After the 6-1
mauling that Adelaide United suffered at the hands of A-League new boys Western
Sydney Wanderers all the talk was about bouncing back on Boxing Day. Still in second place on the A-League ladder, they played host to Brisbane Roar who were second
bottom with Mike Mulvey on the bench for only his second match in charge. However
United were found wanting as they suffered their first defeat at Hindmarsh
Stadium this season.
It is hard to
believe that an away team could be allowed to dominate possession the way the
Roar did with 67% of the ball, majority of the times playing in United’s half. John
Kosmina’s tactical selection will be called into question as several players
underperformed and far too many times were United left with five players at the
back to cope with the Roar’s forays forward. Osama Malik, playing in his usual
defensive midfield holding role was the sole midfielder defending as Marcelo
Carrusca, Fabio Ferreira, Jeronimo Neumann and Dario Vidosic failed to track
back quick enough. Carrusca looked to have been playing alongside Malik in that
central midfield slot but why the left-footer was playing on the right side is
another question that needs to be asked as every time Carrusca went forward he
would try to cut back onto his preferred left.
The selection of
Daniel Bowles at right-back instead of Cameron Watson was disappointing as
Bowles’ passing and crossing were poor. Instead, Watson came on for Malik as
United were chasing the game. Both Fabian Barbiero and Evan Kostopoulos were
also very poor when they came on late in the second half. Barbiero was hardly
seen and the one time he had the ball, he casually walked the ball down the
left flank and lost it.
Bruce Djite is
simply not a goalscorer that you can rely on. He has raw power and is a strong
lad but just lacks that fine touch. Technically he is not fully developed and
that is why he is unable to stake a claim for regular football with an European
club.
The only notables
for United were Eugene Galekovic who pulled off a fantastic save in the first
half and Cassio who put in some well-timed tackles.
For the Roar, their
supposedly out-of-form players Henrique, Mitch Nichols and especially Thomas
Broich controlled the midfield. Not hard when your opponent lets you do that!
The Roar had 9 shots (6 on target) to United’s 4 shots (2 on target).
Overall, United were
sluggish and simply outplayed. What Kosmina needed to do was to line-up as
follows:
Galekovic
Watson Fyfe Boogard Cassio
Malik Carrusca
Ferreira Vidosic Ramsay
Geronimo
Roar’s defence play
quite a high line and both Ramsay and Geronimo’s pace could have caught the
defenders square.
Which begs the
question, why did Kosmina not make any tactical changes? Why would you continue
playing the way you play when the away team is dominating you at home?
