Reds’ fans waiting to begin
In our new Monday column, Manton St Tales, soccer writer Paul Marcuccitti will plot Adelaide United’s journey through the A-League season.
For many fans, Adelaide United’s season will begin this Friday when the Reds host Western Sydney at Hindmarsh.
Sure, the weekend began with the round one match against Melbourne Victory at Adelaide Oval. But something didn’t feel right all week.
The buzz that preceded last year’s Adelaide Oval match between the same two teams was missing.
I don’t have an encyclopaedic memory so I can’t detail every promotional activity 12 months ago and make comparisons. But last week’s pre-match build up was in the aftermath of the AFL grand final. And it was a FIFA international date so coverage of the Socceroos’ trip to Jordan was also filling sport pages.
In my most recent column, I suggested Football Federation Australia might want to look at an earlier start to the A-League season (which would overlap with the end of other codes’ seasons). But that doesn’t mean you don’t take other big events like the AFL grand final into account when you’re organising fixtures.
Last season a Sunday game between United and Perth Glory at Hindmarsh was slotted in on the same day the massive India-Pakistan match at Adelaide Oval was scheduled in cricket’s World Cup.
The A-League game could have easily been moved to an earlier day on that weekend or Adelaide and Perth could have swapped home fixtures.
Instead United v Glory kicked off with the crowd noise from Adelaide Oval in the distance. The attendance of 9711 was one of the lowest at Hindmarsh all season despite Perth being the league leader at the time (and we were third).
"Perhaps my pre-match mood wasn’t helped by fears about the game itself. We haven’t beaten Victory since February 2013. That was three Prime Ministers ago."
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Matters weren’t helped last week by the late delivery of membership packs to United’s season ticket holders. Some supporters got theirs as late as Thursday or Friday; others are still waiting.
To deal with this, the club emailed digital memberships that would enable fans to get into Adelaide Oval. But there were always going to be supporters who rarely use these technologies and aren’t used to electronic ticketing.
Moreover, the considerable amount of time United spent dealing with this problem was time it couldn’t use getting on the front foot to boost its promotion of the match.
I understand the club is furious with its suppliers but it also has to wear some responsibility here. This isn’t the first ticketing fiasco at the start of the season. And part of the explanation on United’s website may as well have been rewritten to say: “sure, we could guarantee these tickets get to you earlier but we don’t because that might cost us a few more dollars”. These are the actual words: “Due to the sheer volume of packs, regardless of when they are ordered, they are produced in bulk as close to season commencement so they can go to as many members at once in one delivery.”
The sheer volume of packs? Last season United sold 9429 memberships. The current 2015-16 tally is 7607. (How on earth do AFL clubs with 50,000+ members cope?)
A reasonable estimate can be made of how many packs will be needed. And as the club continues to sell them after the beginning of the season, it’s unlikely that the “bulk” production is the only one.
Now United, I say this with love: make sure it never happens again.
It’s happened too often and each time the club points the finger at a supplier/partner. The Reds won’t lose rusted on fans like me who renew each year without blinking but some of the supporters who make a decision every 12 months – the ones you need to sustain growth – might be unforgiving.
I do support playing matches at Adelaide Oval. Hindmarsh is a better venue for soccer simply because it’s a rectangular stadium and fans are closer to the action.
But you can’t ignore the higher capacity and the opportunities for exposure and profit. Adelaide United apparently made good money out of the corresponding game 12 months ago and that meant Adelaide Oval was always going to be selected for last season’s knockout final against Brisbane. Thank goodness none of the club’s players whinged incessantly about that decision while trying to negotiate better pay deals.
Still, nothing kills an atmosphere more than when the number of empty seats exceeds the number of seats filled so you have to get everything right when a game is moved to a bigger stadium.
Perhaps my pre-match mood wasn’t helped by fears about the game itself. We haven’t beaten Victory since February 2013. That was three Prime Ministers ago.
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Every meeting in Adelaide since then has been a draw but each time United failed to hold on after taking the lead.
And the Socceroos lost in Jordan the night before. It shouldn’t be too damaging to their qualification chances but Australia was guilty of a failure to be pragmatic, something United has also been guilty of in recent seasons.
(There were other reasons why the Socceroos fell – their passing and decision making were well below normal standards – but when it became obvious they were in the sporting equivalent of a street fight, our players didn’t adjust.)
United’s James Jeggo and Victory’s Rashid Mahazi contest the ball during Friday’s match. AAP photo
I knew what was going to happen on Friday night. United would put together some attractive passing moves and score. Then the Reds would try to continue in the same vein, seemingly oblivious to Victory’s increasing pressure, and the visitors would equalise.
It was a surprise then to see that, from the outset, United ignored its style guide and produced a scrappy performance complete with hopeful balls forward and a determination to keep pace with Victory’s foul count. The result? Another draw in Adelaide between these two teams but no goals this time.
Admittedly the Reds had a bit of luck. Victory striker Besart Berisha failed to take a couple of chances he’d normally devour. But games change after goals are scored and it’s impossible to know how United would have responded (when the teams last met at Hindmarsh, Adelaide came from behind to go 2-1 up before Victory made it 2-2).
One of the wonderful things about soccer is two seasoned observers can watch the same match and see it completely differently. That’s partly because it’s a low scoring game but it’s also because of its fluidity – all the individual movements, both on and off the ball, are difficult to track and then summarise in a meaningful way. There are websites around that do fantastic analyses but even then their conclusions are contestable.
After Friday night’s game I spoke to a colleague whose opinion I respect greatly. He was appalled by United’s performance.
But I saw a lot that I liked – particularly the pragmatic approach the Reds took into the game.
In the post-match media conference I asked coach Guillermo Amor whether the pressure Melbourne Victory put on Adelaide United in their recent FFA Cup meeting influenced the decision to be a bit more direct (in getting the ball forward).
He acknowledged that Victory can create problems at the back and said, in those circumstances, it’s better to move the ball a little bit longer … but again it comes down to the particular situation of the moment.
After watching United concede several goals in recent seasons because of a slavish adherence to passing the ball out of defence (when a clearing kick would be the better way of dealing with a high-pressure situation), Amor’s words are almost revolutionary.
And if the Reds can flick the switch from stylish attacking play to scrappy defence to deal with momentum changes, they might get closer to that elusive championship this season.
Paul Marcuccitti is InDaily’s soccer columnist. He is a co-presenter of 5RTI’s Soccer on 531 program which can be heard from 11am on Saturdays. Manton St Tales will be published every Monday during the A-League season.
