Adelaide’s first job after finals heartbreak

As Adelaide United is set to farewell a number of players, coach Carl Veart says the hunt is on for a playmaker after Saturday’s finals exit.

Veart’s side ended its season a game shy of a grand final berth after reigning champion Sydney scored two first-half goals in a 2-1 win in the away knockout semi-final.

Veart said Adelaide had played its entire season without a true playmaker following the departure of SA’s James Troisi before the season kicked off.

“I think the biggest thing we lacked all season is a creative player,’’ Veart said.

“We’ve got a lot of players that look to get into the box but we just lacked that little bit of creativity in the middle of the park.

“It’s something we’ll be looking to rectify for next season.

“A type of player that can create opportunities for our attacking players.

“Stef (Mauk, captain) is more of a box-to-box player, he played as a No. 10 this year but that’s not really suited for him.

“We just need more of a player that can get his foot on the ball and create opportunities for us.

“We’re looking, we have been looking for a long time it was difficult at the start of the season when we lost James (Troisi).

“He was the player we had lined up for that role so that was difficult and at such late notice he (Troisi) was hard to replace.”

The Reds could be in for a makeover in the off-season (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)Source:Getty Images

It’s understood the Reds had made decisions to cut players, advising them before the finals series kicked off.

Veart has a number of players off contract including veteran defenders Michael Marrone and Michael Jakobsen, Jordan Elsey, Tomi Juric, Nathan Konstandopoulos, Dakota Ochsenham and Noah Smith.

Dom Costanzo was released before the finals and scored for Croydon Kings in a 3-2 win over Campbelltown City on Saturday.

Adelaide recently re-signed Joe Gauci and Josh Cavallo and imports Javi Lopez and Juande.

However, with Adelaide’s season coming to an abrupt end on the pitch after the club held its awards show four nights before its most important game of the season, Veart is hoping VAR would improve in the new season.

While the current European championships have seen VAR praised for the speed of its decision making, Saturday’s knockout match lost some of its shine because of the technology available.

VAR featured for all of the goals and a second penalty which was saved by keeper James Delianov.

“I’m a little bit of a traditionalist,’’ Veart said.

“It takes a bit of the excitement out of the game because you’re not sure if it’s a goal or not a goal and it takes a lot of time out of the game.

“We had a few calls on the game and at times it takes the momentum out of the game but we just have to deal with it.”

Source: Read Full Article