New Adelaide United Coach Josep Gombau ran his first training session today after arriving from Spain and promised the Reds would play beautiful football this season.
Not even a delayed international flight and early Monday morning arrival could stop new Adelaide United Coach Josep Gombau and Assistant Pau Marti, taking their first training session today.
When asked after the session of his thoughts, Gombau said his first impression was very good.
“I saw things I like a lot, and I also saw things I need to rearrange, but this is normal when arriving at a new team. Tomorrow we will have a meeting with the players and explain what we want to do during the pre-season.
“We have a long pre-season, this is good, we have two and a half months and we can go step by step and I am happy from my first day of working here”.
Gombau-s intent to play football the Barcelona style was made clear from the start, where they keep possession of the ball, play attacking football with three strikers, and play in the opponents half.
“We want to play beautiful football and hope that people enjoy when they come to see us,” Gombau said.
He also admitted that he does not know yet whether he has or has not got the right players to pull this style of play off, but that will come with time.
With a two year contract, Gombau has been brought to Adelaide United for a specific reason. Both the Club and Gombau are dedicated to building a solid foundation, which starts with strong first steps.
“I need to start something from the beginning, which is the style, the skills. If you want to play this way you need to go step by step.
“Of course I want to win, to try and be successful, like every coach at every single club – but step by step. If you make a good step at the beginning you put yourself in a better position”.
Gombau also touched on the imminent arrival of the two new Spanish players to arrive in Adelaide later this month, and early August.
“One is a striker who can play in the three positions at the top. This season he played more of a left winger than other positions, and is a player that has scored a lot of goals (24) this season. I think the A-League is a league that is physically very strong, and he is a strong player.
“The other player is a midfield – defensive – that is good at recovering the ball, but is also very good with the first pass. He is a player that can start an attacking play, and can play a 6, 8 or 10 positions”, Gombau said.
Versatility seems to be the main reasons for Adelaide United signing the Spaniards, but Gombau also explained that they are not just here for a holiday, they are here as they want to improve, and will work hard to prove themselves.
All eyes will be on Adelaide United and their Spanish influence come the start of the 2013/14 Hyundai A-League season, where Gombau hopes they can collectively do a good job and show that Adelaide United can be title contenders.