Adelaide United are one of the most consistent performers in the Isuzu UTE A-League. Can they secure another top six finish? Robbie Thomson spoke with head coach, Carl Veart, to get an update on the Reds on the eve of the new season.
RT: Just under three weeks from the start of the season, how has the team been travelling?
CV: It's been a good pre-season for us. I've been very happy with the way it's gone. It would be nice to have had a couple more games, but the difficulty of being in Adelaide is that we can't play too many pre-season games without incurring huge costs, so that is a difficult thing. But I'm very happy with the way the team's tracking along at the moment.
RT: Last season was a good season for Adelaide, a great season for the fans, and the team was such an exciting one… Looking back, what did you and your staff make of it?
CV: If we played under the old rules, we would have made the grand final on away goals, instead of going to extra-time in the semi-final against Melbourne City, so when you look back, you’re disappointed at getting so close and being so far away from it as well. But over the course of the season, we were very happy.
The unfortunate thing was that we had such a slow start to the season now. We didn't win a first game until round eight and we look back and we sort of think only if we'd picked up a couple of wins from those early draws because we had quite a few draws to start the season with.
That was probably the result of the preseason last year where we only had the one game leading into the season, so it took us a while to get up and running and we tried to address that this pre-season and have a few more games. It’s a tough pre-season in Australia because it is so long to keep the players focused and to get them ready for round one and that's why it's so important that you can get as many games in preseason as you can.
RT: One of the things that obviously caught the eye last season was that ability to stay in matches until those final moments and then have the ability to turn a result around in the final seconds.
I look at that as the character of your team and also within the club. But character is not something you can just flick a switch and say, okay, now we're going to have character, Is it something you were conscious of last season and trying to instill in this team?
CV: I suppose it reflects a little bit on the values of the club and the way that I sort of am as a coach as well: we want to win every game and we don't really change the way that we play.
We play a fairly open brand of football at times and that's why it is exciting at times. Last year we were fortunate that we had some really exciting young players that would come on and play with that freedom. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. But that's what you get with kids and you just enjoy the ride. It's about the process that we put in place.
Unfortunately, in our game, we get judged on wins and losses, but sometimes you've got to look at the whole process of what you're trying to achieve as a club and that you’re on the right path and can see improvement.
RT: How do you find that balance when you go for eight matches without a win at the start of the season. You may be able to see positives, but you also know that the supporters, the board, the players, yourself, everyone wants to win as well. So where is that line between process and results?
CV: It’s all about being consistent with the messaging coming from myself and consistent with the messaging coming from Nathan Kosmina, our CEO: that the path we're travelling down is the path we want to be going down. We believe if we follow that path, we will get success.
And because we believe in the way that we want to play football, we believe in the players and we give them a lot of freedom and a lot of trust. I think you can see in our playing group that we have such a tight bond within the squad. And so, when things are difficult, it makes it easier for the group to stay on that path.
RT: You have brought in one of our own in the form of our former 10 Play colleague Mark Milligan as assistant coach. How has he gone swapping the pundit sofa for the training ground?
CV: He's been excellent. I think anyone that's met Mark or knows Mark knows that he will have success. You don't play at the level he played at and captain the Socceroos unless you have something special.
Mark certainly does and he’s a great addition to our team and the players have taken to him well and the information that he provides at training and the little insights that help with the younger players has been tremendous. I suppose he’s a first year coach at this level and he's still learning, but I'm very happy and I think we’re very fortunate to have him.
RT: You mentioned your playing style earlier, of trying to play expansive, open football… Is there anything you'd like to change for this coming season, not be chasing matches so often?
CV: I suppose one advantage from last season to this season is we've pretty much kept the same squad. We've really only added two players into our squad and promoted some younger players, so the majority of the playing group understand the football that we want to play and understand the rules and understand what they expect from each other. Now it's just about fine tuning. But yes, we've had a good look back over the off season that you do as a coach, you reflect a lot on what you did and what you need to improve on.
