Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar is not concerned over his team’s failure to make the Pre-Season Cup final and is pleased with the progress the Reds have made in what has been an unbeaten pre-season campaign.
The Reds were shooting for their third straight Pre-Season Cup title, but needed to win Saturday’s clash against Perth Glory in Mt Gambier after Melbourne had beaten Newcastle earlier in the day. The Reds’ 0-0 draw was not enough for them to make Wednesday’s decider but Vidmar has been happy with what his team has achieved.
“It would have been nice, but that just the way it is. I was pretty happy with the way the boys had played in the first half. The second half we were a little bit flat, but that’s understandable, we did a fair bit of work last week,” Vidmar said.
“I think over the three games we’ve moved forward, we’ve evolved. Just lacking a little bit of quality now. There was a fair bit of movement in the first half which was good, but unfortunately the execution in front of goal wasn’t there. We just need to sharpen up a little bit in front of goal,” he said.
It’s been a pre-season about processes rather than outcomes for Vidmar and his men, especially integrating several new players, including Cristiano, Alemao and Scott Jamieson.
“It’s understandable, the more games they play together, the better they’ll be. It’s going to take a little bit of time. We would have liked a couple more games before the season, but that’s just the way it is. I’m sure once the season starts, with the extreme intensity and the pressure of the A-League, they’ll be better for it,” he said.
Adelaide plays Perth in the opening match of the Hyundai A-League season in just two weeks, but Vidmar is not expecting that match to be anything like the Mt Gambier clash.
“It’s certainly going to be different circumstances. Even with Melbourne and Newcastle, who we played over the last couple of weeks, had five or six players out,” he said.
“They will obviously be a lot stronger. You have a look at Perth today, they were missing some big players as well, you can’t read too much into it today.”
That’s something Perth coach David Mitchell agrees with and he expects the clash at Hindmarsh Stadium to be of a very different nature.
“They’ll have different players, we’ll have different players. In general, they are quite a physical side and we can be. We matched them and it was a good games, but I think Round 1 will be different story,” he said.
Mitchell has been pleased with his team’s performance throughout the pre-season, despite the fact they failed to register a win.
“The hard thing we’ve had is that I haven’t had my full squad. We’ve got guys at the Olympics, a few guys overseas, but they are starting to come together now. I think as the season goes on, we’ll become a better side,” he said.
