After Adelaide United’s friendly draw with Western United on Saturday, Gertjan Verbeek admits his side still have plenty of improvement in attack.
The Reds played out a 0-0 stalemate against the new Hyundai A-League franchise in Ballarat as part of Adelaide’s five-day pre-season camp in Victoria.
READ MORE: Reds play out 0-0 draw with Western United
Verbeek said he was content with the squad particularly with how the young players have integrated in the senior team.
However, the Dutchman was disappointed that the Reds were unable to breakdown Western United’s defensive system.
“I’m satisfied about the involvement from the young guys and the way we want to play football,” he said following the match.
“On Tuesday (against Newcastle Jets in the FFA Cup) it was one hour okay. It was good. And today was less than the hour I saw on Tuesday.
“I don’t know how, maybe it’s the opponent. They played a different system, they played a 5-3-2.
“And we had difficulties to find the open spaces and a lot of duels. We had a few good chances but it was not good enough to beat the opponent today.”
Verbeek added that finding consistency over the course of 90 minutes was the next challenge for his charges ahead of their FFA Cup Semi-final with Central Coast Mariners and Round 1 of the Hyundai A-League.
“I think what we still miss is the stability in how we want to play,” he said, when quizzed if there was something missing from their performance.
“Today you want to play your own game, but you’ve to also look at the organisation of the opponent.
“And we still have problems with making the good choices to defeat the opponent.
“The weak spot from the opponent we have to find… “It’s taking too long and the opponent every time can re-organise and then you see not a lot of big chances.”
Adelaide continue their pre-season camp when they play two separate friendlies against Melbourne City at the City Football Academy on Tuesday.
Adelaide United face Central Coast Mariners in the Semi-finals of the FFA Cup 2019 on Wednesday, 2 October at Central Coast Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACST. Live and Exclusive on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