I've definitely done that and I think defensively last year we were good. We didn't concede as many goals compared to the season before. We conceded far too many goals the year before and so last year we made it a lot more difficult for teams to score against us. Another focus this year was also to improve our finishing ability.
Last year I reckon we would have been one of the top crossing teams in the league, but at times the movement in the box or the decision on the cross or the timing was not quite right. So that's another area that we've spent a lot of time on in preseason: on the areas that we want to be crossing from and the areas that we want to be hitting.
It's just an ongoing process when you're coaching and I suppose we're fortunate enough that we don't have to start over from the beginning again, because we've got pretty much the same squad and it's just about making the little changes.
RT: So, talk a little bit about the transfer window. Your three Spaniards are back again, Hiroshi Ibusuki re-signed, Craig Goodwin has re-signed as well. Ryan Kitto. Was the idea to re-sign as many as possible to maintain that squad?
CV: Most definitely. We're very big on having our culture here and it's about having good people. I mean, all those players that you mentioned, they are great people and they drive a lot of the standards that we set. That's critical if you want to have success, to have good people and reward those people that are doing the right thing.
That way, all the other younger players that are coming through can see that if you do the right things, the coach and the club will stand behind you.
RT: Seeing the number of debuts of exciting youngsters last season and the way they performed with assurance and fearlessness, it strikes me that it’s not just a coincidence that Josh Cavallo came out last season. You must be very proud of this aspect of what you’re doing in Adelaide…
CV: I think it's important. I suppose when I look back on my playing career but also my coaching career and having spent so long working with young players, and no matter what you do, you have to enjoy it, you have to love what you're doing if you want to be successful. I have to provide an environment that doesn't have too many restrictions on the players and so they can be who they are.
Because for you to have success, you have to be true to yourself, be who you are. There's no point trying to be someone else because it won’t work. I suppose a philosophy of mine as a coach is I make sure that I provide an environment that is enjoyable and safe. That way, players can make decisions and try things and not have to worry if it doesn't work. They know they’re not going to get scolded for it.
RT: Do you hold yourself to those same rules as a coach? It’s been a tough two years for coaches in the A-Leagues, are you allowed to make mistakes?
CV: It's been a difficult two years with COVID and a lot of other things that have gone on. It always starts with the fact that I'm very tough on myself. I’m the first one to admit I’ve made mistakes and I have admitted to the playing group quite a few times that I've made mistakes with their tactics.
If you don't put your hand up yourself when you've made a mistake, then how do you expect the players to accept making mistakes? If you're scared of failing, then you're not going to succeed. And I've tried some things that haven’t worked and so we’ve tried something else to get that success.
RT: Do you have a group of senior players that you consult with?
CV: Most definitely. We have a leadership group here that meets with the club on a regular basis to discuss what's happening on the playing side and how they see things going and where they believe we can make improvements in what we're doing and stuff like that.
There's a lot of processes here to make sure we're delivering on what we say we're going to deliver. As you said, I'm very fortunate that we've got some great senior players in Isaias, Javi Lopez, Juande, Craig Goodwin and Ryan Kitto, that they're all open to this as well and want the best.
They're not putting themselves before anything else which makes it easier as a coach to have those open discussions with the players. And it’s actually the same with the younger players. I speak with them and try to challenge them to be better than they are. Then it's up to them.
RT: Finally, how do you see what's coming this season then? How would you gauge success? A semi-final last year… is that aim to go one better?
CV: In our game, success is coming first and everyone wants to come first. I have a huge winning mentality. I'm not a nice person to be around after we've had a loss. I want my players to want to win and have that drive to win in everything they do. I think that's reflected in their training sessions as well.
Sometimes, as a coach, I just have to shut my eyes with the challenges flying in, but that’s what you want. But not everyone can win, so there are other ways of judging success as well, not just wins and losses. For me, at the end of the season, it's important that I can look back and ask have I got the best I can out of every player? If I can answer ‘yes’, then that's success.
See what all the other A-League Men's coaches have to say ahead of the 2022/23 season
