Guillermo Amor and Osama Malik agree Adelaide United must focus on its own game, rather than that of their opposition, to overcome the Wellington Phoenix on Friday night.
Despite a slow start to the campaign, the Reds have played some promising football and the squad has made significant improvements since the team’s season opening match against Melbourne Victory at the Adelaide Oval.
And with United putting its goalless drought to bed last round, in conjunction with the impressive goal scoring record against this week’s opponents, the Phoenix, Adelaide’s trip to New Zealand could prove to be a rewarding one.
But according to the Reds’ Head Coach, Guillermo Amor, the key to the squad’s success is their ability to remain focussed on the task at hand, remembering the movements and tactics worked on during the week, and believing in their ability to get the result.
“We obviously need to play a good game, continuing to improve on our previous matches, and making sure our minds are focussed during the entire game,” Amor said.
“We must be 100 per cent confident that we can win and realise just how much we need (the three pints) at this stage.
“This week we’ve focussed on a bit of everything and after analysing the game against Melbourne City (last week in Round 5), we’ve tried to put extra work into the things that we need to do better.
“We have to use the experience that we’ve gained in the previous games and realise we must tread carefully because Wellington are a good team. They have many players that are (dangerous), so we need to be ready and not let them punish us.”
Echoing his Head Coach’s thoughts, Osama Malik explained that the threat the Phoenix pose is clear, but United’s objective should be continuing to improve their own game, returning to their resolute game style that’s somewhat alluded the team this season.
“It’s still early days and there’s still plenty of rounds to go. We’re looking to turn it around this weekend and hopefully build some momentum for the rest of the season.
“Against Melbourne City, I think it was mainly small errors that we need to get fix and get back to doing these things right like the last couple of years.
“That means tightening up the defence, winning the ball back quickly if we lose it, and just doing things a bit quicker in general.
“The Phoenix have some great players going forward and their front four have a lot of pace and skill. But there’s not one individual player that we’re looking to shut down because if we do our jobs right and work as a team, we should stop their team’s impact on the game.
“We just need to get back to the basics and get back to showing teams that we’re a forced to be reckoned with that definitely doesn’t belong at the bottom of the ladder.”
Adelaide United will face Wellington Phoenix in Round 6 of the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season on Friday, 13 November, 2015, at Westpac Stadium. Kick off is at 5.00pm ACDT.
