Adelaide United Head Coach Airton Andrioli praised his side’s control and attacking intent after a hard-fought 1-1 draw in oppressive conditions at Coopers Stadium, while admitting frustration the Reds couldn’t convert a strong start into all three points.
Andrioli said United were excellent in the first half and began the second with momentum before a costly turnover allowed Macarthur back into the contest, with the visitors proving difficult to contain as the match wore on.
Andrioli on the performance and where the game turned
“I think we had a very good game in the first half. We controlled the game the way we want to play, on the front foot, creating chances. In the second half, we started well and had momentum again, playing in their half. Then we gave a few balls away and tried difficult things in some moments. From that scenario, they created a one-v-one and scored from it. We’re disappointed because we wanted to win, but they’re not an easy team to play. They’ve got a good bench and players who can hurt you on the break. They’re solid and difficult to play against, but we wanted the win and it didn’t work for us tonight.”
Andrioli on trusting a youthful squad and why they’ve earned it
“They deserve to be there. Ryan White has played seven consecutive matches and you can see how much he is growing in the game. We know how physical he can be, but we’re also finding out how good he can be on the ball. It’s the same with the young boys. You saw Amlani Tatu come in tonight – you can see how raw he is, he’s got a lot of potential, but he needs minutes to get experience and learn. It doesn’t surprise me that we keep producing young players. We’re proud of it, happy about it, and it motivates us to keep doing what we’re doing because we’re on the right track. I’m happy for the young boys getting minutes, learning and getting better.”
Andrioli on the bigger picture and the end goal for the pathway
“The end goal is to have Australian players reaching their goals and dreams, playing for Adelaide and maybe going overseas, playing for the national team. We need to be proud of South Australians here, having so many boys. If you look at our front line today and the players on the bench, it’s an incredible number. That’s what we want – to give these kids opportunities. Credit to them, they take their chances.”
Andrioli on Brody Burkitt’s impact in his first start since the hat-trick
“He needs match fitness. I wanted to see him from the start. You can see he’s a handful and difficult to mark. We knew Macarthur have two big centre backs and they like to have a target, but Brody finds pockets of space, he moves a lot and makes it difficult for them. We played him a little bit longer than we should have, but we want him building match conditioning. If he can play 90 minutes, he’s going to give us so much. I was happy with his performance tonight. At least we gave him a start, and now we can make decisions for next game and see what we do with him and the rest of the squad.”
Andrioli on the strong South Australian presence in the starting XI
“We’re happy to be a club that finds these players and gives them a chance to develop, grow, and reach their goals. We’re always proud to see these players going to national teams and we want that to continue. But producing young players doesn’t mean we’re here only to develop. People need to understand that these kids, and all of us, want to win something. We’re here to win matches and move up the ladder. We’re disappointed tonight, but it’s a point, we’re moving up, and we set up to be ready for the next home game next week.”
Andrioli on belief, external respect, and competing for trophies
“I spoke to a few Macarthur players tonight and they had nothing but compliments for us. I feel proud about that because it’s the whole club and what we’re doing. It’s satisfying to be recognised as a team that plays good football and is difficult to control when we’re in our game. But ultimately, we’re here to win, not to make up numbers. We want to win football matches, keep moving up the ladder, go to the finals and give it a real shot.”
Andrioli on the tactical variations from goal kicks
“We have a number of variations from our goal kicks and we work on many things. We try to use them as needed in the game. If you can break that first line of pressing, it can create chances for us. It can be risky at times, but if the decisions are good and the execution is good, we normally break that line and it becomes an advantage. It’s something we work on and want to keep using when it’s needed.”
