After Adelaide United’s maiden Grand Final victory in 2016, they failed to again reach those heights. They lost their identity along the way, mostly finishing mid-table for the following few seasons.
Involved with the club for one year as an assistant coach, Carl Veart was handed the responsibility in 2020 of carrying over a project which would be sustainable for long-term success.
Behind only the Central Coast Mariners, the Reds contain the second-youngest squad in the competition with an average age of 24.5.
Despite this, it doesn’t discourage Veart from relying upon his experienced veterans to complete the job, putting his full faith in them to perform each week.
Club hero Isaías (36) and Spanish compatriot Javi López (37) are a couple of prime examples that although they might not have the legs, experience and football IQ are extremely important, especially in Isaías’ case where he is still able to dominate the midfield.
Friday night’s entertaining 3-2 win over Western Sydney Wanderers featured a starting line-up of mostly experienced players, with an average age five years above their overall squad.
Promising prospects Joe Gauci (22) and Louis D’Arrigo (21) were starters and are viewed as regulars by Veart, but the youthful bench caught the eye.
James Delianov (23), Panashe Madanha (18), Bernardo Oliveira (19), Luka Jovanovic (17), Jonny Yull (18), Ethan Alagich (19), and Nestory Irankunda (17) were the only seven substitutes available, with the latter four making a second-half appearance.
Veart’s ability to trust his youth while at the same time easing them into the side and often using them as impact subs speak volumes to the manager’s maturity. The hype around Irankunda and his rise to stardom hasn’t fazed Veart one bit in keeping the young lad grounded.
“A lot of people called that he (Irankunda) needs to start games. He’s a long way off from starting games,” Veart said.
With four goals and two assists already to his name, Irankunda and the other young talented teenagers present a bright future for the club who are already making an impact this season and are contributing to Adelaide’s impressive run of form. They are excitingly well and truly part of the project.
(Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)
League leaders Melbourne City have been known for playing some scintillating attacking football ever since the arrival of Erick Mombaerts, with this season no different as they have accumulated 47 goals in 20 games. Adelaide has matched this by scoring 47 of their own, highlighting their attacking identity which has caused City problems, as the Reds remain undefeated against them in three meetings this campaign.
If you watch Adelaide closely, Veart’s imprint on their game style is clear through overloading the midfield and on most occasions leaving behind a back three to allow either fullback to push up the flanks and overlap into dangerous areas.
Right balance in the middle of the park is also evident, as D’Arrigo provides the dynamism and flexibility required for Isaías to float around in front of the backline and dictate play with his admirable range of passing and creativity.
Averaging 14.36 shots per game this season, Adelaide are proving to be a menace for opposing defences to contain them creating clear opportunities up front.
Set-pieces have been a real strength and an avenue that has been exploited, but that shouldn’t undermine the great football that Veart has implemented throughout his tenure.
As mentioned, a lot of the attacking build-up play is caused by overlapping as well as spreading out the play into wide spaces out to the wingers to make something happen.
It wouldn’t be right to talk about Adelaide’s rise without mentioning their captain and talisman Craig Goodwin. The 31-year-old has had an inspired campaign off the back of a standout World Cup performance with the Socceroos.
(Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
He’s been the catalyst for the team through his skill, creativity, and leadership which shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Sitting second just one point behind City, Veart’s men have every right to believe that they can create something special and add to their trophy cabinet. The confidence is there which is for all to see on the pitch.
With many A-League clubs lacking a true identity, maybe Adelaide’s philosophy could be a good idea to follow up on and replicate for their own respective futures.
Carl Veart has found the appropriate balance between mixing youth with experience, but will it prove to be enough for Adelaide United to go all the way?
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
mariners have the lowest budget in the league, followed by adelaide. there's a reason both sides rely heavily on playing younger players - they havent got the money
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
id be slightly worried if i was a mariners fan the fabled homegrown youth academy well is running very dry these days (which is why the side has started again recruiting younger players from interstate or rival a league clubs) only 3 teams in the league now only play solely homegrown youth and dont recruit from anywhere else (adelaide, brisbane & wellington)
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i really hope this season has opened up some eyes in terms of ‘misconceptions’ about adelaide united. “the united only play well at home and cant travel” narrative is false (its been false for multiple seasons now) – they rank second in points away from home this season (if you remove city beating other victorian sides “away” – adelaide is clearly first. no other a league side has more points interstate/NZ this season than adelaide “united are a dirty team” – big difference between being dirty and aggresive. they rank 4th in fouls per game this season 1st in red card (level with 2 other sides) and 5 teams below them are only 1 card behind 1st in yellow cards 1st in tackles “united are nothing without goodwin and would be a mid table team” – hes only scored 10 goals out of the 47, if you want to look at 1 man teams (then you have maclaren, cummings, zawada all scoring at higher percentage of thier respective teams individual goals than goodwin has for adelaide theres no question goodwin is the teams and the leagues best player, but the mid table team without goodwin comment is wrong on so many levels when compared to other sides
Midfielder
Roar Guru
JB 100% agree..... given the Mariners have been applauded world over for playing young players the most of any team in the world ... maybe some local recognition at times.... especially for the coach who hardly ever gets a mention.... AU IMO get a lot from Goodwin.... he has won so many games for them.... Just saying applaud AU, but respect others a well...
