Adelaide United are proving hard to dislodge from the A-League top six after taking seven points from their first three matches since the competition resumed.
A resurgent Adelaide are hitting their straps under interim coach Carl Veart, with Norwegian striker Kristian Opseth one of the chief beneficiaries as the club looks to secure an A-League finals place.
Thursday’s 5-3 win over Perth in Sydney gave sixth-placed United seven points out of nine since the competition resumed and Veart took over after Gertjan Verbeek left during the pandemic-enforced break.
Just prior to the competition shutting down in late March, Adelaide lost four in a row, leaking 15 goals in that time.
“I think the boys were lacking a bit of confidence before the break, we were in a bit of a hole and we couldn’t get out of it,”‘ said Veart, who was then the assistant coach.
“After the COVID break we came back and I really emphasised to the players that I want them to enjoy their football.
“It’s about them enjoying and expressing themselves and I think we saw that tonight with some of the football they played was great.”
Opseth, who scored just twice under Verbeek, has scored in each of United’s three matches under Veart.
“‘We changed our style a little bit, we’ve asked him to do, different things to what he was doing before,” Veart said.
“I thought tonight he was outstanding, his work rate.
“I challenged him before the game that I needed him to do a little bit more work for us in our pressing and winning the ball back for us.
“Tonight he won so many balls back for us and not just that, the link-up play that he had with Riley (McGree) and Stefan (Mauk) and Benny (Halloran) was fantastic.
“I’m so happy for him because he’s worked extremely hard in that break we had, he came back the fittest player in our group.”
Veart was non-committal about his prospects of being appointed full-time coach, though securing a finals spot would surely boost his chances.
“At this stage, just focusing on the games and doing well for the club,” he said.
Despite their late-season form surge Adelaide are still no certainties to make the top six.
Seventh-placed Western United are four points behind with three games in hand and a much better goal difference.
Adelaide are level on points with fifth-placed Glory, but Perth have a better goal difference and a game in hand.
Adelaide have two tough matches to finish with, runaway leaders and Premiers Plate winners Sydney next and then third-placed Melbourne City.
“We most probably might need to win our last two games to make the finals,” Veart said.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
boring Brisbane eh. Good on Adelaide for playing their youth. Let's face it, they've got little else. And their coaches, just keep them away from Brisbane, please (and the national teams, omg the Matildas). But I did enjoy watching last night, despite Perth setting up a couple of goals for them. Vastly different to their game against a rusty Roar who still dominated them for 84 minutes and would have won bar a golden glove performance by Izzo.
AndyAdelaide
Roar Rookie
we play the best brand of attacking football in the league (and im not being biase either) i dont care if we are wide open at the back; because im that confident we will score more then the other team. Id rather play like this then a boring bland style like a brisbane or central coast. Football is about entertaining, not boring styles ala mourinho, dyche, bruce etc. i think we’ve got the best youth in the country (definitely african australian youth) as well as a couple of kids fighting it out for central midfield spots week in week out our position in the table is because of the way we play, this is easily a top 2 squad when things go right. Other clubs should be taking note of how many local kids we play, and yes that because we have minimal money; however the kids are the way forward for this league; not average visa spot holders (yes we have a few of them on the books too lol)
Rodger King
Roar Rookie
I will declare my obvious bias up front. I an an Adelaide United tragic, have been since the day Ad City turned their back on the NSL and South Australian football. I am proudly a parochial South Australian. I like the fact that nearly everyone out side of SA has not given AUFC a hope of making the top 6 this season, and those 4 games just prior to the shut down, may be our downfall. But and here is the big BUT, another 6 points, which the lads are quite capable of picking up, considering both the Smurfs and $ity have nothing really to play for. Both are secure in the 6, ok second spot for $ity would be handy because they will need two bites of the cherry, to make a Grand-Final. So both sides lack any real desire to risk injuries leading into the final series, hence their casual approach will be their undoing. After doing so, [picking up 6 points] United will be sitting on 40 points, the question will have to be asked of both Glory and that Chinese club WU, where will their points come from? Meanwhile, Carl has his young and exciting team, humming at the moment, filled with mainly young South Australian talent, proving to the rest of the country, that once again we are in fact the leading state in producing Australian talent. But what of the future, the pipeline is full of future Socceroos, well they would be Socceroos if they they lived on the East coast. The tough decisions for Carl and his team at United will be how do we fit them in, there is another Toure’ brother to come and many say he is the most exciting of the the 3 boys, but the A League might have to wait to sample this unique talent. Then there are the ‘next’ generation of well known names and word is that the Alagich and Vidmar names will once again grace the hallowed turf of Hindmarsh Stadium and not before time. So the future is bright in the city of churches. The rest of the country can thank us later, we’re humble like that.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Great to see the youth and the enthusiasm they bring. They probably have had a bit of lucky, Glory were terrible for much of last night's game, setting up a couple of goals for AU, but still, the young fellars had to grab the chances they were handed, and they did.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Opseth under Veart has been a revelation, particularly the way he is bringing other players into the match. His assist for Brook's first A-league goal was lovely. The other revelation for 2019/20 is defensive midfield; Adelaide have two 18 y.o's in D'Arrigo and Gomulka fighting for a starting position in what is arguably the toughest position on the pitch, one usually reserved for a seasoned player. It says a lot about player development in the state if these types of kids are coming through. Adelaide's usage of so much youth is risky, however it is paying dividends on an off the pitch. It transpires being rather parochial (currently there are only 4 non-South Australians in the squad) and skint does have an upside.