Adelaide will be looking to make their home ground a fortress come finals time Picture:Jack Tanner
After a less than inspiring start to season 2013/14, Adelaide United have transformed themselves into major contenders for this seasons A-League title.
Their coach Josep Gombau was facing plenty of criticism early on in the season with the Reds looking disjointed and defensively disorganised. But having only managed one win from their first nine matches, Adelaide’s season changed beginning with a dominant 4-0 victory over last year’s champions Central Coast Mariners.
Since then, the Reds have been beaten only twice over a 12-game stretch that has yielded 27 points from a possible 36, which has rocketed them to third on the A-League ladder.Their latest triumph was a 5-1 thrashing of in-form Wellington Phoenix, with a performance that confirmed them as a favourite for the A-League title.
With high calibre players such as Sergio Cirio, Fabio Ferriera, Marcelo Carrusca and the enigmatic Jeronimo Neumann all firing at the moment, Adelaide have been compelling to watch. One of their latest defeats, a 4-3 loss to Melbourne Victory, did little to dent the form that Adelaide have shown for the past three months. Even in defeat United still put on an impressively display, with only a few moments of magic by Victory giving them the win.
Adelaide are arguably the most dominant team in the league at the moment. The recent victories over both Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers, first and second on the ladder respectively, further underlines their title aspiration credentials.
With five rounds to play before the A-League finals, Adelaide are sure to make an impact. It is more than likely that Gombau and his players will be focused on attaining a home final first, but once they get there they will seize on every opportunity have a psychological edge on their prospective finals opponents.
