Adelaide United coach John Kosmina is adamant he has found the quality to make his side title contenders again following the club’s recent signings.
Adelaide United coach John Kosmina is adamant he has found the quality to make his side title contenders again following the club’s recent signings.
The Reds have added a South American flavour to the squad after signing Argentinean duo Marcelo Carrusca and Jeronimo Morales in the past two weeks.
Carrusca, a member of Argentina’s Under-20 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship side, joins Adelaide on the back of stints with Argentine sides Estudiantes and San Martin, and Turkish powerhouse Galatasaray, where the 28-year-old won the Turkish League.
Morales, who emerged from former Argentine champions River Plate’s youth system, enjoyed various spells throughout South America before spending a season with English Championship side Barnsley in 2010/11.
The pair are United’s only signings ahead of the new season – which for the Reds is preceded by an AFC Champions League quarter-final on September 19 – after missing out on the signature of former cult hero Marcos Flores to rivals Melbourne Victory.
The club has also seen the departures of defender Daniel Mullen and defensive midfielder Francisco Usucar.
After what he described as a difficult and drawn-out search around the globe for talent that included being farcically duped by a bogus player, Kosmina believes he has found two players with the right fit.
Kosmina gave a particularly glowing reference to the ‘elegant’ Carrusca, who will make his debut against a South Australian state select team on Wednesday night.
“Straight away, I went ‘this guy’s great’ … quality player,” Kosmina said after watching a DVD of the ex-Banfield midfielder.
“I wanted a left-sided midfielder, someone good in one-on-ones with elegance … and that little bit of smoothness and subtlety about him, and he’s got it.
“The good thing about a player like Marcelo is he has experience on his side and has played at a really high level for a long period of time.”
Morales, similar to Carrusca, was discovered late by Adelaide’s scouts and is expected to add firepower to a Reds front-line that includes Dutch veteran Sergio van Dijk and the powerful Bruce Djite.
“Jeronimo was a good deal. It was almost a deal too good to be true,” Kosmina said.
“I was really impressed with the type of player he is. He’s got some versatility and we don’t have a player in the squad quite like him.
“I couldn’t tell whether he was right- or left-footed naturally. He’s comfortable on both sides of his body, a very good finisher and gives us some depth in front of goals and also out wide.”
The remaining vacant spot on Adelaide’s 23-man roster is to be given to the once highly-touted Portuguese sensation Fabio Ferreira who has spent the past five months with NSW State League club Dulwich Hill in a bid to break into the A-League.
The former Chelsea reserve and product of Sporting Lisbon’s famed youth academy was offered a contract last week after impressing Kosmina during a recent trial but was unable to sign due to complications with a visa.
Kosmina expects the situation to be sorted soon for the 22-year-old who he warned will be the surprise package for the Reds this season.
“You don’t get signed at Chelsea for four years by (former Chelsea coach) Jose Mourinho unless you’ve got something about you,” Kosmina said.
“Fab’s one who I think is going to be a real surprise packet. Everyone talks about Marcelo, Jeronimo, Dario (Vidosic) or Serge (van Dijk) but Fabio’s got a really good pedigree.
“He did enough in (training) camp at Strathalbyn to show not only myself, but the other coaching staff as well, that he can certainly play football.
“He offers us a real point of difference in that he’s a natural wide player … and good dribbler with pace.
“Unfortunately we can’t use him for the ACL, so we will look to train him up for the A-League when it starts.”
