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.”