Gold Coast United gloveman Glen Moss has rubbished rumours of backroom tensions at the club and suggested Sunday’s elimination final opponent, Adelaide United, might have more of a problem.
Gold Coast United will field a very different squad next season after confirming the departures of Bas van den Brink, Steve Pantelidis, Dino Djulbic, Zenon Caravella and captain Jason Culina – and prolific marksman Shane Smeltz is yet to commit to the Glitter Strip club, reportedly weighing up offers from Newcastle and Perth.
Moss insisted the squad turnover comes as no distraction for the team, pointing to the jovial and positive nature of their training sessions as proof of their harmony. He added the Reds might struggle in that department after Paul Reid’s demand for an immediate release to Sydney FC was denied and Cassio’s outburst at the lack of effort put in by teammates at training.
“It doesn’t look like it, does it?” Moss said. “If anything things like that can kind of help you because it might be our last game together.”
“If you’re going into the week thinking about things like that you’d want to put in the best for yourself and your teammates as well.”
“We’ve got a pretty tight-knit bunch here and I think that’s a big positive for us. Hearing stories down there of boys walking out of training, they might have a few problems. It’s definitely not the case up here.”
Moss has seen a lot of action in recent times, putting in another stellar performance to keep Melbourne Victory scoreless set the stage for Dink Djulbic to head home the matchwinner in Sunday’s 1-0 elimination final win at Skilled Park.
With Adelaide boasting a strikeforce featuring the league’s leading scorer, Sergio van Dijk, midfield maestro Marcos Flores and a wealth of skilled and pacy wingers – such as captain Travis Dodd, livewire Mathew Leckie and Dutchman Andwele Slory – Moss is expecting another busy day at the office but remains confident of progressing further.
“We thought we’d be under attack with Melbourne as well but in saying that, we did well against Archie Thompson and Carlos Hernandez when they came on with fresh legs towards the end,” he said.
“Hopefully we can do the same and if we stay disciplined and just keep doing what we’ve been doing, more of the same, then I don’t think we’ll have too many problems.”
“I was happy with the way we defended. We were a bit slow out of the blocks in the Melbourne game, which was the only real negative. Towards the end of the game I didn’t have much to do and then Dino popped up at the end.”
“It’s probably going to be another tight judging from what’s happened between us in the past. It’s good for me in a way that we’ve got a solid defence and they’re pretty much the same. It’s another final and it could come down to the wire again.”
