Adelaide United coach Carl Veart is backing goalkeeper James Delianov to fit into the line-up seamlessly to cover the absence of regular custodian Joe Gauci.
Delianov has not played a minute of football for two years since suffering a shoulder injury against Wellington Phoenix on New Year’s Day in 2022.
In his absence Gauci starred, keeping Delianov on the bench since.
But with Gauci earning his place in the Socceroos squad for this month’s 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, Delianov will get his chance to feature again for the Reds, starting with Thursday night’s clash with Isuzu UTE A-League ladder leader Wellington.
Speaking on Wednesday after his side’s final training session, Veart described Delianov as the best reserve keeper in the league.
He also discussed another player being ruled out, what system his side will go into the game with, and whether the club will look to sign any players during the January transfer window.
Carl Veart on Jonny Yull being ruled out for Thursday night’s game:
“He has got the protocol for at least eight days, so won’t be available for this game and if he ticks all the boxes, he should be available for Monday night. It was a sort of a delayed concussion after the elbow in the back of the head just before half-time, and so we were getting ready to go out and start the second half, he started to get dizzy spells. So, he’s pulled up quite well, he’s feeling good now. He got through a few laps today so he should be good to go on Monday.”
Carl Veart on James Delianov getting a chance to play with fellow goalkeeper Joe Gauci being away on national duty:
“When we brought him into the club three or four years ago, he was the number one. So unfortunately, you know, two years ago for almost to the day that he got that serious injury playing here against Wellington. He’s had to wait his time, but he’s worked extremely hard and you know, he’s a top quality goalkeeper that we’re very fortunate to have to have as the backup to Joe.
“He’d definitely be the best reserve keeper in the league at the moment. He could play in a lot of teams’ first XI, you know, it’s just the form of Joe that’s kept him out and that’s unfortunate. James has pushed Joe on his way. He’s been trying to exceptionally hard and Joe knows that, you know, if he has a little slip up or makes a few mistakes that James is already there to take that position. And now James has got his opportunity for the next six, seven games at least so we’re looking forward to seeing James getting out and playing again.”
Carl Veart on what he has made of Wellington Phoenix under new manager Giancarlo Italiano:
“They’re playing a very different style of football to what they use to play. I suppose they play a very different system and style to every other team in the league. Defensively, they’ve been excellent. And you know, they’ve really punished teams, and they actually play a lot of football. They give you opportunities, if you get your pressing right to score goals.
“They’re a very different side. You can see the form that they’ve had started the season, they’re on top of the ladder so you know, they’re going to make it very difficult to defend very well and play a very fast transition game. It’s important that we take care with the ball, and don’t give them too many opportunities to hit us on the break.”
Carl Veart on whether his side will stick with the 4-4-2 system it has used in the last couple of games:
“Systems don’t really make much difference. It’s our intent with what we want to do with the ball and movement, it doesn’t really make too many changes from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 or whatever. We’ve got our patterns that we want to play and the players really understand that. We’ve played it for the last couple of weeks and it’s something we’ve been playing for a long time so the system doesn’t really matter. It’s the intent and effort that counts more.”
Carl Veart on whether he knew the A-League ladder positions were determined not by goal difference but by the number of wins:
“I was a bit shocked myself, I always believed it was gold difference was always the first one. So yeah, at the end of day, it’s still early days, we’ve still got 17 rounds to go. So what matters is at the end who is top.”
Carl Veart on keeping his side fresh with three games in quick succession:
“We’ve got a fairly fit and healthy squad at the moment so there will be rotations in the team. And just to freshen it up, I showed that last week, bringing Javi (Lopez) in for Giuseppe (Bovalina). And the same will happen for this game and for the next game. We’re going to have to make sure we’ve got 11 really fit players that can play a high tempo game tomorrow night and that’s what was very critical for our selection.”
Carl Veart on whether the club will use the January transfer window to sign any more players:
“We’re always looking. We didn’t sign the players that we wanted to before the start of the season, so we’ve always had an eye open for this window as well. But it’s just a matter of finding the right player that’s going to fit in to what we’re looking for.”
