Adelaide United travel to Sydney on Saturday night to face an in-form Sky Blues outfit expecting to reach the final, after finishing second behind Melbourne Victory in the A-League proper and with an extra week’s rest.
Although the Reds have a fabulous record in Sydney, they will be considered very much the underdogs by many a fans and pundits alike. Not that Adelaide boss Josep Gombau cares one bit. But in the biggest match between the clubs in recent years, will the Reds’ impressive streak count for nothing on Saturday?
The Spanish tactician who played an instrumental role in guiding his side through the elimination final against Brisbane – after two substitutes combined for the match-winner – believes his side has the advantage heading into Saturday’s do-or-die clash.
“If I am honest, it’s better to play than to stay a week off without playing because you keep the speed of the game, you keep this feeling,” Gombau explained in Friday night’s post-match press conference.
“I think we have a little bit of an advantage in this, that they [Sydney FC] stopped and they don’t play the game.
“If we played on Wednesday, I would say no. But we play on Saturday. We have eight days [so] we can recover perfect.
“And we have the game of hard competition one week before that they don’t have. For me, it’s better. As a coach I prefer to play every week and don’t have this break.”
Perhaps this is just a case of typical mind games being played out by the Spaniard, but he unequivocally has a valid point. More so now, considering there are no serious injury issues, and an eight day rest is ample time to recover and prepare for any match, not least a final.
Bruce Djite’s groin problem appears behind him and should start the match and could be important to Adelaide’s aspirations, due to his knack of scoring against the Harbour outfit. Marcelo Carrusca also has an additional week of training under his belt, after returning from a four-week quad issue. The Argentine showed glimpses of his technical brilliance, particularly before the interval but understandably gradually faded, given his lack of match fitness. James Jeggo caused a scare through the United camp on Tuesday with a reported ankle injury, but the midfielder will be hopeful it will not affect his availability for the encounter.
The Sky Blues have only beaten Adelaide once at Allianz Stadium since December 2009 and have not tasted success against the Reds in the pair’s previous seven matches, including the 3-1 FFA triumph to Gombau’s men. In the context of this season, Sydney FC has lost three home games to United and achieved a scoreless draw in the City of Churches back in November.
As a result, it comes as no surprise Gombau fancies his chances when the Reds meet Graham Arnold’s men in this weekend’s semi-final.
In the most recent outing between he sides, Adelaide stunned the hosts 1-0, courtesy of an Awer Mabil strike and a rousing performance by gloveman Eugene Galekovic. The stalwart was in standout form and was the solitary reason United were still in the match up until the 80th minute, saving and parrying shot after shot and absorbing Sydney’s relentless pressure, which ultimately proved in vain.
However, Gombau’s side will be well aware of the fact that a Galekovic-inspired performance will almost certainly not be enough, given the magnitude of this game. A much more disciplined showing is the key to countering a Sky Blue team brimming with confidence. United will have to retain possession of the ball more effectively than they did a month ago and be quicker in transition from defence to attack.
If Adelaide prepares meticulously and highlights the mistakes it made last time out against Sydney, it has a genuine chance of winning when most pundits are giving it virtually no chance to progress to an unprecedented third grand final appearance. Ironically, as much as Gombau has a perceived preference of performance over result, it will be the result that matters and sometimes winning ugly is all that is required – just like in its last outing against the Sydney.
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