Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar has described his players as ‘mentally fragile’ after their 3-3 draw with North Queensland Fury on Friday.
A frontrunner last season, the Reds could find themselves in ninth position by the end of the weekend after collecting just four points from its first four games.
Vidmar said the team’s sluggish start to the year was affecting the players’ mindset.
“We are very fragile at the moment, very fragile mentally and that’s where we are, you can see that,” he said.
“It’s not easy when you’ve lost a couple on the trot and we are certainly playing very jittery, we panic on the ball, we are not comfortable, certainly after a couple of losses you probably lose a bit of confidence as well and that’s football.”
“Now we need to show some real character. We have to turn it around and it’s not going to be easy.”
“We are going to have to get together and make sure we are committed.”
The Reds have had a poor run with injuries and several players have entered clashes underdone. Vidmar said this had also contributed to their indifferent form.
“We know there are a few players out there that are not totally fit and Rudes (Mark Rudan) came in tonight, a lack of match practice, and Lloyd (Owusu) as well they gave what they could and we had to change them, there was no way they would last 90 minutes,” he said.
“They are going to need some games obviously.”
Owusu’s performance was one of the few highlights to come from the game with the big striker providing a contest and bringing the ball to ground on many occasions.
“He certainly was a threat for a long period of time and got himself a nice goal and that’s always good for his confidence,” Vidmar said.
