Adelaide United Head Coach Airton Andrioli addressed the media following a disappointing 4–0 defeat to Central Coast Mariners at Coopers Stadium on Sunday night. With a heavily depleted side and several key players unavailable, Andrioli reflected on a difficult evening, the importance of regrouping, and the need to respond with character in the weeks ahead.
On the result and the opening stages of the match
First thing I want to say is we’re extremely disappointed. We had close to a full house tonight and we desperately wanted to give our supporters something to cheer about. We spoke all week about mentality and doing the little things well. Sometimes football doesn’t give you clear answers. We started a little bit off, conceded an early penalty, then had a big chance to go 1–0 up and straight after that we gave the ball away and conceded again. Suddenly we’re three goals down very early and the game is in their hands. All the goals were avoidable, which makes it even more disappointing.
On the impact of missing players and inexperience in defence
We had players away on international duty, others injured, and some players who had never played together before. These are the players we had available and we believe in them. Young players have to play and learn their trade. That’s part of football. It’s easy to look back and say things could have been different, but this is where we are and we have to accept that.
On leadership and accountability within the group
Everyone knows their responsibilities. Of course, you can always ask for a little bit more, but football is a strange game. You can analyse it from every angle, look at individual mistakes, missed chances, moments that change momentum – but sometimes it’s still hard to explain exactly why it unfolds the way it does. What matters now is how we respond.
On squad depth, visa spots and new signing Ajak Riak
This is the reality at the moment. Players are away representing their national teams and we’re proud of that. We also had other players carrying knocks and didn’t want to risk them once the game was out of reach. AJ came in because he was available and he’ll add something different to us. We don’t have the luxury to bring in whoever we want, so we work with what we have and keep moving forward.
On youth development and national team selection
As a club, we invest heavily in developing young players and we’re extremely proud when they represent their national teams. That won’t change. It’s important for the club and for their development, and we fully support that pathway.
On positives to take despite the result
The positive is that young players are getting opportunities. They’ll learn from this, grow from it and improve. In the second half we showed more initiative, changed our structure and had better moments, but we conceded again at a key time. We need to be more consistent from the first minute to the last, not just in patches.
On regrouping and the response required
We’re incredibly grateful to the supporters who came out tonight. We didn’t deliver what we wanted to at home, and that hurts. Now it’s about showing character, getting back on the training pitch, refining the areas we need to improve and making sure Coopers Stadium remains a tough place for teams to come. That’s our responsibility.