There have been a lot of things said by Aurelio Vidmar and his team about Adelaide United’s worrying form slump.
In hindsight most of it has sounded fairly empty and shallow simply because the results have continued to deteriorate.
But maybe this week things have changed, because finally, perhaps, the penny has dropped.
Twelve months ago Adelaide United was top of the A-League, and about to play in the Club World Cup.
Now as anyone can see, the Reds are bottom, a massive 13 points behind league leaders and arch rivals Melbourne Victory.
Reds supporters can only hope this is the jolt the club needs to resurrect a campaign that while disappointing and frustrating, certainly isn’t beyond salvaging.
And without doubt the signs are encouraging….well the verbal signs are that is.
Following the shocking performance in Townsville, Mark Rudan became the first player to speak out in really angry terms about United’s historically low position.
An “embarrassed” Aurelio Vidmar apologised for the team’s form and accepted full responsibility for the fall to the bottom of the table, admitting;
“I’ve made some mistakes.
What I’ve done has been in the best interests of the club and the team and sometimes I get things right and sometimes I don’t.
“Fortunately I still have to make decisions and sometimes they one way and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.
“That’s how it is at the moment.
And the hugely popular Cassio, shared his pain but pleaded for the fans to keep the faith, and gave a 100% guarantee the team would turn the season around.
“Everyone knows we have not been good enough.
“We have to keep playing, keep training well like we did this week, and if we do that I tell you 100%, the results will come.
“I ask the fans to keep trusting us because we can turn the season around.
“I give you my word, we have good quality players here.
“What’s happened has happened.
“The season starts now for us against Newcastle.
So how are they going to change things around?
Well for one there will be changes in personnel.
If the Blue bibs at training today are any guide then Hughes, Leckie, Pantelis and Alemao will not be starting against the Jets, but Reid, Barbiero, Jamieson and Cristiano will be.
Vidmar also hinted at positional changes.
So perhaps Cassio will revert to midfield, well he actually admitted it at the press conference, and Cristiano will lead the line.
Assuming Leckie doesn’t play that will surely be in partnership with Dodd, even if the captain is better suited to midfield.
It’s hard to imagine Vidmar will revert to his preferred one up front formation when the team so desperately needs to score goals.
And then it’s down simply down to attitude, to not lose a single contest in any part of the pitch.
It’s about staying positive and as Vidmar said “not fracturing.”
Here at least Vidmar wants to lead from the front, suggesting he is not worried about his job security, only the job at hand.
And it would seem, quitting is not on his agenda either.
“When you sign on the dotted line it comes with the territory all these sort of things.
“Every coach and player will go through some tough times and some great times and this is just part of it.
“Mentally it’s hard but as a player I never threw in the towel, and I’m not going to give up.
“I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me, and I know the players still got a lot of fight left in them.
“We’re gonna fight, fight and fight until we get out of this.
As Vidmar also said, this is a like cup final for Adelaide, and as expectations have been raised with the success the team has enjoyed over the past five years, it’s now about how everyone “handles the situation.
Most importantly though, playing the Jets is about one thing, three points.
And while it’s been encouraging to hear a little more anger and desperation this week, it will mean nothing if Adelaide fails to win.
Tags: a-league, adelaide united, aurelio, aurelio vidmar, Barbiero, Fabian Barbiero, football, jets, john thompson-mills, jtm, newcastle, soccer