Adelaide Reds | Forum and Community | For the fans, by the fans

Tonight @ "The Theatre of Dreams" Con Makris Park, Novar Gardens (Corner Saratoga Drive & Morphett Road) 19.00 p.m.

Will United be able to overcome the might of the aussie giants and same club where David Beckham learnt his trade, Adelaide Galaxy?

Only time will tell, I think aslong as our players don't give away too many power-plays then we'll be in with a shot.

If I turn up a United kit with my boots on and sit on the bench I reckon I'll get a run, I think you all should do the same.

I hope we score plenty of tries and not too many behinds.

hoping Eugene is there... would love to see him one last time if he is in fact gone in the next few weeks.

Is it on the telly?

United won 2-0.. van dijk header and incredible Flores goal both in the first half. Flores took the ball just over half way, beat 2 men and chipped the keeper from just outside the box.. amazing.

We pretty much dominated the play and should have won 5-0.

Kids came on for about the last 30 mins and created a really good chance that was saved well.

i headed off with about 15-20 minutes to still go, roughly when all the Youth were starting to pile on (about the same time my left nut went and ment my right nut up north...). but some observations i guess worth mentioning that i noticed,

i still think we were trying to walk the goals in too much. we still need to start taking those early shots and having a crack. we scored twice, both from bits of nice open play. not from 3 or 4 passes inside the 18 yard box.

Flores appeared a bit sluggish, but still managed to stay on top of the play. worries me though as i'm curious to see how he'd hold up against an opponent of higher pedigree. he made some incredibly intelligent passes, and hit the post with a similiar style chip to his goal earlier in the 1st half. moved around the formation quite nicely too. if he stays injury free, i can see a good season ahead.

Hughes, although with his many faults and fark ups still, appeared in more control of his play, and was extremely vocal on pitch. encouraging players, ordering the younger guys. getting Leckie to move around, and giving tips etc. to Mullen. was a highlight i took from the night. seems he may have a fair amount of respect in the rooms, might be a confident season approaching for him.

Pants was hopeless... was hoping he may have had an outstanding pre-season & rise above expectations...... simple answer: nope. had a few decent runs, one or two great crosses (one which ended up as Serg's goal) but otherwise, seemed behind play constantly.

Boogard had a lot to deal with all game, but handled himself very well. Leckie still fearless, paceful and cheeky. trying little turns, chasing every possible ball down & just self believing. from the little i saw of Shin, he still has a long way to come... looked really lost on the ball and off, appeared unsure of himself. all short passes from him too, can't recall one longer than 4m. didn't look comfortable at all with his decisions with the ball and his positioning.

i noticed a fair amount of players were rotating and drifting around the formation. i don't know whether this was for practice reasons whilst in a friendly, or a new tactic for the season ahead. Hughes and Reid kept switching positions. Pants & Cassio could be found on the right pretty regularly, and Leckie and Serg kepted mixing up as to who was attacking up the middle. wasn't many times when we were caught out of position either, it was mainly when counter-attacking ourselves that we were. could be something interesting to keep an eye on maybe.

Eugene was there but didn't play, Birra warmed up but as far as i'm aware he never came off the bench. I didn't see Lloyd around the park at all, which is disappointing if he wasn't there. You have to be a part of the club even if you're not playing.

all in all, was a good little hit out. those that i didn't mention are because they had fairly solid games, as well as my essay-sized post is already long enough. Galaxy had a damned good manager, i liked his style of encouragement with the players. if a player took a shot when he had space, even when a fair distance out, his attitude was "yep, fair enough"... encouraging players to have a crack and get their confidence up.

It's a controversial statement, but I agree fully without having been at last night's game. Having watched his last few performances in the season - especially against Jeonbuk, and keeping a close, unbiased eye on him - I could see that he was a lot more comfortable, and a lot more confident in his surroundings. Sure, he had a few poor first games and that set the mood for the fans, but he looks like he's adapted with each game and especially against Jeonbuk was up there with some of the best on the field.

Most people who really watch the games will agree that he improved a hell of alot at the end of last season, hopefully he gets a decent crack fromt he fans this season and they don't boo him from the word go as if we are gonna play a 433/4231 formation he could be the perfect partner for Reid/Barbiero (whoevers fit) in front of the back 4. Strong defensively with the ability to carry the ball forward and link up with Flores in the midfield.

If hughes had played most of the season as well as he did in the last couple of league games he wouldn't have copped anywhere near as much shit as he did.

edit: and just after I post that facebook suggests I like the adam hughes is a donkey page.

I think that's the beauty of the new season. All players can forget about how shit last season was and start fresh. And as bad as Hughes was last season he did score against Melbourne so i'm pretty sure that took his season rating out of 10 to 1

You really have to wonder what was going through the club's thought process when we signed Shin. Clearly, utterly, a waste of a visa spot, and there's probably State League players who would be a better prospect than him.

TWG report.

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league ... cal-Galaxy

i think it was a risk worth taking.

Not only was the club impressed by his skill, but many fans who went to trial games calimed he was the next big thing, so we cant say AU is deaf dumb and stupid because alot of us belived he was quality to.

However, it may be time to release him, he cant be getting paid much , that extra visa spot could bring in a good creative player.

If you're friends with the official Adelaide United page on facebook, they just posted a video of the Flores goal from last night. enjoy.

dammit, don't have FB.

i'll feel for Shin, he moved over here, sacrificed the life he had at home and chose to sign for United. He probably could have gone to another club. he may even feel he wants to stick it out here himself, and find some success.

From what i heard of him in the youth league he was more then capable.

That's one of those things of football if Shin could string two or three starts together by the third game i reckon you would see a totally different player.

I believe it all comes back to his debut v sydney in sydney. His first touch in A-league could have been a goal. If it was i reckon we could be talking about Shin the same way we talk about Leckie.

Shin is still showing signs that he could have what it takes to be a top player in the league. As has already been said, he just needs to be given that chance. He played on the left wing against the Roar at Suncorp and was able to turn players as easily as he can in the Youth League, and the performance should have been more than enough to give him some more playing time, but I don't think he's played for the senior team since.

That may change with Coolen in charge. I still think it was a good idea to sign him, but he was severely underutilised last and needs to step up this year and speak up to make his presence known.

Yeah i would like to see more of him on the wings, i reckon with Jambo gone Cassio will move back leaving the wing for shin. Or while Dodd is out give him a run on the right.

I reckon he plays a bit better in more of a free role, which would probably mean playing Flores deeper (alongside Reid) in the 4-3-3 to adapt to the movement. Shin does a lot of drifting and tries to find space to receive passes and help tear away the defence. He and Flores together (if it's a more attacking formation than the D/CM-D/CM-AM type) would probably work really well for that reason, since Flores is more about the passing than finding space for himself.

if ya play that midfield, where ya gonna play Leckie? Unless he has learnt to turn since last season he has to play down the center of the pitch or he'll keep running into the grandstand.

i think Shin's best position is either side as the wide striker/winger.

Leckie originally played as a right winger, like Dodd. The only reason Leckie was playing as a "striker/central midfielder" for most of last season was because Dodd was there. And Leckie's constantly drifting wide regardless of his position, so it's just natural for him to play there.
He proved early on in his first few games that he's good in that position, before he was being played as a striker and starting games, and can cut inside (with or without the ball) whenever needed, so there wouldn't be as much work needed because you won't have to make him adapt to the position.
Play him out on the left with Dodd on the right if Dodd's still needed; God knows he'll be more dangerous than Pantelis.