Adelaide United coach Carl Veart fronted the media ahead of Saturday’s game against Western United, sharing his thoughts on Bart Vriends’ likely start, the return of Hiroshi Ibusuki to Coopers Stadium, and the growing young talent in the squad.
Veart on how the squad is feeling after the 7-goal thrilling victory over Western Sydney Wanderers:
“We’re in a very good spot with the group at the moment. We’ve only got the two injuries in this group. So, everyone is fit and raring to go and looking forward to playing again.”
Veart on Bart Vriends likely to start, what we can expect from him, and the importance of his presence:
“There is a very good chance that Bart will start. Bart has trained exceptionally well the last three to four weeks. We’ve taken our time to make sure he ticked all the boxes and he has done that. As I’ve said previously, he could have played last week, but we’ve been holding onto him to make sure that he is 100 percent. He is now at 100 percent, so there’s a good chance he’ll start tomorrow.
The main reason why we brought his quality into the team was because of his organisation and leadership. He’ll help the defence and help the two young boys that play in front of him in midfield as well. He’s going to be a great addition to the playing group.
He’s a very controlled player; likes to pass the ball and play, and he’s quite aggressive as well with his defensive duties. You will see a central defender that is at the top of his game and has very good control.”
Veart on the return of Hiroshi Ibusuki to Coopers Stadium:
“I hope he gets a warm welcome; he provided a great service for the club. In the two and a half years that he was here, he was a delightful player to coach and a great person in the change room as well. We welcome him back with open arms but hopefully he doesn’t score a goal against us. But, it will be good to see him back and hopefully our fans show their appreciation towards him for what he brought to the club during his time here.”
Veart on securing three-points in front of home fans:
“We’ve started the season well and the first game here against Central Coast Mariners was a good game. We were disappointed that we didn’t get the three points in that game. But we backed it up last week and played some really good football in a difficult place against the Wanderers. The boys are really confident after that win last weekend and are really looking forward to getting back out at Hindmarsh again. Our players love playing at Hindmarsh in front of our supporters. The supporters can really get behind us and we expect them to get behind us again tomorrow and come out in big numbers.”
Veart on the Reds fast starts this season:
“We try be very positive from the first whistle and very aggressive, and the boys have really taken that on. Hopefully we can start like that again and keep that momentum going longer. Last week it was a lot longer than what it was in the first week. So, we expect it be longer again as that match sharpness and match conditioning improves every week.”
Veart on Ryan White, Fabian Talladira, and Bailey O’Neil on their Young Socceroos call-ups:
“It’s a great credit and reward for those players that have been given opportunities at the club and they’ve worked hard for those opportunities. When they go away with the National Team next week, we hope they do exceptionally well. We have big confidence that they will do well.”
