The 12th edition of the Foxtel Y-League kicks off on Sunday for Adelaide United Youth, so we spoke to Head Coach, Paul Pezos to get his thoughts on the upcoming season.
The Reds are again pitted in Conference A which contains, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City, Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar.
Pezos said the composition of the squad is a mixture of existing players such as Pacifique Niyongabire and Carlo Armiento, in addition to several new faces that have made the step up from the Club’s Reserves side.
“The team is quite new,” Pezos explained.
“We’ve got some past players, but the squad is fairly young. But we’re seeing some positive signs and it’s a good opportunity for them now to implement the philosophy of the playing style of the Club.”
The summer competition provides the chance for many of the Reserves players to impress and stake their claim heading into the 2020 National Premier League South Australia season.
“It’s an opportunity for some of these younger players to gain experience in a more professional environment,” he further added.
“And again we’ll use this is as a platform moving into the NPL.”
The former West Adelaide boss, who has been in charge of United Youth since 2017, will have to oversee somewhat of a transitional period.
But Pezos said it was an exciting challenge to help develop the next generation of talent coming through the ranks, and suggested some of the players for Reds supporters to keep an eye out for.
“For me as a coach it’s going to be a new challenge with younger players and try and develop them to potentially go to the A-League,” he admitted.
“We have some boys that have stepped up from the Reserves, Citta (Michael Cittadini), Jason Konstandopoulos, Panashe (Madanha), Mohamed Toure – Al Hassan Toure’s brother, are a couple of players to watch out for.
“But I think it will be exciting for the fans to have a look at these younger players and support them.”
Adelaide begin the campaign against Perth Glory Youth at Dorrien Gardens on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s going to be a tough opponent,” Pezos said.
“They always have some good quality players and obviously travelling to Perth, the weather is quite warm so that’s another factor.
“But I think it will be a good, entertaining game.”
Adelaide United Youth Foxtel Y-League 2019/20 Squad
Goalkeepers: Dakota Ochsenham, Cameron Coook
Defenders: Jackson Walls, Yared Abetew, Cooper Nunn, Alexandar Popovic, Noah Smith, Adam Leombruno
Midfielders: Louis D’Arrigo, Jai King, Jason Konstandopoulos, Daniel Bressan, Taras Gomulka
Forwards: Carlo Armiento, Pacifique Niyongabire, Kusini Yengi, Al Hassan Toure, Mohamed Toure, Panashe Madanha, Michael Cittadini, Binyam Kebede
Adelaide United Youth face Perth Glory Youth in Round 1 of the Foxtel Y-League 2019/20 season on Sunday, 17 November at Dorrien Gardens. Kick-off is at 1.00pm ACDT.
