you forgot how to play football and it was shell shock for the rest of the season :)
Ian
Guest
i'm looking forward to seeing what adelaide bring to the table next season. not as much as Brisbane though.
Franko
Guest
I'm pretty excited too, but as I was when Rini came in. I didn't think the side fully gelled last year despite playing well in the first 2/3rd of the season. Our best is good enough to win the comp, but it seems very hard for us to achieve this. I think the likes of Neumann will love possession based football. As was mentioned earlier, if Djite can get back to his best, we will have many weapons in many forms.
Kasey
Guest
AU would be a long way off in my estimation being able to match the Mariners:(
Kasey
Guest
As standard, there will be some that will ridicule what they are doing if/when results don't come immediately and say that it just looks pretty etc etc... I remember it took Ange half a season at Roar to get his team to gel.some football fans(most in this country) are not happy unless they are griping over something. Those of us that are passionate about the A-League and Australian football should be excited as we want so badly to see our football continually progressing. I think bringing in a couple of Spainiards is a smart move. it's 2 fewer players Gombau has to concentrate on while setting up the other players to play the style he wants. having 2 x learned players on the field means they can direct traffic. The description of Sanchez as a DM who can break up opposition play and create attacking play with the well-placed pass means he could be the lyncpin of the new system. I'm excited to see how someone like Dario Vidosic goes in this system with better distribution perhaps than last year. All in all I think its natural to have some trepidation, fearing change(or another Rini) and all that, but the potential for a wonderful outcome given the evidence (as thin as it is) that we have at our fingertips more than outweighs the negatives IMO.
Midfielder
Guest
Harry But only the Mariners have such a set up .. all clubs need to...
Kasey
Guest
That's why we love sport isn't it? the full gamut of emotions. As we are taught, sticking with your team through the bad means you fully appreciate any good times that come your way. Dare I hope that good times befall my club? Too late, the off-season is the time for fan optimism and I have it in spades:) I just hope I'm not sounding like a Liverpool fan "this is our year" etc only to fall in a heap as the Anfielders usually do:(
Franko
Guest
Kasey, I only have two main concerns for this season. 1. He brought in the two Spaniards without looking at our guys first. How could he be sure they would add to the team? He may have seen us play on TV, but how do we know these guys are any good. On paper, Bobby Petta was a better prospect. 2. What if the guys can't play as he is asking them to? Results could be very poor and we could be back to board room shenanigans with Josep coaching the youth side. Interested to know your (and any others) thoughts.
Ian
Guest
you were in the depths of despair at one point.......now its keen as. good to see you have turned that frown upside down.
Midfielder
Guest
I send one for you...
Franko
Guest
Glad you are enthusiastic and on the back of that.... As with all articles pertaining to “el conquistadors” this year, I put out the call to football fans from around the nation to email Adelaide United requesting a village sized paella cook off at the first match and sangria to be sold at the bar!!!! info@adelaideunited.com.au
Kasey
Guest
I'm here and unlike the last weeks of the 2012-13 season..I'm as keen as mustard for this new season to kick off. Football is a funny old game and just changing the coach can and has worked wonders in improving the mood of many football fans in old Adelaide town:) In other AU news, the Board has added 4 new members(some of whom are even from football backgrounds) to increase the knowledge base in areas such as govt relations and corporate development, international branding, we now have a dedicated compliance and Integrity Officer and a team dedicated to commercial growth. We wanted a more professional league and it appears that AU are doing their best to achieve this as a club. I'm not going ga-ga, we won't 'walk the league'...I understand these sorts of style changes take a good period to impliment. We'll likely be gash for the first few weeks, but as long as we can see improvement and glimpses of the end-game I think the savvy fans in ADL will be happy. I've already bought my ST/membership and am counting down the days til kick off(I'll be in Canada for our first 4 games), but even that could work out for me if I miss the 'we're gash and haven't figured it out yet' phase;)
Midfielder
Guest
Heavens above ... AU they could be something very very special in years to come.... Of all the A-League teams what AU have done in the off season just promises so much.... OMG to see a team being developed like this... What a season awaits...
Jukes
Guest
As a WSW fan I was sorry to see Elrich go. You will get good value out of him. He is a good solid pro.
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Good points Franko but Djite was on the bench for quite a few games last year and he still didn't seem to play with any urgent purpose
Franko
Guest
Not sure how we will go but I imagine the line up will look something like: ----Galekovic Elrich McKain Boogard Cassio Ferreira Isaias Carrusca ---Vidosic Neumann -----Cirio That would leave Djite, Fyfe and Watson on the bench. I’m assuming that Isaias will be a holding midfielder but am not too sure. Cirio is 5 ft 4, so having him or Djite at the top of the triangle makes a fairly big difference. I’m also a little concerned that he has a style but may not have the players to implement it. This could lead to ugly results early on.