yeah he's trying to have a dig still. he wont give up. its his ego. he thinks he is the gatekeeper to how football fans in south australia need to think about adelaide united. his is like the football mafia in this state (i am not being racist...i am of italian background) but he thinks he is the owner of opinion in this state

go get fucked VAL, youre a wanker and no one reads your articles....and youre son is a shit goalkeeper too lol

ADELAIDE United defeated Central Coast Mariners 4-0 by mixing its usual tiki-taka game plan which saw the club win just one match this season before Saturday night.

Adelaide steam rolled the reigning champion at Coopers Stadium despite emphatically losing the possession statistic for the first time.

Re-live all the action from Coopers Stadium in our match centre.

Melbourne Victory was the only other club which won the possession stakes just - 51 per cent to 49 per cent - during the round two 2-2 draw in front of a record A-League crowd at Hindmarsh (16,504) this season.

Mariners had 55 per cent of possession on Saturday but the key to the change of style was Adelaide's use of effective long balls forward to split the Mariners defence.

Adelaide captain Eugene Galekovic was the best long ball example when he claimed an assist for a route one clearance which allowed Sergio Cirio to score Adelaide's third goal when he rounded Mariners keeper Liam Reddy before walking the ball into an empty net.

Out of Adelaide's 457 passes compared to Mariners 554 Adelaide used the long ball 17 per cent of the time while Mariners only tried the long ball six per cent of the time.

But when Mariners' Mitch Duke got behind the Reds defence's high line after just 45 seconds before his opportunity was lost with a heavy touch Adelaide seemingly defended smarter.

And with the Reds defence seemingly dropping deeper than coach Josep Gombau's previous high line Adelaide took command of the clash.

With Reds forwards also dropping off rather than pressing the Mariners four man defence when the away side had the ball deep, the Reds midfield appeared to be much more compact than its previous nine encounters.

In essence Mariners had fewer holes to exploit which was symptomatic of Adelaide's previous results barring the opening round 3-1 win over Perth Glory.

"The style we played over the last weeks also we played very well but we didn't get theses results,'' Gombau said.

"We have the style we are playing (Saturday) we don't make mistakes but this is football.

"We know the way that we play and we know what we are doing and we are believing in what we are doing and this is important.

"We have this style and we are playing.

"We are playing the way we want to play and we are creating chances every week more and more."

Carrusca's the classiest player to grace an Australian pitch since Ivanovich. He reminds me of Riquelme, always playing with a disinterested snarl on his face.
We all got excited at Flores, but Flores is intimidated by his countryman's skill - as well he should be. Some of Carrusca's touches last night were sublime.

Now of course we have to hold our breath and hope that he re-signs for United. Sydney + many other clubs will be offering him more $ than we can, and the track record of our board is pretty dismal when it comes to re-signing players.

As for the game v Roar - Pity the ref was shocking, but Adelaide must be used to it by now. Our 1st half had me knowing we had turned a corner, and Golec was even in the squad for the 1st time this season. I know that one day soon we're going to wallop some poor mob, and if we make the finals we're going to scare the top bods

Val can get f***ed. Clearly the honeymoon period is over with the new coach already, now he's spitting out his usual tripe.

- The reason that Gumby keeps persisting with Malik and Boogs is that they are TBH our two best ball playing CB's. They are also probably our two worst defensively.

- Isaias is a brilliant passer, but needs to played alongside Malik to cover his lack of defensive ability

- Our high line is killing us, and Eugene. Does not suit him at all IMO.

- Despite not getting as many goals as he should Brucie is one of our most important players IMO, a Bruce and Jero strike force would be lethal.

I'd like to see us play a bit deeper and rotate the squad more, with the first choice XI being:

Hugene
Elrich-McKain/Boogard-Golec-Zullo
----------Malik---------Isaias
---Cirio--------------------------Carrusca
------------------Jeronimo
-----------------BRUCEEEE

Next year by a new ball playing centre half, problem is we have no foreign spots remaining, so will be difficult to find Aussie CB who is good on the ground.

Maybe Pancho could be lured back, would be great rotating him in with Isaias and Ozzie.

I can't think of any off the top of my head who will be free in January :/ We certainly have no import spots available.

Any good Aussie CBs that fit the criteria? Don't think we have any foreign spots left

I know that Isaias is getting heat, but I honestly think he is one of our better midfield players right now. The problem is we can't afford at this stage to have him, Cirio, Currusca and Jero on the pitch at the same time simply because though they have excellent tekkers they aren't working hard enough when we don't have the ball.

Part of the issue I think is the complete lack of confidence in our CBs ability to effectively circulate the ball. They just do not seem to understand how to switch play and maintain effective possession. January really needs to see us bring in some more appropriate defenders, hopefully we can find some free transfers and off load at least Boogs.

I know that Isaias is getting heat, but I honestly think he is one of our better midfield players right now. The problem is we can't afford at this stage to have him, Cirio, Currusca and Jero on the pitch at the same time simply because though they have excellent tekkers they aren't working hard enough when we don't have the ball.

Part of the issue I think is the complete lack of confidence in our CBs ability to effectively circulate the ball. They just do not seem to understand how to switch play and maintain effective possession. January really needs to see us bring in some more appropriate defenders, hopefully we can find some free transfers and off load at least Boogs.

That's actually quite helpful - it reminds me we've seen even more ridiculous times and survived! :) That was a funny moment in our history. :d

Edited by jessesdad: 2/12/2013 11:00:28 AM

We need a better striker. Thankfully, I have an idea...