Josep Gombau has said his Adelaide United side has prepared for their match with Western Sydney Wanderers the same as another other game, irrespective of their opponent’s current Hyundai A-League record, or their recent AFC Asian Champions League triumph.
And although the Wanderers remain winless this Hyundai A-League campaign, Gombau believes their run of unsuccessful results is a false representation of their performances and a difficult and competitive game will be fought-out at Coopers Stadium on Saturday evening.
“Tomorrow is an important game,” Gombau said.
“For me, Western Sydney can bee seen from two perspectives. You can see a team that has not won a game yet in the Hyundai A-League, or you can see a team that has won the Asian Champions League – the most important trophy that any team in Asia can play for. I see them from the (latter perspective).
“The last two or three games that I’ve watched them play, they are doing well and, for me, they deserve more from the last two games that they’ve played.
“I’m expecting a difficult game, definitely not an easy one. It’ll be a game that will be equal, like every single game that is played in the Hyundai A-League because the level of the teams is very equal, but we have our plan of what we want to do.”
Gombau continued by highlighting the significance of having a winning mentality within the squad and how beneficial it can be in securing results week by week. He also reflected upon the recent loss to Melbourne Victory and the role Dylan McGowan is set to play this week, as the injury sustained to Osama Malik looks set to keep the defender out of action for a while.
“We have to have a winning mentality every single week, not just tomorrow. I am a coach that never watches the table – I go game by game,” he explained.
“Tomorrow the importance of the three points will be like last week, or next week. We need to concentrate because the importance is on where you finish after the last game.
“We did very well (against Melbourne Victory) and we went there with a winning mentality, shown through the line-up (having) a lot of attacking players. I think we deserved more, but paid for our mistakes. The feeling is more that we lost that game than Melbourne Victory won it.
“Malik is an important player and for us he’s been doing very well and we’re very happy. (The good thing is that) we also have other players who can do his job. In the beginning of the season, Malik wasn’t ready and we played with McGowan and he did very well.
Gombau went on to say the results of other teams in the league won’t impact the way his team performs each week and instead his side will use the brilliant atmosphere of Coopers Stadium to their advantage.
“It’s always important (to get the points) regardless of who you play, or if Perth win (for example). Every single game is worth three points and we need to get them if we can.
“To play at home is good because we have a good feeling here and good environment. The people are supporting us a lot and we have (two) games at home, as well as the final of the Westfield FFA Cup, but we’ll still go game by game.”
Adelaide United will face Western Sydney Wanderers at Coopers Stadium in Round 9 of the 2014/15 season of the Hyundai A-League on Saturday, 6 December. Kick off is at 7.00pm ACDT. To purchase tickets, click here.
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers FC
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Kick-Off: 7:00 PM (Local) (7:30 PM AEDT)
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistant Referee 1: Nathan MacDonald
Assistant Referee 2: Mathew Cheeseman
Fourth Official: Rick Schneider
TV Broadcast: Live and exclusive coverage on FOX SPORTS 505 from 7.00pm (AEDT) and Sky Sport 2 (New Zealand)
Radio Broadcast: 891 ABC Adelaide, Local Radio Radio SA, 702 ABC Sydney & ABC Local Radio NSW, 666 ABC Canberra, Grandstand Digital, Grandstand Online / ABC Radio Mobile phone app
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #ADLvWSW
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (c) (GK), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.Nigel BOOGAARD, 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 6.CASSIO, 7.Pablo SÁNCHEZ, 8.ISAÍAS, 9.Sergio CIRIO, 10.Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11.Bruce DJITE, 14.Cameron WATSON, 16.Craig GOODWIN, 17.Awer MABIL, 18.Jimmy JEGGO, 21.Tarek ELRICH, 22.Fabio FERREIRA, 24.Bruce KAMAU, 30.John HALL (GK)**two to be omitted**
Ins: 6.CASSIO, 14.Cameron WATSON, 24.Bruce KAMAU (all promoted)
Outs: 5.Osama MALIK (calf – 4-6 weeks)
Unavailable: 20.Paul IZZO (gk) (calf – 2-3 weeks), 23.Jordan ELSEY (knee – indefinite)
Western Sydney Wanderers FC squad: 1.Ante COVIC (gk), 2.Shannon COLE, 4.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (c), 5.Brendan HAMILL, 7.Labinot HALITI, 8.Mateo POLJAK, 9.Tomi JURIC, 10.Vitor SABA, 12.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 13.Matthew SPIRANOVIC, 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO, 17.Romeo CASTELEN, 18.Iacopo LA ROCCA, 19.Mark BRIDGE, 20.Dean BOUZANIS (gk), 22.Seyi ADELEKE, 23.Jason TRIFIRO, 35.Kearyn BACCUS **two to be omitted**
Ins: 9.Tomi JURIC (returns from injury), 23.Jason TRIFIRO (promoted), 16.Jaushua SOTIRIO (promoted)
Outs: Nil
Unavailable: 11.Brendon SANTALAB (shoulder – indefinite), 34.Golgol MEBRAHTU (knee – indefinite)
