Adelaide United Coach John Kosmina admits the Reds’ organisation and structure in last night’s convincing win over Gamba Osaka was the best he has seen since he took over.
Adelaide United Coach John Kosmina admits the Reds- organisation and structure in last night-s convincing win over Gamba Osaka was the best he has seen since he took over.
The Reds suffocated Gamba-s array of skilful playmakers and game breakers, giving them little if any openings or opportunities to unlock United-s defence.
Against a team that has built a reputation in the AFC Champions League of scoring goals and winning away from home the Reds proved impenetrable, Kosmina more than willing to commend that aspect of his team-s performance.
“In terms of discipline and maintaining structure then yes, by far,” Kosmina answered when asked whether it was the best game he had seen his team play.
“The football aspect of it was good as well, there was a lot of good interplay, a lot of good combinations and we made a lot of opportunities in general play as well and it was more patient than it was urgent like maybe our football has been in the past.”
“We dictated the tempo of the game last night which was great.”
Top of Group E by three points following last night-s Match Day 2 results, which saw Bunyodkor defeat Korea-s Pohang Steelers in the other fixture, the Reds have made the dream start and are firmly in contention to finish in the all important top two spots to progress past the Group Stage.
“Six points is great and it-s a good way to start – the fact is we-ve got two more games at home and you have to aspire for another six points out of those two and then we-ve got two more away, so if you get to double figures you-ve got to be there or there abouts don-t you,” Kosmina predicted on what would most likely get United past the Group Stage.
However, the Reds coach is certain not to let the Reds become content or complacent with where they currently sit.
“It gives you a little bit of security, but having said that, you can-t just rely on that, you-ve still got to go out and not have in the back of your mind that if you lose you-ve still got another three points in the bag to rest on – you can-t think of it that way,” Kosmina said.
“You-ve got to take it that everyone is equal and you-ve got to get a result.”
While the Reds can take the plaudits for their performance and result against Gamba, they will quickly need to turn their concentration to their final game of the Hyundai A-League season against Melbourne Heart at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
In what will be Adelaide United-s third game in the space of a week, Kosmina says that even though there is no chance of a finals appearance riding on the result, it is still important to finish the Hyundai A-League season on a high note.
“The thing we-ve got to focus on now is while it-s great that we-ve been successful in the Champions league for two games, we-ve still got an A-League match to play, our last one this season which is unfortunate, and we-ve got a responsibility to the club and the fans to do as best we can on Friday night,” Kosmina said.
A win over the Heart would be a small consolation in what has been more of a forgettable than memorable Hyundai A-League season for the Reds.
For Friday night-s encounter, three points is high on Kosmina-s agenda, although he says he is likely to rest some weary bodies from the club-s hectic schedule.
“There a couple of people we could freshen up. Bruce and Rambo (Iain Ramsay) both went into the game having not trained on Monday, they carried injuries into the game so we-ll look at whether we need to give them a rest,” Kosmina said.
“We want to get a result on Friday night but also do you look at playing someone with an injury and possibly make it worse, so there will more than likely be a couple of changes for the game against Melbourne Heart.”
