Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar says ’emotion’ won’t come into his decision making when naming a final team for the game against Melbourne Victory at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.
The Reds have included Angelo Costanzo, Diego and Jonas Salley in their extended squad despite the trio being out of favour with Vidmar in recent months. All three players won’t be with the club next year.
United has been reluctant to explain why these crowd favourites have had limited minutes in the second half of the season, but Vidmar insists they are still in the mix.
“Everyone is up for consideration every week, so we’ll decide on what’s best suited for the team and nothing else,” he said.
“Right now this isn’t about Angelo, this is not about Jonas, this is not about Diego, this is about the Adelaide United Football Club and what’s going on, on the weekend.”
“Sure, there is a lot of emotion about Angelo, even (from) myself, but we are making decisions on what’s best suited for the club, nothing else.”
Four players will be omitted from the team’s initial squad and it’s unlikely Costanzo, Diego or Salley will survive the cut despite their experience in big games.
Two players that will be rushed into the side will be Robbie Cornthwaite and Cassio. They replace the injured Michael Valkanis and Kristian Sarkies.
Cassio said he was looking forward to tackling the Victory and making an impact on the team’s effort.
“I’m OK, I’ve been training since after the game against Melbourne and feeling good, feeling fit and ready to go,” he said.
“I think we need a lot more inspiration than we had here last Saturday. We know we played bad, we can play better than we played but sometimes it happens.”
“Everyone needs to be excited to play; I don’t think this is a problem. Maybe we were a little bit flat but sometimes it happens.”
