Adelaide United Women Head Coach, Ivan Karlović admits there were plenty of encouraging aspects despite conceding a last-gasp winner against Western Sydney Wanderers Women.
The Reds suffered a 2-1 defeat away at Marconi Stadium on Thursday night, but Karlović was satisfied with the team’s overall display given the short amount of time the entire squad has had together on the park.
“From a results point of view we are disappointed we weren’t able to get something out of the game and I felt we deserved something,” he said.
“But from a performance point of view I think we take a lot of positives out of the game.
“We were able to create a number of goal scoring opportunities and for the team not being together for an extended period of time.
“It’s always a challenge to try and find that cohesion and I think we are slowly getting that and creating opportunities is always one of the most difficult things.
“I thought we had a number of those, for us now it’s important that we take those opportunities to finish off games.”
.@AUFCWomen shot-stopper @Willacy20 takes out the Save of the Round from the opening weekend of the Westfield #WLeague! pic.twitter.com/wdcE5OTKee
— Liberty A-League (@aleaguewomen) November 19, 2019
Karlović added that he was also pleased with how the new signings acquitted themselves.
“Obviously Amber (Brooks) has been with us for a while so she’s come in from overseas and understands what we’re looking for,” he said.
“Julia (Ashley) I thought had a really good game at the back with Amber and they’ve got an understanding of each other as well even though they haven’t played with each other.
“They’ve been through the same college system, so their development is of a similar basis and Kahlia (Hogg) I thought was good although she’s not new she didn’t get much football last year.
“Mal (Mallory Weber) I thought was dangerous all night and unfortunately wasn’t able to score.
“And Mary (Fowler) I thought had a good game for her first game as a 16-year-old, and we had Ciara (Fowler) come on and Lais (Araujo) also in the second-half.
“So we’re excited to see what they can continue to bring to the side.”
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Adelaide now host title holders Sydney FC Women at Marden Sports Complex on Friday night, who come off the back of a dominant 3-0 against Melbourne Victory Women.
He said it was important to acknowledge the Sky Blues’ quality, though for his players not to fear them and believe in their ability.
“It was a pretty convincing scoreline from Sydney,” he continued.
“They’re the reigning champions, so it’s going to be a difficult game – they’re a good side.
“But I also back our ability and have full faith in what we are doing and the quality that we are producing at the moment.
“The main focus is continuing to be on our team and respecting their strengths because they do have some good attacking players that are able to score goals.
“They apply a lot of pressure high up the park and we’ll prepare ourselves with the focus still being on us.”
Adelaide United Women host Sydney FC Women in Round 2 of the Westfield W-League 2019/20 season on Friday, 22 November at Marden Sports Complex. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACDT. Gates open at 6.00pm.
