That would be the perfect way to describe Adelaide United’s 2018/19 W-League season.

It was United’s best season on record. Although not beating their highest placing so far (fifth in 2015/16), Adelaide have finished off the season with a record high of 18 points in sixth place - certainly putting their names down as the finest United squad to date.

However, they were just one point short of a spot in the top four and yet again, their maiden Finals appearance will have to wait for another season.

“It was bittersweet because we were so close, but at the end of the day, I think if anyone [had] said that Adelaide United would be finishing the season with 18 points, people would have laughed at you,” coach Ivan Karlović mentioned.

“However, we believed in ourselves, I think we’re [only] starting to make people take notice of what we’re about and where we’re heading.”

Players

With the departures of multiple key players in the offseason, the Adelaide coaching staff searched far and wide for appropriate replacements.

The overseas imports they brought in were quality. Amber Brooks, who formed a solid partnership with captain Emma Checker in the heart of defence, won 81.0% of contests, and provided five assists – coming in second on most goals assisted, just one less from Perth’s Sam Kerr and Rachell Hill.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Reflecting on a season that was full of emotions. This team and club is one big family and I feel grateful to be a part of something so special. To say we exceeded people’s expectations is an understatement, yet being so close and missing out by such a small margin hurts. I am so proud of every member of this team for the work and effort put in towards achieving success and building a strong standing culture. Last season was the grind with hard yards of unseen progress, this season was only the start of seeing it come to fruition. Did we achieve what we were aiming for? Unfortunately no, but we have taken leaps and bounds towards achieving more club history next season. To all our families, friends and supporters, thank you for believing in us week in week out. We couldn’t do it without you. 🔴⚪️

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Icelandic duo Gunhildur Jónsdóttir and Fanndís Friðriksdóttir were the engine room on the field and provided guidance and leadership to the young United squad.

Veronica Latsko contributed nine out of 17 Adelaide goals, which put her in equal second on most goals scored with Victory’s Natasha Dowie and Sydney’s Caitlin Foord.

The locals were not too shabby either. After a two-year break from the W-League, young gun Dylan Holmes came back to have a breakout season – she started in every match and was a crucial player in the Reds’ setup.

Defender Laura Johns was a rock in left back, but her attacking nature also allowed for plenty of opportunities to come from the left flank during their counter-attack.

However, arguably the best player on the park for the Reds this season was goalkeeper Sarah Willacy. The public caught only glimpses of Willacy in the last few years when she had to step in for Eliza Campbell.

This time around, she shone as number one. Willacy’s superb skills and lightning-fast reflexes were on show all season, as she made the second highest number of saves, denied a crucial penalty for Brisbane Roar in round 14, and kept four clean sheets for United, which was the best in the league tied with Victory and Canberra.

What went well

Adelaide found tactics that suited the squad and played to their strengths this season.

Rather than try to outplay stronger teams and risk getting stretched out too wide, they sat back and absorbed the pressure from the opposition. This allowed them to overload the midfield and defence, cut out key passes, and hence stifle potential goal-scoring opportunities for other teams.

Another key part in the Reds’ games was the quick transition plays. From crowding the opposition, they took advantage of any scrambles in play or interceptions to quickly break for the counter, relying on the speed and attacking prowess of their forwards to finish the chance.

What went wrong

The momentum for Adelaide started to drop after the narrow 0-1 loss to Canberra, their second defeat of the season. It was a setback, but with three consecutive home matches to finish the season against Jets, Wanderers and Roar, the team still looked on course for a maiden finals appearance.

United went into the games against Jets and Wanderers as favourites to win. However, after spending the majority of the season sitting back and soaking pressures from stronger sides, Adelaide looked lost playing as the dominant team.

Rather than the confident and quick style they usually deployed, they looked sluggish and uncertain in those matches. Paired with a hungry Wanderers looking for their first win and Jets playing with nothing to lose, it was only deserving that those two teams got the win.

“All of a sudden, we became a side that people expected to get results, especially when you’re playing against sides that are below you on the table,” Karlović said.

“That doesn’t mean that they’re easy games, because we have failed in that area. It’s something that we need to look to improve on.”

“I think it was just disappointing that we couldn’t finish the game [against Jets] off. It’s been a tough season. It’s a tight season [and] there’s a lot of good sides [so] you have to be at your best every week, but I think we’ve learned and developed a lot as a group.”

With those three losses in a row, the Reds bombed out of finals contention before their last match against the Roar, which they won 1-0 playing as the reactive side against a team pushing to finish as Premiers.

What has been learned

The biggest learning curve by far for Adelaide has been the different challenges that come with performing well and obtaining positive results. There is always talks of potential first finals appearance every season, but United usually ended up as second-to-last or wooden spoon winners.

However, records started to be broken – three consecutive clean sheets in round four, unbeaten after five matches – people started to take notice in them and expected more. Suddenly, this season was the first time that finals could be a reality.

Unfortunately, the pressure and expectation to perform well might have gotten the better of the young team.

Georgia Campagnale rued the missed chances but is positive that the squad will learn from this experience.

“Throughout training, Ivan [Karlović] would say that if we continue to work hard [and] stick to the principles that we set at the start of the week, we would get success, and we did get a lot of success,” the defender said.

“We’re still a young group and maintaining that high level of intensity throughout the whole season is what we need to learn now, so we don’t let [ourselves] down and not make finals [again].”

Where to next

Once again, Adelaide’s ultimate goal of making an inaugural finals appearance will have to wait for another year. Whilst it was bittersweet, the squad can take pride in the fact that they have put up the best performance in the club’s history.

Hopefully, the squad will build on this experience and it will only be onwards and upwards from here.