Gertjan Verbeek admits he was pleased with Adelaide United’s response in the second-half after a lacklustre start to the match against Newcastle Jets.
The Reds fell behind in the 37th minute before Riley McGree scored a brace after half-time to help secure a 2-1 win.
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It was Adelaide’s third match in a week, made more challenging following the team’s euphoric night in their resounding 4-0 FFA Cup Final victory over Melbourne City.
The improved display after the interval coincided with a double substitution at half-time.
“If you play like the first-half you’ve to work even harder because we played reactive football,” Verbeek told reporters in the post-match press conference.
“They do something and you react and then you’re always too late. That’s what I told them at half-time.
“And I brought in some fresh players and we saw the other Adelaide United in the second-half.
“And I think we did well and when you see the chances we had then I think the win was okay, maybe not deserved about the whole game but in the second-half we had our chances.
“Of course the last 15 minutes is difficult you can see they’re tired but they did their job and that resulted in three points.”
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Despite making those two alterations and tweaking tactics, Verbeek insisted his players must take the credit.
“It’s always up to the boys they win games not the trainer (Head Coach),” he claimed.
“And the way they did it in the second-half that’s the way you’ve to do it.
“Sometimes you have to do it like it’s your work, and like Wednesday in the second-half it’s your hobby and you’re enjoying it and it’s 4-0 and you’ve a lot of energy even until the end of the game.
“Today it was more like to do your job and to do your work and the second-half they and did we were lucky the opponent was not making two or three goals with the possibilities they had.”
New signing James Troisi also completed his debut for his hometown Club since joining earler this month.
The midfielder assisted McGree’s equaliser with a smart cut-back as he played the entire game.
Verbeek expected his fitness levels to only increase ahead of their Round 5 clash in a fortnight due to the bye.
“It’s also important James Troisi made his first minutes, he played the full 90 minutes,” he continued.
“Normally he wasn’t a starter but we had some injuries and in two weeks there will be another squad where I can choose my players and Troisi has done two weeks further.”
Adelaide United host Brisbane Roar in Round 5 of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season on Sunday, 10 November at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 5.30pm ACDT. Gates open at 2.30pm for curtain raiser between AUFC Legends and ADF. Live and Exclusive on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports and the My Football Live App.
