Adelaide United will have an opportunity to fine tune its game plan ahead of its next AFC Champions League match with a competitive trial against Central Coast on Thursday afternoon at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Reds boss Aurelio Vidmar arranged the friendly with new Mariners coach and close friend Graham Arnold, in order to help his side’s preparations for its third ACL match against Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima next Wednesday night.
“We’ll try and give as many players a run as we can,” Vidmar said.
“We really appreciate Graham (Arnold) and the Mariners coming over for the hit out, it will definitely be beneficial for us so we thank them for agreeing to the game and I-m sure they will provide us with excellent competition.”
Vidmar will be keen to give the likes of Adam Griffiths and former Mariner Nigel Boogaard some valuable game time.
Griffiths has played just 28 minutes in the opening two ACL matches, while Boogaard is yet to see any action having been an unused substitute on both occasions.
Meanwhile, Arnold insists the friendly shouldn’t count as his first match in charge of the Mariners.
“I wouldn’t say it’s my first game, it’s a training session. It’s a good opportunity to have a look at some of the younger players, and to make my mind up on a few players for next season,” he said.
“The boys have been excellent since the season ended, I’ve trained them for another month to down-train them and their attitude has been fantastic, but I think they are looking forward to having a game of football instead of training.”
“Aurelio (Vidmar) is a good friend of mine. He’s done a fantastic job down there in Adelaide and they’re doing well in the Champions League, but one of the problems for teams in the Champions League is keeping match fit out of season, but Aurelio knew that we trained on so he rang us for a game, so we will go down there and give them as good a game as we can.”
The Mariners will continue to train until the end of March, when they will have a much-deserved break after almost two years of non-stop football thanks to their participations in last year’s ACL.
Arnold also revealed that he is hoping to add some new faces to the squad to join the likes of Daniel McBreen, Joshua Rose and Mustafa Amini, who will all link up with the club for pre-season training in May.
“I’m very happy with the Australian recruitment. There will be another one or two good signings in the next couple of weeks, plus there will be another three or four visa players to really add some top quality in the squad,” he said.
“I’ve got talent scouts out pretty much all over Europe, the UK and South America as we speak, then, on March 31 I’m going to South America for two weeks to have a look at some of the players that the scouts have identified, and then across to the UK for the next four weeks until the end of the Premier League, and while I’m there with youth teams, Championship and lower divisions playing midweek, I’ll be able to get out and see some of those games as well.”
“Hopefully by the time the middle of May comes around I’ll be able to come back with a couple of overseas signings.”