jbinnie
Roar Rookie
Mid - Do not forget that CCM are a club that works to a budget and it may be that over the years, working within this budget, they have been forced to process many young players, not only to the Socceroos, but to more financial clubs in their own league. This is a fact of football life and does not remove us from the fact that normally in our competition the "moneyed" clubs are generally the ones that finish in the top six at seasons end, and it is seldom this format is changed. If and when we can get 12 teams with the same financial clout it should prove to be an overall improvement to all facets of our game. That may be an impossible dream but it is nice to day dream. Cheers jb
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
Fully agree. The Mariners are the best at producing young players through their academy and those opportunities have allowed many to represent the Socceroos. CCM have performed better than anyone has expected in the past three seasons, so impressive that it has made us all forget about their dark days before that. Adelaide fun my view, however, have been most successful in finding that balance between youth and experience which has them closer to contending for a championship than CCM. Take nothing away from CCM though, they’re also a joy to watch
NoMates
Roar Rookie
Wellington and CCM having been doing it for some years now not just Adelaide. All 3 clubs have produced the goods but of course Adeliade get the spot light and yet there is no mention of how much thuggery there is in their squad. There a dirty team that like to foul players fact. Do you really want the kids to learn that style of play?.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
When it comes to the mix of youth and senior players in the AL no one comes close to the Mariners. Further no side has developed more players from playing AL to Socceroo than the Mariners. Good on AU but give some credit to the team who has built its DnA on academy players. As an aside in the last two years the Mariners have been recognised as the professional team world over who has played young players.
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
Five red cards this season does suggest that Adelaide are one of the more physically imposing teams and have a few players that are hotheads. To suggest that Veart tells his players to go out with the intent on being dirty though I think is a step too far
Garry
Roar Rookie
Normally BT is a bit too extreme for my taste but on this I concur. As an all round team I believe AU is the dirtiest team in the league. Up until recently I have liked AU but between TSS's bias & the level of 'professionalism' the spanish players have brought on their worst days they are annoying to watch. Goodwin makes them a class act, without him they are a mid table team. I have no doubt the youngsters are learning the dark arts.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Reacting to something is certainly not in the dirty tricks for the masters . Veart was master of the sneaky hit behind the refs back and then diving after the player reacts. That Jayfc video showed him clearly kicking Petrovski from behind off the ball and then diving after Sterjovski reacts. Why did he mention Irukunda , his initial reaction was ok, why he went for a second go against another player I cant understand , that did bring in Marcelo who was looking to get a reaction and it was Lachie Barr who absolutely lost his bottle.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
What about the lack of atmosphere at Western United and City grand final . The APL seems to have gathered a list of dodgy referees number one headliner Shaun Evans who gave City the title last year with the worst performance in world history given he had the benefit of VAR to correct the decisions. It would have been preferrable for City and Western United to have both been eliminated in the final , as every other team would have provided a big grand final. Now that grand final is in Sydney then there is a simple solution favour Sydney teams and get them to the grand final or at worst CCM as well. Its not like they dont do the dodgy stuff already. Instead we see the reverse happening with dodgy Shaun Evans working his magic in favour of Adelaide , you would think VAR would at least review Gauci pulling the ball back over the goal line, it quite incredible they didnt even bother to review it. Sydney as well the big decision was to award foul against Kucharski when it looked a 50-50 and Kucharski was going to be direct on goal.
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
Veart after the game on Friday: “Nestory needs to learn to be a bit more cool-headed. He can’t react like that, that’s not how you should play football.” Claiming that he teaches the youth dirty tricks is a pretty wild statement
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Adelaide are actually a bad team for youth now. The coach is a thug specialist and knows nothing else, yes he does teach the youth all the dirty tricks. How many youth at Adelaide have improved while at the club recently. They come to the club help them win a couple of games and then go backwards.
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
That GF at Adelaide Oval with over 50,000 was an incredible advert for the league. It reminded me of the atmosphere at AAMI park when Victory hosted the GF against Sydney which I was fortunate enough to attend. You simply won’t get that same feeling in Sydney especially when there’s two non-Sydney sides. Sad that money is number priority but that’s modern day football unfortunately
Grem
Roar Rookie
Adelaide are definitely a team to follow on from. They are usually good to watch and they have exciting players on the bench who we look forward to seeing come on. Their ability to buy top Spanish players, who come and stay, is also to be admired. How many potential Socceroos are we getting from their imports who are staying with their families? I follow Sydney FC and it seems simple, with their budget, to buy 4 top class imports from their marquee and designated player allowance and one other very good import. Then you add some decent locals, such as Max Burgess, etc and sprinkle in our talented youth within the team and on the bench – with the intention of playing them. Gurd alongside a top centre back. Segecic with a top number 10 nearby, etc. And then of course you need a coach, like Vesrt, to make it work. Maybe next year for Sydney, but in the meantime I am hoping gor an Adelaide v WSW grand final – and what a shame it won’t be in Adelaide. I think their first and last grand final win is my favourite gf.