Adelaide United boss Gertjan Verbeek said the Reds loss to Wellington Phoenix started with a bad mindset at training
Adelaide United’s Gertjan Verbeek has slammed his side after its shock loss to Wellington Phoenix on Sunday.
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It’s 10 out of 10 for a brave Gertjan Verbeek after marking his side as a “three or four” for a very ordinary performance at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday night.
In very stark contrast to an almost perfect performance eight days prior when the Reds belted Melbourne Victory all over the park in a 3-1 win, Verbeek didn’t hold back.
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The Dutchman warned media on Saturday that his side was due for losses after winning five games on the trot, including the FFA Cup final, before facing then-bottom of the table Wellington Phoenix.
Former Adelaide United coach John Kosmina labelled the clash a “banana skin” in his Sunday Mail column before Verbeek handed out an honest appraisal of the Reds performance.
Never mind Phoenix’s penalty which Ulises Davila converted as the winner which many claimed VAR got wrong after the electronic helper wiped out a first half spot kick which was an obvious error from the referee Adam Fielding.
The second penalty wasn’t an obvious error in Phoenix’s shock 2-1 win.
After Nikola Mileusnic scored a goal of the season contender to give the Reds an undeserved lead, it looked like the Reds would finally wake from a lethargic performance but it didn’t.
“I saw a team and I have to give them a number last week it was a nine (out of 10), today it was a three or a four (out of 10),’’ Verbeek said.
“It’s a big difference, it’s too big and that way you can’t win this game, it’s impossible.
“It has to do with the mindset I warned them already on Friday because I was very disappointed with the individual and tactical training.
“(Saturday training) also I wasn’t satisfied, there was a lot of set pieces, they weren’t sharp, they weren’t aggressive.
“They got a third warning from their opponent in the first half and they got their chances.
“Then you get a lucky goal (Mileusnic), a beautiful goal, but they were the better team.
“You can talk about tactics and what’s going wrong but if you start with the wrong mindset you can’t play every time like last week.”
REDS’ DEVIL’S PITCHFORK
Verbeek’s game plan was imminent from the start but the Reds were always keen to impatiently win the ball back with a high press.
Although it was Adelaide’s roaming Devil’s Pitchfork which caused Phoenix the most trouble away boss Ufuk Talay shut down the supply to the potential game breakers at the start of the second half.
But not before James Troisi – who warmed up in track pants – was pivotal.
He always was an option for a third man to form a triangle coming in with late runs from behind for a defence splitting pass moving forward.
His roving role across the width of midfield suits the clever playmaker as he teamed up regularly with Riley McGree and Ben Halloran before Talay shut those doors with a tactical tweak.
It proved to be a match winning move as Troisi being nullified forced McGree to move deep to get the ball before he was hooked.
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL IS A LOSER
Brace yourself for another two Sunday matches at Coopers Stadium this season in a timeslot which is clearly poor for many fans.
Perhaps many were at the international cricket match at Adelaide Oval perhaps they weren’t.
Just 6207 fans turned up to watch the Reds and Phoenix at a time of year where folk are potentially thinking about winding up a school year.
Christmas is around the corner and holidays for most are approaching fast.
Or perhaps it’s just easier to stay home for those with Fox Sports and channel hop.
Whatever the excuses are, the club must work harder to ensure more live engagement with a community which is big enough in SA but many are dormant especially for ‘smaller’ A-League games.
There was almost a 50 per cent drop in crowd numbers from the clash against Melbourne Victory when 12,198 turned up eight days earlier.
Roar and Adelaide on a Sunday in November attracted 8428 the lowest turn out of the season.
Adelaide faces Newcastle Jets next Sunday and then host the same side again in March on a Sunday so the Reds backroom team have ample time to kick those crowd figures much higher.
No excuses.