Adelaide used this season to develop large group of talented youngsters and despite missing out on the play-offs by a single point the Reds played some very attractive football throughout the course of the campaign. They also won silverware after lifting the FFA Cup back in December.
Gertjan Verbeek’s reign as Adelaide coach had impressive start, 4 wins in first 6 rounds, but then 2 separate runs of 5 defeats in 6 (the first one December-January, the next late February-March) unsettled things and during the COVID-break Verbeek left.
The final 5 rounds of the regular season were under interim boss Veart and despite being unbeaten in them (W2 D3) Adelaide dramatically missed out on top 6 finish.
The explosiveness of their many talented youngsters and the aggressive forward actions were amongst Adelaide’s main strengths throughout the season.
The young age of many players was also weakness though as the developing bodies of many of the players suffered and for the best part of the campaign Adelaide had at least 3-4 players constantly out injured.
McGree was very influential and aggressive from midfield, while Opseth took his time in his maiden campaign in Australia but come the end of the season he was also key figure. Veart deserve praise for the way he managed the squad since the restart and he’s expected to be given the job permanently.
With all of the young players expected to be even better next season Adelaide seem to have bright future ahead of them and they will be strong contenders for top 6 finish in 2020/21.
