United Media sat down with Senior Men’s Head Coach Airton Andrioli ahead of the Reds’ 2026/27 season officially kicking off in the Hahn Australia Cup this week.
Airton discusses:
• The Club’s goals for the season ahead
• The opportunity presented by the AFC Champions League Elite Preliminary Round
• The ambition to go “one step further” in the A-League Men
• The depth of the squad
• Stability across the playing and coaching groups
Andrioli on our Australia Cup and season goals…
“As always, in football, you ultimately want to be competing at the highest level. You want to be successful, and winning is part of that – there’s no question about it.
“We’ve prepared well over the last couple of weeks, and we see this Cup as an opportunity not only to play ourselves into the season through competitive matches, but also to go as far as we can.
“Our mindset doesn’t change. Every competition we play in, we want to give ourselves a chance to win, and that’s the mentality we’re taking into it.”
Andrioli on the stability of the squad and backroom staff, and how it has helped our start to pre-season…
“Last season, as we know, there were lots of changes at the Club, including within the coaching staff and quite a number of players leaving, so we had to start from scratch.
“This season has been different. They came into pre-season at a higher level than they did last year.
“The S&C staff are already used to what we want to do, and the coaching staff has been together for a full season. There are a number of things looking more positive from the outset, so I think we are a step ahead of where we were last year.
“We hope we can show that in our first game this Thursday.”
Andrioli on the Club’s approach to the ACL Elite Preliminary Round and the importance of our experienced players…
“There’s no question – that’s a massive game for us. We haven’t been in this competition for, I think, 10 years, and it’s a reward for what we did last season, obviously finishing second in the league.
“We’re placing a lot of emphasis on this match because we want to be in that Elite competition. We have a playing group that understands the opportunity. It’s also good for the development of our players to compete in a different competition.
“In so many aspects, that game has a lot riding on it, so we want to be ready. We know what’s in front of us – tough opposition and a difficult game. It’s a one-off.
“But as we said last season, it’s all about your mindset. We want to play at the highest level possible, and we’re going to take that game extremely seriously. We believe we can get a result and be in that competition.”
Andrioli on the opportunity to play in the ACL Elite…
“As I said, I think it’s great for us. We want to be a successful Club – winning matches and playing at the highest level.
“That adds another element because the boys who played last season now have another season under their belts. They’re growing, getting stronger and maturing, and playing in this competition is going to stretch them to another level. That’s what we want.
“From every aspect, this game is massive. Playing in that competition would be great and, as I said, we want to be ready for the match. Hopefully, we can get it over the line.”
Andrioli on “going one step further” in the A-League…
“We had a very successful season last year – there’s no question about that. We achieved a lot.
“Sometimes people ask questions from an outside perspective, but I said throughout the season that we knew what we were doing internally. We knew what we wanted to be as a football team, and I think we showed that on the pitch last season.
“The reward was getting so close. We came very close to reaching the Grand Final, but it still hurts all of us. We want to make sure we come back bigger and stronger, with more belief and confidence, because we want to be in that Grand Final. There’s no question about that.
“It would be extremely important for the Club not just to continue developing players, but to develop players who can perform at the highest possible level. I think we’ve proven we can do that, so this is a big target for us this season.
“The other aspect is our supporters. They want a winning team on the pitch that plays exciting football. I think we did that part last season. We played exciting football, and people enjoyed coming to watch us.
“The only thing we want to add is putting ourselves in a position to go one step further.”
Andrioli on squad depth and the continued development of top-quality players…
“Look, we’ve got a good squad. We’ve got at least two or three players for each position.
“We also have a group of young players who are knocking on the door. As we’ve always said, there are lots of young players we don’t know about until we give them the opportunity to play at this level.
“We also have experience in Asia. We’ve got players like Anselmo, Goodwin and Muñiz who have played in that competition before. Obviously, Bart is also an experienced player in the squad.
“I think we’ve got some very good elements at the moment to build a successful team and perform well in both competitions.”
