New coach Josep Gombau’s message is simple – “we want to play beautiful football and hope that people enjoy it when they come to see us”.
New coach Josep Gombau’s message is simple – we want to play beautiful football and hope that people enjoy it when they come to see us.
Not even a delayed international flight and early morning arrival could stop new Adelaide United Head Coach Josep Gombau and Assistant Coach Pau Marti from taking their first training session on Monday.
When asked after the session of his thoughts, Gombau said his first impression was very good.
“I saw things I like a lot, and I also saw things I need to rearrange, but this is normal when arriving at a new team,” Gombau said.
“Tomorrow we will have a meeting with the players and explain what we want to do during the pre-season. We have a long pre-season, this is good, we have two and a half months and we can go step by step and I am happy from my first day of working here.”
Gombau-s intent to play Barcelona-style football was made clear from the start. Keeping possession of the ball, playing attacking football with three strikers and playing in the opposition half all attributes he wants totry and implement.
“We want to play beautiful football and hope that people enjoy when they come to see us”, Gombau said.
He admits he is still unsure whether he has got the right players to execute this style, something he says will come with time.
With a two year contract, Gombau is dedicated to building a solid foundation, which starts with strong first steps.
“I need to start something from the beginning, which is the style, the skills,” Gombau said.
“If you want to play this way you need to go step by step. People will see the change in style very fast…this is something you will see in the first game. Of course I want to win, to try and be successful, like every coach at every single club – but step by step. If you make a good step at the beginning you put yourself in a better position.”
Gombau also touched on the imminent arrival of his two new Spanish players who are scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks.
“One is a striker who can play in the three positions at the top. This season he played more of a left winger than other positions, and is a player that has scored a lot of goals (24) this season,” Gombau said.
“I think the A-League is a league that is physically very strong, and he is a strong player. The other player is a midfielder who is good at recovering the ball, but is also very good with the first pass.”
“He is a player that can start an attacking play, and can play in the 6, 8 or 10 position.”
Gombau emphasised the Spanish duo were not coming to Adelaide for a holiday but are heading to Australia to improve and will be determined to prove themselves.
All eyes will be on Adelaide United and their Spanish influence come October, where Gombau hopes they can collectively make Adelaide United one of the league’s pacesetters.
