Adelaide United coach Rini Coolen said he will return to his preferred formation in the hope of reviving his side’s season following a disappointing start.
Adelaide United coach Rini Coolen said he will return to his preferred formation in the hope of reviving his side’s season following a disappointing start.
Having tinkered with his line-ups and tactics in previous weeks due to Adelaide’s depleted stocks through injury, Coolen returned to his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation against Melbourne Victory last Saturday night.
The once accustomed shape paid dividends for Adelaide upon its return as the Reds attacked and fought hard for a 1-1 draw with their interstate rivals.
Coolen admitted a poor run of results that’s seen just one win in the past month of football was enough to revert back to the former system.
“Because of a few circumstances we changed some things in our shape for the last few weeks with a 4-4-2 system … We got some results out of it but we didn-t play good enough so it was a good reason to go back to our old formation,” Coolen said.
“That (4-2-3-1) system suits us best. We paid a lot of attention on it and it worked out very well last week (against Melbourne).”
“Going back to that system and formation makes it clearer for the players, and gives them a bit more freedom as well.”
Reds defender Nigel Boogaard agreed with his coach suggesting the original formation ‘played to the strengths’ of the team, while other structures focused on the opposition.
“In previous weeks we probably concentrated a little bit too much on the other side and that was why there was a change of formation so regularly,” Boogaard said.
“This formation is back to playing to our strengths … and really getting the most out of our players.”
“We should be able to adapt to any formation that the coach sets out there but it does make the boys understand and know their roles better.”
Adelaide gets to set to take on fellow cellar dwellers Gold Coast United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
Gold Coast sit in last place with a solitary victory this season and were the last side to lose to Adelaide when the Reds defeated the Queensland side 2-1 in early November.
Despite Gold Coast having lost five of their past six games Coolen refused to underestimate the bottom-placed side as the Reds look to climb the table.
“They are a very organised team with a lot of attacking players in transition,” Coolen said.
“They play pretty well but they are not in a fantastic position on like us on the ladder, so we have to be careful about their strong side.”
“They got some good confidence out of their last game against Sydney and be aware of what’s going to happen, but it’s more important to worry about ourselves and our own game plan.”
“That’s what we did last week … and there were some very good signs, we played much better football.
“But most of all we have to win our games and make some steps up the ladder.”
Boogaard said the players needed to take responsibility and finally put words into action.
“We really need the three points. There are no more excuses,” Boogaard said.
“We can’t keep saying we need to win. We have to win … there is no doubt about it, we can’t keep letting games go by.”
Adelaide defender Milan Susak will miss Friday night’s clash with a knee injury.
