Adelaide United 2013/2014 Season Preview

A buzz of anticipation is building in Adelaide as the Reds look to become ‘Barcelona Down-Under’ in 2013/14. New Coach Josep Gombau hopes his tiki-taka style can take the competition by storm and paint the A-League red, but is three months enough time to implement his new style?

Last season: 4th
Finals: Elimination finals

They’ll win because…
...the football philosophy has proven results. While the implementation of tiki-taka in Australia seems like a risky proposition, there is no doubting the results it has produced.

Without recounting the obvious examples of Barcelona’s Champions League successes and Spain’s Euro / World Cup triumphs, Gombau has tasted success with the style in the past. The Spaniard took over at Kitchee SC in Hong Kong in 2009 and brought the club two league titles, a League Cup and two Hong Kong FA Cups.

The technical talents of players such as Marcelo Carrusca, Fabio Ferreira and new-boys Sergio Cirio and Isaias Sanchez will be major factors in United’s ability to adapt to Gombau’s vision.

They’ll be cellar dwellers because…
...tiki-taka teething problems. Bringing a new football philosophy to a club rarely brings instant success. The adoption of an attractive style of football will no doubt please the fans that were parked at Hindmarsh to witness the defensive philosophy of Rini Coolen.

Gombau arrived in Adelaide in July. That’s less than three months for the players to grasp his footballing message and put it into practice for week-in, week-out, competitive football. With seven new faces introduced to the side, a new coach, new tactics and a new style of football it would be no surprise to see the Reds falter as they re-brand themselves as the A-League’s answer to Barcelona FC.

Talk around the water cooler… look smart in front of your colleagues with this valuable piece of information.

New coach Josep Gombau is the second youngest manager in the league. At 37 years of age, the Spaniard is just four months older than Melbourne Heart’s John Aloisi. Sydney FC forward Alessandro Del Piero is older than both managers, turning 39 in November. Proving age is no barrier, the Italian marksman provided 14 goals in 24 appearances last season.

The off-season brought…
...change, and plenty of it. Apart from the club’s backline the Reds’ playing list is almost completely unrecognisable from season 2012/13. United’s fans had plenty of names to learn in the offseason with seven new faces added to the first team. Sergio Cirio, Isaias Sanchez, Michael Zullo, Tarek Elrich, Steven Lustica, Awer Mabil, Jordan Elsey have been brought in by Gombau to help ease the transition to tiki-taka football.

Departing the Reds are Fabian Barbiero, Iain Fyfe, Tomi Juric, Evan Kostopolous, Iain Ramsay and Dario Vidosic.

Overseeing these changes are two more new faces, Coach Josep Gombau and his assistant Pau Marti. The Spaniards’ ability to successfully implement their football philosophy will make or break United’s season.

Key player… 
...Marcelo Carrusca. With the departure of Australian marquee Dario Vidosic the Reds will look to Carrusca to shoulder the burden of being the side’s creator-in-chief. An eye-catching debut season from the Argentinean will need to be replicated in order for the Reds to feature when finals roll around.

Despite having played just one season in the A-League, Carrusca was voted by fans to a place on the bench of Adelaide’s Team of the Decade. The 30-year-old’s touch, vision and eye for goal will be crucial to United as they look to adopt Gombau’s Spanish-flavoured footballing philosophy.

One to watch…
...Michael Zullo. With Brazil 2014 edging closer and the Socceroos’ left-back spot still up for grabs, all eyes will be on Michael Zullo’s return to the A-League. Zullo will likely compete with fan favourite Cássio for a spot on the left-side of defence in Gombau’s favoured 4-3-3 formation.

Nailing down a regular first-team spot and consistently serving up high-quality performances will be imperative for the on-loan 25-year-old in order to impress Holger Osieck before he finalises his 23-man squad for the South American Samba.

Full squad list
1. Eugene GALEKOVIC (c), 3. Nigel BOOGAARD, 4. Jon MCKAIN, 5. Osama MALIK, 6. CASSIO, 7. Jeronimo NEUMANN, 8. ISAIAS, 9. CIRIO, 10. Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11. Bruce DJITE, 12. Antony GOLEC, 13. Steven LUSTICA, 14. Cameron WATSON, 15. Jacob MELLING, 16. Daniel BOWLES, 17. Awer MABIL, 18. Michael ZULLO, 19. Jake BARKER-DAISH, 20. Paul IZZO, 21. Tarek ELRICH, 22. Fabio FERREIRA, 23. Jordan ELSEY, Teeboy KAMARA, Brent MCGRATH.