Adelaide United officially started their preparations for the 2018/19 campaign as pre-season kicked-off on Monday.
Head Coach, Marco Kurz, said it was good to be back and is looking forward to getting the Reds primed and ready for what promises to be an exciting season.
The German tactician revealed he will predominantly employ two training sessions per day, but said he will speak to his players on a daily basis as to how they are coping with the increased workloads.
“I think it’s normal, it’s the standard (to implement double sessions),” Kurz explained.
“We’ll do the same, maybe a little bit more (intense) than last year.
“But also I’ll decide every day when I see the boys after training I can decide for the next day.”
Like last season, Kurz is also hoping to put together another strong cup run which saw the Reds reach the FFA Cup Final, before suffering a heart-breaking 2-1 loss in extra-time against Sydney FC.
He said playing as many competitive games as possible will only benefit the team ahead of the Hyundai A-League campaign.
“The first aim, the first goal is the first round in the cup,” he said.
“And for us it’s very important to play a successful cup season.
“The reasons are that we play good opponents in official games and also it’s a tournament.
“A tournament where had experienced from last year, a good experience, we reached the final and now we’ll try and do the same this year.”
Hey #AUFC fans, say hello to our new No. 1️⃣1️⃣ and No. 2️⃣2️⃣! pic.twitter.com/ZkzS9Xzmif
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) June 25, 2018
The first day of pre-season also saw the arrival and return of two new faces at the Adelaide United Training Centre – Michael Jakobsen and Craig Goodwin.
Kurz lauded both signings, believing they’ve undoubtedly bolstered the squad.
Jakobsen, 32, is a former Danish international and amassed over 200 appearances in the Danish Super Liga as well as featuring in the UEFA Champions League and was most recently at Melbourne City.
“I think everybody knows Michael Jakobsen, he was the captain of Melbourne City last year,” he said.
“I think it’s very good to know that he now plays for Adelaide, he’s an experienced player with high quality for us.
“We are very proud and happy he’s now our player.”
Meanwhile, Goodwin re-joins his hometown club after spending the past two years plying his trade in the Dutch Eredivisie with Sparta Rotterdam.
The 26-year-old was also a key cog in Adelaide’s historic Premiership and Championship double in 2016.
“With Craig Goodwin I think the people in Adelaide know him better than I do,” he added.
“Because he played in Adelaide when Adelaide won the Championship and I’m very happy that we signed these two players.
“And I hope we’ve the chance to bring in more good players to Adelaide.”
