With the Reds preparing for their biggest clash of 2015 against Brisbane Roar, one player, in particular, will be influential in potentially deciding the outcome of the elimination final at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
No accolades for guessing who he is. Marcelo Carrusca appears to have shaken off the quad injury he sustained against the Newcastle Jets a month ago, after returning to full training this week. It was very much a race against the clock for the Adelaide medical staff to ensure the Argentine was available for selection during the finals series, and, more specifically, Friday night’s blockbuster.
There should be no denying that Carrusca’s absence during the regular season certainly had an adverse effect on the South Australian outfit. The Argentine sensation missed eight matches, highlighted by five of those games ending in defeat for the Reds, while three culminated in victory, underlying just how instrumental he is when 100% fit and free from injury.
The creative midfielder has also produced his most prolific season from a goals perspective, only emphasising his importance to the team. Seven goals in 19 matches is a solid return for an attacking midfielder of his quality, who is capable of unlocking a miserly defence with an incisive through ball.
Adelaide boss Josep Gombau shares similar sentiments regarding one of his finest assets.
“Marcelo [Carrusca] is an important player for us, he’s the marquee, he’s a player with a lot of experience,” Gombau exclusively told Outside90.
“He’s the guy that can make the final ball, the winning pass and he’s also a great scoring threat.”
The Spanish tactician further believes Carrusca’s injury woes were a factor behind United’s vain attempt to clinch the Premier’s Plate, but acknowledged injuries are a part of football. It comes as no real surprise, particularly because of the Reds’ poor results without his influence on proceedings.
“We lost him in the most crucial moment of the season when we were pushing for the minor premiership and for sure a player of his quality we missed,” Gombau continued.
With the exception of Adelaide’s previous outing in which they completed a 4-1 rout over a rather abysmal Melbourne City, Gombau’s men had struggled to find the back of the net with ruthlessness, failing to kill off teams. This problem, synonymous with United for virtually the entire campaign, is symptomatic of the Reds’ lack of a genuine goalscoring forward.
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Many Reds fans would be optimistic the former Galatasaray man can be the catalyst to a side that only managed to register three or more goals on three separate occasions during the regular campaign, but Gombau has reiterated he is not concerned by United’s wastefulness at times in front of goal.
“No every game is different, every competition is different and the finals is a different competition.”
“After 27 rounds we finished in third position of a very difficult league, a very equal competition.
“Now we start a new competition, the quarter finals [elimination final] of a knockout competition which is very different to the regular season.
“In finals games, the players know it is all or nothing, everybody must be 100% concentrated, the team is very focused.”
Without doubt, the team will have to be extremely focused when it takes on a resurgent Brisbane Roar who secured a finals berth at the expense of the salary cap breaching Perth Glory. Adelaide, in recent years, has found it exceedingly challenging to overcome Brisbane in the City of Churches. The United faithful have not witnessed a Reds win over the Queensland outfit since February 2010 in the league and again lost both of its 2014-15 home matches 1-0 and 3-2 respectively.
Perhaps this will serve as a good omen for the hosts for Friday’s match, though incidentally, United did beat Brisbane 2-0 at home on their way to lifting the inaugural FFA Cup late last year.
And it is that FFA Cup Final win – already experiencing a pressure situation – which could bode well for Adelaide and give it a slight advantage heading into the decisive encounter, according to the United coach.
“It was a knockout competition, good experience for the group to have and it was good that we won the trophy.”
“I hope that this experience will give us confidence to deal with a similar situation in the finals… We want to play good, keep possession of the ball and have our attacking mentality to try and win the game.”
With a fit and firing Carrusca at Josep Gombau’s disposal, the Reds will be buoyed and confident of being the first club outside of the top two to win a maiden A-League Championship.
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