Adelaide United coach John Kosmina said his players’ quick response to their early season woes has been the catalyst for a mid-season revival.
Adelaide United coach John Kosmina said his players’ quick response to their early season woes has been the catalyst for a mid-season revival.
Following Kosmina’s re-appointment three weeks ago the Reds are unbeaten with one draw and two consecutive wins, and now sit one place outside a top-six finals berth.
After drawing away to Sydney FC, United returned home last Friday to defeat Wellington Phoenix 2-0 before bringing a halt to Melbourne Heart’s five-match winning streak on A-League Big Wednesday with an impressive 3-1 victory.
In the previous three games alone the Reds almost doubled their points tally for the season, collecting seven points compared to only 10 that were mustered in 11 games under former coach Rini Coolen’s regime.
Kosmina used a vivid analogy to describe Adelaide’s past struggles before his return to the club sparked an instant turnaround, suggesting the players ‘dug themselves a hole’.
“From my perspective these guys dug themselves into a hole and I’ve come along and given them a shovel to help dig themselves out,” Kosmina said.
“They’ve done a great job and a shown a lot of character because they have actually responded and picked themselves up.”
“There were moments (against Melbourne Heart) where I thought ‘this is really good football’ … it was smart football.”
“Possession stats went against us but it’s what you do with it and I think we were fairly effective on both counts – with and without the ball.”
Having dispatched of the Heart, Adelaide will get set to play their third game in eight days when they take on reigning premiers Brisbane Roar at Hindmarsh Stadium on Saturday night.
Since setting the competition’s longest undefeated streak with 36 games the Roar have failed to recapture their imposing form, having won just once in their past seven games.
The last time the two sides met was in back in October when the Roar recorded one of the biggest victories in A-League history with a 7-1 drubbing of the Reds.
With a number of players no doubt eager to make amends and exact revenge on the second-placed Roar following the embarrassing defeat, Kosmina stressed the importance of his side remaining calm and focused.
The 55-year-old further played down the significance of the clash adding that the fixture was just another step in the club’s rejuvenation this season.
“Revenge is a dish best served cold but we won’t get too wound up this Saturday,” Kosmina quipped.
“It’s not about revenge it’s about the process and this game is just another step along the line in terms of where we want to end up at the end of the season and the type of football we want to play.”
“It’s not about getting back the seven goals conceded to Brisbane, it’s about making a step towards getting a result that will be beneficial for the team and the club further down the track.”
“Brisbane would have seen how well we played against Melbourne Heart and they’ll know it’s not going to be easy and know that the team won’t cave in like last time around.”
Adelaide still have some injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s match regarding Spase Dilevski (groin), Milan Susak (knee), Jon McKain (knee) and Bruce Djite, who was substituted in the 70th minute against the Heart as a precaution.
Kosmina is confident of Djite starting against Brisbane although Dilevski, Susak and McKain will be tested.
