Adelaide United FC Coach John Kosmina is confronted with a selection dilemma of the best kind heading into Sunday’s Remembrance Day clash with Perth Glory at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Adelaide United FC Coach John Kosmina is confronted with a selection dilemma of the best kind heading into Sunday-s Remembrance Day clash with Perth Glory at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The luxury of having a near full squad to choose from is one every coach dreams of, but at the same time it also comes with the headache of having to work out what on field combination will give the team the best chance to take all three points.
This is the situation Kosmina faces as every player on United-s list barring Jon McKain and young goalkeeper Paul Izzo is on deck and available for selection.
Cassio has recovered from a stomach bug that kept him out of last Sunday-s win over Brisbane Roar, while the only other injury concern – Antony Golec-s corked thigh, has also fully healed.
What makes Kosmina-s job even more difficult is that the Reds sit clear on top of the table after five rounds, which begs the question of does he continue to stick with a winning line up.
While for most weeks the Reds boss has not been afraid to disclose his team, this week coming up against a confident and eager third placed Perth Glory, Kosmina is keeping his cards close to his chest, creating some ‘intrigue- to how United will line up on Sunday.
One thing this is certain to do is keep players hungry at training thus lifting the level on the track and ensuring there is no room for complacency.
“There might be, there might not be…so we-ll just wait and see what happens, you-ll have to find out on Sunday,” a coy Kosmina said on whether there would be any changes against Perth.
“It is (a good headache to have), it-s a difficult problem by the same token though because you-ve got to keep people happy, but the fact is the team is winning so you can take the ‘ain-t broke don-t fix it- formula, or do you look at the best eleven available or do you look at horses for courses.”
One thing that is certain is that Kosmina and the Reds hold the Glory in extremely high regard.
Despite coming away with the result, the Reds struggled to maintain possession against Brisbane last weekend and Kosmina knows the Reds will have to be much better in that area to be any chance of overcoming Perth.
“You-ve got to keep the ball to create shots on goal and that-s what we didn-t do against Brisbane last week, we turned it over way too cheaply in situations where we didn-t have to,” Kosmina said.
“They (Perth) are a good side, a really good side. (Shane) Smeltz might be back this week which will add something to them but they-ve been playing well without him and winning games.”
“Last week was a tough game for them against Newcastle, one of the better footballing sides in the competition, and they did it quite well.”
“They-re quality right across the park. They-re tough at the back, they-re skilful and competitive in the middle of the park…and they-ve got pace out wide. They-re solid, they-re a really good football team.”
Not that the Reds need any added motivation, especially considering the honour playing on Remembrance Day, but Adelaide United has lost its last four games to Perth, while former Reds skipper Travis Dodd and defender Scott Jamieson are also set to return to Hindmarsh to face the club they played a combined 186 Hyundai A-League games for.
Kick-Off is at 4.30pm ACDT and tickets are available through Ticketek.
Hyundai A-League 2012/13 Season – Week 6
ADELAIDE UNITED FC v PERTH GLORY
Sunday 11 November 2012, Hindmarsh Stadium
Kick-Off: 4.30pm ACDT
Referee: Peter O’Leary
Tickets: Available through Ticketek (call 132849, online at www.ticketek.com.au)
TV: Live & Exclusive on Fox Sports 1
Radio: Score updates on ABC 891 Adelaide, Grandstand Digital & online
Twitter: twitter.com/adelutd_fc (hash tag #REDSvPG)
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene Galekovic (gk) (c), 2.Osama Malik, 3.Nigel Boogaard, 5.Iain Fyfe, 6.Cassio, 8.Marcelo Carrusca, 9.Sergio van Dijk, 10.Dario Vidosic, 11.Bruce Djite, 12.Antony Golec, 14.Cameron Watson, 16.Daniel Bowles, 17.Iain Ramsay, 19.Jake Barker-Daish, 21.Jeronimo Neumann, 22.Fabio Ferreira, 23.Evan Kostopoulos, 30.John Hall (gk)
*three to be omitted*
Ins: Cassio (returns from illness), Jake Barker-Daish (promoted), Evan Kostopoulos (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Jon McKain (leg – under review), Paul Izzo (gk) (international duty)
Perth Glory squad: 1.Danny Vukovic (gk), 3.Bas van den Brink, 4.Billy Mehmet, 5.Steve Pantelidis, 6.Nick Ward, 8.Dean Heffernan, 9.Shane Smeltz, 10.Liam Miller, 11.Adrian Zahra, 13.Travis Dodd, 14.Steven McGarry, 15.Brandon O-Neill, 17.Chris Harold, 18.Jesse Makarounas, 19.Josh Risdon, 21.Scott Jamieson, 22.Ndumba Makeche, 23.Michael Thwaite, 30 Lewis Italiano (gk)
*four to be omitted*
Ins: Steve Pantelidis (returns from suspension), Shane Smeltz (returns from injury), Bradon O-Neill, Ndumba Makeche (both promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: Evan Berger (hamstring – TBA), Jacob Burns (quadricep)
