Adelaide United coach Rini Coolen has described the Reds’ performance against Gold Coast United as tactically perfect after his side ran out 2-1 winners at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
The result ended the visitors run of four consecutive victories and was their first loss in eleven matches as Adelaide marked their first ever win over GCU.
After labelling his former FC Twente prodigy Jason Culina as the best player in the Hyundai A-League during the week, Coolen masterfully planned to prevent the influence of the Gold Coast captain.
Culina was afforded little time on the ball and restricted to possession inside his own half, limiting his attacking threat while midfield partner Zenon Caravella also endured a tough night.
The Reds were also solid in defence shutting down striker Bruce Djite, in his first game in four fixtures, despite the former Reds marksmen hitting the post in the first half.
“If you see the whole 90, 94 minutes we played it was tactically perfect,” Coolen said.
“It was well organised, we created a lot of chances, we kept the ball for long periods. Even sometimes when there wasn’t so much speed in the game we never gave it away. We only can be happy with the points. We need it.”
Coolen also heaped praised on Reds midfield maestro Marcos Flores after the Argentine was instrumental in setting up Paul Reid for United’s opening goal.
Flores received the ball from Reid on the edge of the area before turning his marker to find his team-mate for the return pass, with a deft, no-look chip that landed in the path of the sprinting Reid who nailed a half-volley from 10 metres.
“Flores, like everybody knows, is something special,” he said.
“He does things that no one expects. Also, sometimes he makes mistakes but he’s free to do those kinds of things. Sometimes it’s brilliant and sometimes it’s easy to give the ball away. But, that’s what we prefer, to let him play. Don’t think too much, do that whatever you want when you have the ball.”
“He’s also a team player because he has a lot of big jobs to do when we don’t have the ball. He tries to learn that, he wants to learn that and he wants to work hard and that’s something special in a key player like him. As a number 10, he has a lot of freedom but he also takes responsibility for the team, it’s fantastic.”
Reds captain Travis Dodd also got on the scoresheet after heading home from close range within 90 seconds of the restart and he admitted United’s confidence has returned after three losses from four matches earlier this month.
Dodd said the Reds have a regained some healthy competition within the squad for places in the XI, while solid training has seen United produce better quality on the pitch.
“There is certainly an air of confidence within the team at the moment,” he said.
“I think it has come back over the last couple of weeks and it hadn’t been as high I don’t think. The players that we’ve had on the bench come on want to make a difference. Everyone wants to start, everyone wants to have a game.”
“These guys come off the bench and try and prove themselves so it lifts everybody else around them as well. It’s the same at training, competitive training sessions lead to better quality and it translates to better football on the park.”
