Adelaide United captain Craig Goodwin says the Reds must strengthen in the Isuzu UTE A-League off-season transfer window after the departure of several senior squad members.
Goodwin was named Adelaide skipper for the second time in his career this week, taking over from Ryan Kitto who led the Reds through Goodwin’s two-season absence from the South Australian club.
The Subway Socceroo has returned to his hometown amid a transitional off-season in which Airton Andrioli has replaced Adelaide legend Carl Veart as the club’s head coach, and several senior players have headed for the exit door, including star duo Zach Clough and Stefan Mauk to overseas teams.
READ MORE: Craig Goodwin named Adelaide captain as young South Australian duo join leadership group
Speaking after his unveiling as Reds captain for the Isuzu UTE A-League 2025-26 season, Goodwin addressed the “frustration” within the Adelaide supporter base at the club’s transfer activity so far this off-season.
“The landscape of Australian football means that young players are going to come and go. That’s always been the case, and that’s what you want,” Goodwin said.
“So if there are young players from this team that are going, that’s completely acceptable, as hard as it is to accept sometimes as a fan, but that’s the role of clubs in Australia essentially to be able to foster these young kids and send them on. So that’s going to be the case.
“Obviously, on the flip side, two of your senior players going is not expected, and that comes a little bit from left field. So I can understand from a fan perspective, the frustration.
“But like I said, you know, I believe in the squad that we have. I believe that the club does have the obligation to go and strengthen the team, and I believe that will happen. But having said that, when I first signed, besides a couple of boys who have gone, we have, for the most part, the same squad that was first and second for the large majority of last year (2023-24 season).
“And it’s about changing that mentality and finding that different gear and that different attitude on a daily basis to be able to maintain that standard for the whole season.
“I think the quality is there, and hopefully, with myself, I’ll be able to drive that even to another level again. And I think you’ll see a very different, mentally focused group.”
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Goodwin was named captain of the club within a leadership group featuring experienced Dutchman Bart Vriends as well as young South Australian duo Ethan Alagich and Panagiotis Kikianis.
Head coach Andrioli’s decision to include both Kikianis and Alagich in Adelaide’s leadership group comes as the club puts young, local talent at the heart of its mission moving forward – a mission Goodwin is eager to lead from the front.
“It is a very young group, and it is getting younger,” Goodwin said.
“Obviously, with the (departure) of Zach and Steph, it leaves a hole in having to recruit some players. So (there’s) definitely the need for that going forward, because having just the three guest senior players in there does leave it a bit lopsided.
“But having said tha,t we have a good young group, and some of the younger players there have good leadership qualities and have the personality, it’s about nurturing that.
“It does leave a lot of responsibility on me, but I feel that I thrive in those precious situations, and I look forward to the challenge.”
Goodwin came back to the Reds carrying a foot injury that has impacted his pre-season but the club captain expects to be back with the team shortly as he ramps up his training regime.
“(I’m) not too far, probably another week away from full training with the team,” Goodwin said.
“Everything went well today and in the last few days, so I’ll be a bit in with the team in the next session on Thursday, and then again, building up from there.
“But we got the chance to, I guess with a long pre-season, build up slowly and make sure that we get it right, so that I’m not having any hiccups throughout the season.”
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