Back from the bye and sitting in fourth place after eight matches, Michael Jakobsen feels Adelaide United have made a solid start in the Hyundai A-League.
With almost a third of the way into the season gone, the Reds Captain believed the team has made strong progress under the guidance of Gertjan Verbeek.
After two defeats to begin the new campaign, Adelaide have won five of their last six matches.
The Danish centre-back said there is always room for improvement, and suggested the results have a way of evening themselves out.
“I think we’re learning every week,” Jakobsen told reporters at an open training session at Marden Sports Complex on Monday.
“We’re training a lot on how we’re supposed to play and it’s getting better, we’ve got good results.
“We have had some games where we’ve performed well, and we’ve had some where we’ve performed a bit below average.
“Last week for example (against Newcastle Jets) we got the win even though we didn’t play well.
“And we had two games at the start of the season (against Sydney FC and Melbourne City) where we didn’t get what we deserved.
“So it’s still a learning process, there’s still things we can work on and do better so every day we try to improve.”
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Ahead of Adelaide’s trip to face Central Coast Mariners on Sunday, the Reds will have to contend with a scorching Adelaide heatwave.
Temperatures are expected to soar well into the 40s for the rest of the week.
“I think this is the first week now when it’s been this hot,” he admitted.
“We need to get used to it. Last week when we played against Newcastle it was really, really tough
“So we need to get used to it but it’s not easy.”
Despite beating the Mariners twice already this season, first in the FFA Cup and then in the Hyundai A-League, the 33-year-old is not taking anything for granted.
Jakobsen expected Central Coast to alter their tactics.
“All the teams they improve from the start and try to do different stuff,” he explained.
“I’m pretty sure the staff around the team they’re doing their research and going to fill us in with what they’ve done different in the last games compared to the first games we’ve played against them, so we’ll be well prepared.”
Adelaide United face Central Coast Mariners in Round 11 of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season on Sunday, 22 December at Central Coast Stadium. Kick-off is at 5.30pm ACDT. Live and Exclusive on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports and the My Football Live App.
