Adelaide United’s new season W-League squad has a good vibe about says captain Emma Checker
ADELAIDE United has never made the W-League finals but captain Emma Checker believes this season will be different. See the Reds’ full squad and fixture.
ADELAIDE United W-League skipper Emma Checker wants to lead the Reds to a place they have never been.
Checker, 22, issued a challenge to her teammates before United faces Melbourne Victory in a double header at AAMI Park on Sunday.
Adelaide and Victory will be the curtain raiser to the Victory and Perth Glory A-League clash, a luxury the Reds W-League side will again not experience this season due to the lack of change rooms at Hindmarsh.
“Our main goal is we’re making finals,’’ Checker said.
“That mentality is in the group we want anything but that and anything else is unacceptable for us this season.
“That’s the way we’ve been going about preseason and that’s the way we’ll start the season going in positive.
“We’ve known we’ve done the hard yards and the hard work has gone in day in day out (in preseason).
“In terms of preparation we’ve done a really good job and given ourselves every opportunity of making that happen and there’s no reason why we can’t be a top four side, I think that’s really realistic for us.”
Adelaide has never made the finals. Its best finish was fifth in 2015.
It again finished bottom last season, for the fifth time in 10 seasons.
Adelaide has bolstered its squad with October arrivals of Icelandic internationals Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir, 30, and Fanndis Fridriksdóttir, 28, and Houston Dash US pair Veronica Latsko, 22, and Amber Brooks, 27.
Matildas’ striker Michelle Heyman, 30, is the biggest impact signing of the new season with the forward needing to bang in lots of goals in an effort to ensure Australia coach Alen Stajcic includes her in the FIFA women’s World Cup squad bound for France next year.
“It’s awesome to have Michelle,’’ Checker said.
“We’ve always had a good rivalry against each other and then we were teammates for two seasons for Canberra as well and that’s only going to continue, it’s good for the both of us.
“It gives our young girls someone to aspire to, she’s a role model and is huge for our team and a character off the field.”
One-time capped Matilda Emily Condon is expected to continue to prove she is a worthy international.
The Reds completed its squad for the upcoming W-League season on Friday after signing an experienced goalkeeper and a promising midfielder.
Shot-stopper McLaren returned to United after playing 24 times for the club from 2008-12.
The 27-year-old, who also had two stints with Sydney FC, has spent the past two seasons with Salisbury Inter in the SA Women’sNational Premier League.
Mullan joined from Football Federation SA’s National Training Centre, where she scored four goals from 12 appearances in states’ top flight this year.
Adelaide has also lost some of its influential players from last season including Matildas Alex Chidiac (Atletico Madrid), Adriana Jones (Melbourne City) and Eliza Campbell (Perth Glory) and Jenna McCormick (Brisbane Roar).
Checker, however, is confident Adelaide has found a good blend of youth and experience.
Checker, who made her Reds debut as a 15-year-old in 2011, had stints with Melbourne Victory, Canberra United and South Korea’s Incheon Red Angels before returning to United, says her eighth W-League season has a good vibe about it.
Checker says the foreigners have added much-needed depth.
“We’ve had them for a while which is good,’’ Checker said.
“I think the reality of it is all clubs have that same battle in trying to get the international players over as quick as possible leading into the season.
“I think we have been really fortunate this season to have them with us for a few weeks preparation with the personnel we have.
“They just fit in perfectly and that’s a credit to (coach) Ivan (Karlovic) and the club.
“They have selected wisely and the two Americans have fitted in perfectly and they’re looking sharp which is good.”
The Reds will also on Sunday see what they’re really up against in the W-League.
Since playing its last match against a quality women’s side, where McCormick jagged the winner in a 2-1 win over Victory at Marden Stadium on February 2, Checker is confident the side is ready for action.
“Lots of our (trial) games have been against the NTC (Football Federation SA’s national training centre) boys, which is great,’’ she said.
“It’s a good challenge coming up against the boys.
“We’ve been having some good results as well and you know every week we’ve been building more and more and obviously adding more to our game.
“For us coming up against speed (of the boys) that’s a little bit different to what we normally come up against.
“But in saying that we’ve still been capable of playing and working on our own style as well as being challenged.
“So I think they’ve been the perfect opposition for us.
“We’ve drawn to them and obviously a win would be better.
“Our hit out last weekend was really positive.”