Adelaide United coach John Kosmina is not willing to alter his side ahead of Tuesday night’s AFC Champions League last-16 clash with Nagoya Grampus at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Adelaide United coach John Kosmina is not willing to alter his side ahead of Tuesday night’s AFC Champions League last-16 clash with Nagoya Grampus at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The Reds play host to Nagoya after finishing top in Group E and securing home ground advantage for the Nagoya clash following a 2-0 victory over Japanese giants Gamba Osaka last week.
Nagoya advanced to the second round after thumping Hyundai A-League finalists Central Coast Mariners 3-0 in a scrap for second spot on the last day of the Group G fixtures.
After conceding last Friday he had a selection dilemma ahead of Nagoya’s visit following Dutch striker Sergio van Dijk’s scoring return against Gamba, Kosmina was still uncertain whether to make changes.
The 55-year-old said it was tempting to include Van Dijk and switch to a two striker formation alongside the inform Bruce Djite, but would more than likely stick to his winning formula.
“It’s a tough one, but I’ll go back to my favourite saying, which is if ‘it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’,” Kosmina said.
“I will still weigh up the change with Serge, and look at it as whether we can get ourselves into a situation to lock the game up or want to go on with it.
“At the moment though I’m leaning towards stability because we’ve done well with what we’ve had and the way we’ve gone about it.”
After witnessing Nagoya dispatch of the Central Coast with relative ease last Tuesday night, Kosmina said he contacted newly re-signed Mariners coach Graham Arnold over what to expect.
“I watched them against Central Coast last week and had a good chat with Arnie (Arnold) the other day and they are a good side with a couple of national team players who play very well,” Kosmina said.
“The fact we have got the home ground advantage and need to make the most of it also puts a bit more pressure on.
“Any of the Japanese teams are beatable though given the trip they must make.
“We must get our heads in the right space and if we do that then we have got every chance of being successful.”
Despite enduring an A-League season to forget, another extended run in the ACL has put the Reds back on the map.
Given the strong loss of support towards the end of the dismal domestic campaign, Kosmina hopes Adelaide can regain and even capture a few new fans following their Asian success.
The former Sydney FC coach was confident the Reds’ positive results could have the round ball code competing once more in South Australia.
“If we get over 10,000 (at Hindmarsh Stadium) next week I think that speaks for itself and says what it has done for the game in this state,” Kosmina said.
“I think people have forgotten how successful Adelaide United has been and they’ve probably forgotten about the brand a bit because we didn’t have a very good domestic season.
“That’s an unfortunate fact of sport in the 21st century. Winners are grinners and people like winners, and when you’re not winning – and it’s not just our code – people don’t turn up.”
Adelaide have no fresh injury concerns while Nagoya may be without Socceroo Josh Kennedy who is recovering from a back complaint.
