Adelaide United Head Coach Theo Tsiounis believes his side has plenty of room to grow after an encouraging opening-round draw away to Sydney FC, as the Reds prepare to host Perth Glory at ServiceFM Stadium tomorrow.
With young players making their mark and a new-look squad beginning to put his ideas into practice, Tsiounis is excited to see United build on its first competitive outing in front of family, friends and the Reds faithful.
On the positives from Sydney…
“I think there are a lot of positives for a first-round game. First and foremost, it’s more about bringing our model to life, and games are a great opportunity to do that.
“We can see the areas that we’re doing well in and areas that we need to pay more attention to moving forward.
“Holly Murray, I think, defended exceptionally well and was comfortable with the ball. A lot of positives throughout the team, and in particular, when we talk about our game model, we’re starting to see aspects of that come to life.”
On the squad’s willingness to learn…
“The intent to improve, the intent to learn, has been exceptional from all the girls in this short period of time.
“We’ve got a fair bit of depth and consistency within the squad. We talked about early on that all the girls are going to have a pretty big part to play in this journey at various times.
“It’s important that everyone’s ready to go when they get those opportunities, and some of those girls got those opportunities earlier than possibly expected.”
On Daisy Drawwater’s debut…
“Daisy was exceptional this year with Football SA in the WNPL and she has been training very well. She holds her own in the middle of the park.
“She’s a technical player. She’s got great work ethic, willingness to learn and be better, and she fits into what we’re looking for.
“She’s been with us for the duration of the pre-season.
“Even though she came on late in the game, it was a critical time in the game. It could have gone either way. She had a part to play, as did a lot of the other girls.”
On the challenge posed by Perth…
“Perth have had a pretty consistent team the last couple of years, and they finished off the season reasonably well last year after a slowish start.
“They’re going to be pretty organised. They’ve got some physical players. They’ve also got some speed up top as well that they rely on.
“They’ll look to get the ball forward reasonably quickly and rely on some of their forwards to create some problems for us.
“We’re going to continue with the processes that we have in place. We look to continuously add to what we do and be better at what we’re doing.”
On returning home…
“I know that a lot of the girls have got family and friends coming down to support.
“It’s an opportunity for us, whether ServiceFM or Coopers Stadium, to make it hard for teams to come.
“We’ve had some really good weeks on the track, and it’s exciting to see how it all comes together.
“When these young girls really get their confidence… I think they’ve got a few more levels to go.”
On leadership and Hodgson’s milestone…
“We’ve got some amazing people and amazing leaders. It doesn’t just end with that leadership group.
“Adriana’s led by example. She’s looking to help everybody around her.
“We talk about leaders creating leaders, and that’s what these girls have been doing. They’re trying to strengthen and develop the people around them to be better people and better footballers.”
Tsiounis also praised Emily Hodgson after the defender reached 150 Adelaide United appearances against Sydney.
“Achieving that is credit to her and her personality and her perseverance.
“Every training session she’s contesting every challenge. She’s fully invested in what’s going on, wants to learn, wants to be better.
“She’s a great role model for the girls at the Club, but also for girls within the state and the country.”
