Adelaide United will make some changes to its line-up for Friday night’s Isuzu UTE A-League clash with Western Sydney, but Head Coach Carl Veart is not giving much away about his starting side.
The Reds are coming off consecutive losses with Veart identifying lapses in concentration and inconsistency in games as the main issue.
Adelaide has a good record at Commbank Stadium in Sydney’s west, unbeaten in its last three visits (W2, D1), while the Wanderers will be looking to avoid back-to-back losses at the venue after going down 3-4 to Melbourne Victory in their last match there.
Speaking before flying out to Sydney, Veart spoke about the changes he expects to make, his best centre back pairing and the future of injured attacker Musa Toure.
He also discussed his thoughts on goalkeeper Joe Gauci’s chances of making the Socceroos squad for next month’s Asian Cup.
Carl Veart on eliminating concentration lapses and his side being more consistent in games:
“That’s a focus for every week, you got to keep concentrating because we’ve been punished this season when we’ve switched off a little bit in games. It’s something that we’ve made a conscious effort to try and fix so hopefully we don’t switch off in the game tomorrow.
“I suppose the younger players in their development will have their ups and downs but it’s not just the young players, it’s a whole playing squad. They have to take the responsibility and make sure that if someone is not doing the right things that we fix the problem straightaway, and don’t let it be one mistake, followed by another mistake because that’s what has been happening. It’s important that as a collective, we have tried to help each other and don’t allow those things to happen.”
Carl Veart on how his young players are coping with the demands or senior football:
“We know, over the course of the season, there’s going to be ups and downs. And it’s about how we help the other players develop, because that’s what we’re trying to do is develop them into good senior professional players. And there’s plenty of learning experiences, especially when you’re playing. And that’s how you learn and you develop and it’s important, as all players, that they reflect on their performances, and what works well for them, what didn’t work well for them and what they need to do to get to the level that they want to get to.”
Carl Veart on whether he expects to make any changes to face the Wanderers on Friday night:
“There’ll be some changes. We need to make sure we’re at the races against the Wanderers. They’re a very good side, they are very solid defensively and make it very difficult for you and then they have the quality in attack so it’s going to be a tough game. But it’s important that we go there with the belief that we’re going to go there and get three points as we have done in the previous years.
Carl Veart on a story circulating linking injured attacker Musa Toure to a move overseas in January:
“Musa is a contracted player at the club. He only needs one more performance and he gets another season in his contract, so he’s staying at the club. And we won’t be releasing him. He’s a required play.
“And he’s still got a lot of developing to go before he goes overseas. I think I’ve said before, you know, when you have players go overseas, we don’t want them to come back. So it’s important that they go ready to play overseas football. Musa still has a long way to go. He’s only sort of he’s been in and around the group now, this is his second season in an around the group but he missed large chunks of last season with injuries and again this year, you know, he’s picked up a serious injury. So he needs to make sure he can get his body right, and not just his body, his mental attitude as well before he makes that next move.”
Carl Veart on whether he knows his best Centre Back pairing:
“I think we’ve seen have had some games this year we’ve played Alex (Popović) and Nick (Ansell) as the as the main pair, and they’re our main pair. They weren’t available last week. Lochie (Barr) and Ben (Warland) were good (last week). Lochie gave away the penalty but other than that, they were fairly solid defensively last week. We’ve always been working to put what we believe is the best team up against the team that we play every week.
“We don’t normally like to make two changes in the middle of defence but we’ll pick that what we believe is the best team to get us but the point.”
Carl Veart on Nestory Irankunda’s week on the training track:
“Look he is working hard. He gets very disappointed when he doesn’t score goals or has an impact in games and he’s still maturing as a young player. He’s trained well this week and will get his opportunity again tomorrow night to show what he can do to help. “
Carl Veart on whether he expects to lose goalkeeper Joe Gauci for the Socceroos’ tilt at the Asian Cup:
“I don’t know Australian goalkeepers that play overseas where their form is at or how much game time they get but I see Joe every week, and he’s had a great start to the season. He’s working hard and that’s what you can ask from him.”
