Adelaide United defender Michael Zullo said the club’s style of football is simply mirroring the trend of most teams worldwide.
Adelaide United defender Michael Zullo said the club’s style of football is simply mirroring the trend of most teams worldwide.
United and Brisbane Roar have been heralded as teams that have put strong emphasis on passing, possession-based football – with the Roar taking their game to two titles, while the Reds have begun to up the ante on their game style this season under new coach Josep Gombau.
The former FC Utrecht man said their style could help revolutionise football in Australia.
“For me, it’s not that hard because it’s how I’ve been playing overseas, it’s very similar sort of set-up to Dutch football,” said Zullo when asked about adjusting to Gombau’s style.
“It can be a bit of a big adjustment at first, but when you have the players that can play the system, which we do… it’s not that much of an adjustment.
“In world football terms, it’s the way forward.
“It’s the way most of the world are playing now, apart from the British nations.
“Everyone’s trying to play this kind of football, so if we can get that going in Australia, I feel as though it is the way forward, it’s the way that our country can develop as a football nation.”
Adelaide have not made their game plan work just yet, as they sit eighth on the table while Roar are flying high in first place.
But Zullo said the table was not a fair indicator of who played the more exciting football.
“I feel like people rave about Brisbane Roar and how they play, but at the same time, they play very similar to the way we play,” the Socceroo of 10 caps said.
“They’re just not giving away games like we are at the moment. And at the other end of the field, they’re putting away their chances.”
Zullo said the Reds will be aiming to eliminate their ‘crucial little errors’ that have cost them so far this campaign, when they travel to take on the Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park on Sunday.
“That’s something you don’t want, but I don’t think any of us go into a game thinking ‘What’s going to happen if we lose?'” said Zullo when asked if they feared losing to the winless Heart.
“We’re just going in believing in ourselves, because I do feel like we’re good enough, we have the players to win games and be very competitive in this league.
“I don’t feel where we are on the table at the moment justifies the way we’ve been playing.”
