Adelaide United Head Coach, Gertjan Verbeek, revealed he is impressed by Olympic FC’s fearless attacking approach.
The Reds travel to Brisbane to face the National Premier League (NPL) outfit at Perry Park in the FFA Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday night.
Verbeek is hoping to see signs of improvement in his team’s performance and build on from their 5-2 win against Melbourne Knights in the Round of 32.
However, the Dutchman said his side will need to be wary of their attacking potency.
Olympic occupy fourth place in the league standings but lead the competition in goals scored with 83.
“I like the way they play, they want to play football,” Verbeek explained. “They build- up with short combination play.
“The captain (Steve Whyte) is playing all over the field, on paper he’s a right winger, but you see him everywhere.”
Verbeek also singled out striker, Chris Lucas, as a dangerman, having bagged 28 goals in 24 games, while also netting a hat-trick in the last 32 against Bayswater City.
But while they are known for their prolificacy, Verbeek highlighted their deficiencies on transition.
“The number nine (Chris Lucas) is scoring a lot of goals,” he said.
“The whole team is scoring a lot of goals. They’re not leading, but they’re in fourth place, but they’ve scored the most goals in their competition so that says enough.
“They’re an attacking team but because they attack a lot they also have their problems in defence on transition so hopefully we can target that.”
Adelaide United face Olympic FC in the Round of 16 of the FFA Cup 2019 on Wednesday, 21 August at Perry Park. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACST. Live streamed on Foxsports.com.au, Kayo Sports and the My Football Live App.
