Adelaide United are one of only two undefeated sides through five rounds of A-League Men football in 2024/25. In this piece, Front Page Football delves deeper into the start Carl Veart's side has made to the new season.
Adelaide United are yet to taste defeat in the 2024/25 A-League Men season. (Image: Ben Blaess/BDb.media)
An unbeaten start
Analysis and discussion extend far beyond the results of a team, but one cannot simply ignore Adelaide United's undefeated start to the season. After a draw with the Central Coast Mariners in Round 2, Carl Veart's side has remained unbeaten without dropping a point.
Coming out on top in a seven-goal thriller against the Western Sydney Wanderers in Parramatta was a significant statement that showed the new system and new players like Dylan Pierias would cause headaches for opposing teams.
A return to Hindmarsh Stadium for Round 4 saw the slow-starting Reds recover by taking advantage of a fortuitous own goal and missed penalty from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to seal a win against Western United thanks to a Zach Clough strike.
After the international break, the Reds travelled to Sydney for Unite Round, where Veart's men once again came from behind to defeat the winless Brisbane Roar, continuing their unbeaten start. Adelaide may have dodged some of this season's big hitters early; still, the fact remains that they sit fourth on the ladder, equal on points with the Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory in second and third, having played one less match than most of the league due to their early bye.
Young strikers fire early
In the aftermath of the 2023/24 A-League Men season, Adelaide United fans were enraged when they found out that their club's top scorer, Hiroshi Ibusuki, was moving to Western United when the Reds were not willing to match his contractual demands. The club did little to dissipate the frustration after bucking the trend of the archetypical experienced foreign striker signing, instead poaching talented young striker Archie Goodwin from the Newcastle Jets to partner local prodigy Luka Jovanovic.
For his part, Jovanovic made the most of his opportunity to be his club's starting striker, scoring the goal that saw the Reds draw with the Mariners in Round 2 before adding to his season tally against the Wanderers in an away win a week later.
Jovanovic is a high-pressing, opportunistic forward who can still work on his hold-up play. As his teammates adapt to his style, rather than Ibusuki's contrasting physical game, the young forward will continue developing while aiming to continue scoring vital goals for his side.
On the other hand, Goodwin arrived in South Australia, where he was known for his goal-scoring efficiency but was notorious for his injury history. After being managed through pre-season, Goodwin started off the bench in the Reds' first four games and looked a threat before opening his account for his new side against Brisbane in the Unite Round, putting him in a strong position to contend with Jovanovic for a starting berth.
It's still early in the 2024/25 season, but Adelaide United's hierarchy will be happy with their gamble to back two young Australian strikers with the scoring burden, with the healthy competition for the starting spot certain to fuel the duo's performances.
Defensive woes remain unresolved
The defensive side of the game has not been Adelaide United's specialty during Veart's time as head coach. Even when the club was flying high and reaching semi-finals, their defensive resilience remained an Achilles' heel, an issue that was amplified and affected their ladder position last season.
The club moved on several defenders and changed its style of play, but early indications are that it will take a bit more time to fix the chronic defensive issues. The Reds have conceded seven goals across their first four games, conceding multiple goals in all but their first game of the season.
It is admirable that Veart's side remains undefeated despite that record, but it is an all too familiar story in his Adelaide United reign. In the past, Craig Goodwin or Nestory Irankunda's brilliance could be relied upon to ensure the Reds were on the right side of shootouts more often than not. With a get-out-of-jail card of the sort lacking this season, a more pragmatic approach should be considered before the Reds' luck and form catches up to them.
READ MORE A-LEAGUES CONTENT ON FPF
OPINION: Unite Round: An invisible success
ADELAIDE UNITED WOMEN: Emily Condon aiming to give young female footballers an advantage
New system paying early dividends
The arrival of Ernest Faber from PSV as Adelaide United's new Technical Director spelled a new era for how the club plays its football, pivoting from reliance on transitional football to having greater control of the game. The results early on regarding that metric are debatable, but the ripples felt through the team have been positive.
No one has benefited more than new arrival Dylan Pierias, who has seemingly found his place as a starter in a wing-back role that allows him to isolate his opposite marker and stretch the opposition with his speed. On the other flank, Austin Ayoubi has also benefited, earning a starting spot after strong pre-season and opening round performances.
In the midfield, the Jay Barnett and Ethan Alagich pairing has proven to be a breath of fresh air as a double pivot, an area the Reds have struggled to make dynamic in recent times. In defence, even though the aforementioned defensive record has not been ideal, Panagiotis Kikianis is embracing life in the heart of the back three, developing both as an A-Leagues defender and a young leader for an equally young side.
Nervy moments escaped, for now
An undefeated start to the season is an excellent result for Veart's side, but this period of success on the ladder has not been without its hiccups that, on another day, could have flipped those positive results. In Round 2, despite being the fresher of the two teams, courtesy of the Mariners' continental duties, the Reds could not match their opponent's intensity in the second half and put the result in peril before settling for a point.
Against the Wanderers, despite scoring four goals, the lead never felt safe, with Adelaide's control of the game being exclusively a scoreboard fact rather than a reflection of the football on the pitch. Western United rattled the Reds in the first half of their Round 4 visit to Adelaide, and if the VAR corrects a clear and obvious error and awards John Aloisi's side a penalty, the result could have looked different than the eventual win for Veart's side.
Unite Round saw the Reds deviate from the aforementioned system, and teething errors in that process allowed Brisbane to make a fast start and take the lead. A reversion to the shape that has been tried and tested in pre-season, combined with Brisbane's errors, allowed Adelaide to claim another three points.
This discussion includes a lot of hypotheticals, and Adelaide United must be commended for their ability to achieve results in the early rounds of the season. It is up to the Reds to solidify their game plan to ensure these hypotheticals don't become a reality that lingers as the season progresses.
Click here to read more of Front Page Football's coverage of the A-Leagues!
Comments