Adelaide United FC’s squad returned to training for the first time this morning since the off season break, and new additions Zenon Caravella and Spase Dilevski could not be more excited to have pre season under way.
Caravella-s inclusion after two seasons with Gold Coast United and Dilevski-s arrival following a three year stint at Romanian club Universitatea Craiova is set to see Adelaide United-s midfield take on somewhat of a different shape for season seven of the Hyundai A-League.
Considerable changes in player rosters in the off season are certainly not uncommon practise in the Hyundai A-League, and with the departures of Paul Reid, Adam Hughes and Travis Dodd from last season-s squad, an invigorated Caravella and Dilevski come to Adelaide looking to instil their presence in the middle of the park.
Having been part of a Gold Coast United team that reached the Preliminary Final last season and incidentally saw them end the Reds- season in a dramatic five goal thriller in the process, Caravella is eager to help his new club reach the season decider.
“I really like the style of football they (Adelaide United) played last year and obviously they-ve got a great squad, great players, and I think that was first and foremost what attracted me to Adelaide United.”
Caravella, who played with the now defunct New Zealand Knights in the Hyundai A-League-s inaugural season, was a valuable asset in his 52 appearances in two seasons with the Gold Coast, and together with his previous experience at Dutch club FC Omniworld, the talented 27 year old midfielder is hopeful of fitting into the Reds- style and structure on the field.
“I hope so, I hope that-s why Rini signed me,” Caravella replied when asked if he was confident of fitting into the Reds- game style.
“It-s very early days, let-s just wait and see how things go and see how it all develops from there, but I-m very happy with things at the moment and we-ll just wait and see how it pans out.”
A former Australian representative at Under 23, 20 and 17 level, Dilevski believes his time in Romania after two seasons with the Brisbane Roar was of great benefit for him as a player.
“It-s exciting. It-s always good to come home to Australia and I-ve watched the A-League in the past three years when I was in Romania and it has improved a lot, so I-m happy to come back and see what happens with Adelaide,” Dilevski said.
“I think I matured more as a player (in Romania). Just living away from home changed me. I was overseas when I was younger and then came back and played for Brisbane Roar in the first two seasons and I don-t think I was mature enough. I don-t think my head was there and then I went to Romania and it changed me, so I think I can bring maturity to the team and a different side of me that not many people know.”
With over five months until the start of next season, Reds Head Coach Rini Coolen finds himself in an unfamiliar situation of having such a long time to prepare. However, the lengthy off season period does give the Dutchman apt time to work and experiment with the Reds- formation as well as search for the club-s final signings.
“It-s good to be together today and we-ll fill in the time in three blocks. We-ll have a block of eight weeks, have a break, have another block of six weeks, a break again, and then go into the last six weeks of pre season to prepare them for the first game. So it-s organised but there-s a long way to go,” Coolen said.
“Hopefully we can still bring in at least two more players in a couple of weeks or a couple of months. We need two or at least one central defender, and the other one should be a midfielder or an attacking player, so we-ll see what-s available.”
The Reds have currently filled all five foreign spots on their list meaning the remaining signings would need to be Australian players, although Coolen did not dismiss the possibilities of having a foreign spot come available if Brazilian left back Cassio gains Australian citizenship.
Coolen also revealed that the club has tabled a new three year deal to talented Argentinean playmaker and reigning Johnny Warren medallist Marcos Flores, who has one year left to run on his contract.
The Reds boss will also not rush in deciding on who will wear the captain-s armband in the upcoming season following the departure of Dodd to Perth Glory. Finally, striker Bruce Djite is still on loan in China and is scheduled to join United-s squad some time in July.
