Gertjan Verbeek reveals the good, bad and ugly of his first six months in charge of Adelaide United
The United coach candidly explained why he struggled to understand the cultural soccer differences, how his organisation would be resourced and where he thinks his A-League side is heading.
Adelaide United
Don't miss out on the headlines from Adelaide United. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THEY’RE A WEIRD MOB
Adelaide United coach Gertjan Verbeek’s first six months in charge of the Reds isn’t dissimilar to a 1966 Australian film classic “They’re a weird mob” — just without the racial undertones.
The Dutchman on Christmas Day will celebrate 180 days as the Red boss.
At this time of the year Verbeek said he would usually take a skiing holiday in the Austrian alps which is about 1100km away from his Dutch home.
Watch over 50 sports LIVE on Kayo! Stream to your TV, mobile, tablet or computer. Just $25/month, cancel anytime. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
The commanding figure candidly explained to The Advertiser why he struggled to understand the cultural soccer differences, how his organisation would be resourced and where he thinks his A-League side is heading.
THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT … THIS IS WHAT YOU GET
When Verbeek agreed to a two-year deal he was told Australian football was a little different from what he had been used to in cultured European soccer countries, where the sport is the undisputed No. 1.
He hit the ground running by winning the FFA Cup just four months into the new gig.
He has made good use of the Reds’ frugal cashflow, turning the outfit into one that is entertaining but at the same time highly disciplined.
The shock of former boss Marco Kurz in 2017 introducing a tough training regimen never seen before at the Reds was a godsend for the Dutchman.
Verbeek upped that intensity in pre-season but said he wasn’t prepared for th level of influence outsiders had on his new squad.
“So (chairman) Piet van der Pol informed me well but still some things are hard to believe,’’ Verbeek said.
“The understanding why they play football in 38C heat and don’t wait two hours later to play in the evening, and they talk about the quality of the A-League.
“Why do you play football during a FIFA break when the best players aren’t here?
“And we have now 11 teams and we play only 27 games — and I still don’t know why we play three times against some teams and then twice against other teams.
“That’s really strange and I don’t think you get used to it because you want to have the best team prepared.
“You can’t change it because it’s FFA who decides, or (TV broadcaster) Fox Sports, so the commercial aspect is more important than the football.
“In Europe it’s not that way.”
I SAID CAPTAIN, YOU SAID WHAT?
Verbeek inked his two-year deal on an idea that he could build a new squad around then Adelaide United captain Isaias and South Australian winger Craig Goodwin.
The pair had outstanding 2018/19 seasons.
Goodwin was flying, scoring 15 goals with nine assists in 31 A-League and FFA Cup matches, which put him back in the Socceroos but also grabbed the attention of rival international clubs.
Isaias, as usual, was at his brilliant best for his sixth consecutive season before Verbeek confronted the bombshell revelation the captain was headed overseas.
The shock loss could have destroyed his vision – but it didn’t.
“Did I get what I wanted?’’ he said.
“When I signed my contract, Craig Goodwin was still here and I didn’t know about any clause in his contract and even Isaias was still here.
“Piet said ‘build a team around those two because they’re the best players’. And there’s some money to invest.
“So when I came here Isaias was going (to Qatar), I didn’t see him at all, and Goodwin I saw for one or two weeks (before he left for Saudi Arabia).
“I had to start all over again.
“Lucky James Troisi was still free because you need some quality players, it’s very difficult to get foreign good players because Adelaide is not like a Sydney FC or Melbourne Victory where you can pay those players a lot of money.
“Then you have to search for good Australian players late in pre-season and it makes it more difficult.
“Then you have to give youth a chance and lucky for us, there’s some good youth players that are doing well and that’s a surprise.”
THE GREAT WALL EXPERIMENT
Adelaide United signing an amateur player from sister club Qingdao Red Lions reserves was met by disbelief as critics lamented the Reds had wasted a visa spot – and money – on 20-year-old Yongbin Chen.
Most of that club’s players are part-timers and have jobs outside the game.
Chen wasn’t last week registered to play Y-League games and was training with NPL coach Paul Pezos.
“I was not told to play him (Chen in the A-League),’’ Verbeek said
“Piet told me before there will be a Chinese guy and the level of Chinese football he said is also lower than in the A-League, even in the second and third leagues.
“Still, he wants us to get Chinese players here and it’s OK, you still have four other spots for visa players.
“The first time he (van der Pol) talked about a 33 or 34-year-old central defender (from China), after that he changed his mind he said ‘it’s better you get a youth player and we will see how he develops in one year’.”
“Otherwise we will bring next year another young player, it’s good for the Chinese club when he has been here for one year to become a better football player.
“My expectation is that Chen doesn’t play in the A-League.
“I don’t know (much about him), I haven’t seen him train.
“I don’t know what Paul Pezos plans are, it’s a big difference coming from China where he was playing and you give them also time in months to maybe play NPL to join the squad.”
THE FUTURE
Where Verbeek comes from, the January transfer window can cause lots of heartache to clubs with small budgets as the big ones sign guns to shore up their squads.
The Dutchman believes he won’t have to look over his shoulder in the A-League given the salary cap has all but closed doors on cashed-up teams propping up stock.
“The transfer window is open so I can’t imagine that Victory is doing something or Perth is doing something, their expectations are a little bit more than you see from now,’’ he said.
“I think Piet told me a top six place would be no problem when they were 10 (now 11) teams “the other four teams you’ll beat them.”
“Everybody can beat anybody on a good day and you we have to play three times against Victory a good team normally and against Central Coast we also have to play three times.
“I can only see in the future every team is well organised and everyone is doing well and going about their philosophy.
“Some teams are really defensive in thinking and playing and they will be worse when they need points.
“Here sometimes I think the teams don’t want to have the ball they want to react and make the transition.
“I prefer to control the game with the ball and yeah it was very hard against Brisbane (1-0) we didn’t control the game with the ball they did with the ball and still we won crazy that’s also football.”