# 2019–20 Adelaide United FC season

The 2019–20 Adelaide United FC season was the club's 16th season since its establishment in 2003. The club participated in the A-League for the 15th time and participated in the FFA Cup for 6th time, winning the 2019 FFA Cup tournament.
On 24 March 2020, the FFA announced that the 2019–20 A-League season would be postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand, and subsequently extended indefinitely. The season resumed on 17 July 2020.

## Review
### Pre-season

Before the 2019 A-League Grand Final, Adelaide United confirmed Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had left the club and joined new A-League club, Western United on 20 March.
On 15 May, Adelaide United updated their squad with Baba Diawara, Scott Galloway, and Jordy Thomassen departing Adelaide. It was announced that Galloway had then signed for his new club, Melbourne City ahead of this current season.
Three days later, it was announced that Isaías, who had recently become an Australian citizen, departed the club. Over a month later, he joined Qatari club Al-Wakrah.
In June, Adelaide United appointed former player Bruce Djite as the Director of Football. On 5 June, Vince Lia and Lachlan Brook re-signed with the club.
On 5 July, Riley McGree signed for Adelaide United and was assigned the "number 8" shirt. In mid-July, Reds signed Curaçao international, Michaël Maria from Charlotte Independence, whilst Craig Goodwin departed the club to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Wehda.
Adelaide United played their first pre-season friendly for the season on 16 July, against North Eastern MetroStars, which resulted in a 3–1 victory. A week later, the club played an intra-club friendly, with the senior squad beating the youth side 1–0, with Nathan Konstandopoulos scoring the only goal. A week later, they beat Adelaide Raiders 5–0.
At the end of July, Adelaide United signed Norwegian striker Kristian Opseth.
On 7 August, Adelaide United travelled to Melbourne for the 2019 FFA Cup round of 32. They beat Melbourne Knights 5–2 and advanced to the next round.
In mid-August, Adelaide United played a "behind-closed-doors" friendly against Melbourne City which ended in a 1–0 loss. Jamie Maclaren scored the only goal in the 15th minute.

## Players
### Squad information

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Michael Marrone |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Ryan Strain |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Stefan Mauk |
| 7 | DF | AUS | Ryan Kitto |
| 8 | MF | AUS | Riley McGree |
| 10 | MF | AUS | James Troisi |
| 11 | FW | NOR | Kristian Opseth |
| 14 | FW | AUS | George Blackwood |
| 16 | MF | AUS | Nathan Konstandopoulos |
| 17 | FW | AUS | Nikola Mileusnic |
| 18 | MF | AUS | Lachlan Brook |
| 20 | GK | AUS | Paul Izzo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | DF | DEN | Michael Jakobsen |
| 23 | DF | AUS | Jordan Elsey |
| 24 | FW | AUS | Pacifique Niyongabire (Scholarship) |
| 26 | FW | AUS | Ben Halloran |
| 27 | MF | AUS | Louis D'Arrigo |
| 28 | MF | CHN | Chen Yongbin |
| 29 | FW | AUS | Kusini Yengi (Scholarship) |
| 35 | FW | AUS | Al Hassan Toure |
| 40 | GK | AUS | Dakota Ochsenham |
| 49 | FW | AUS | Mohamed Toure (Scholarship) |
| 70 | GK | AUS | Ethan Cox (Scholarship) |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| No. | Position | Name | From | Type/fee | Contract length | Date |
| 8 | MF | Riley McGree | Club Brugge | >$250,000 | 3 years | 5 July 2019 |
| 5 | DF | Michaël Maria | Charlotte Independence | Undisclosed | 2 years | 18 July 2019 |
| 11 | FW | Kristian Opseth | Erzurumspor | Free transfer | 1 year | 31 July 2019 |
| 10 | MF | James Troisi | Unattached | Free transfer | 2 years | 5 October 2019 |
| 28 | MF | Chen Yongbin | Qingdao Red Lions | Free transfer | 1 year | 15 October 2019 |
| 6 | MF | Stefan Mauk | Brisbane Roar | Free transfer | 2.5 years | 30 January 2020 |

### Transfers out

| No. | Position | Player | Transferred to | Type/fee | Date |
| 33 | FW | Apostolos Stamatelopoulos | Western United | Free transfer | 20 March 2019 |
| 3 | DF | Scott Galloway | Melbourne City | Free transfer | 3 May 2019 |
| 9 | FW | Baba Diawara | Unattached | End of contract | 15 May 2019 |
| 19 | FW | Jordy Thomassen | De Graafschap | Loan return | 15 May 2019 |
| 10 | FW | Ken Ilsø | Unattached | End of contract | 18 May 2019 |
| 8 | MF | Isaías | Al-Wakrah | Undisclosed | 27 May 2019 |
| 11 | MF | Craig Goodwin | Al-Wehda | Undisclosed | 17 July 2019 |
| 32 | MF | Carlo Armiento | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 12 December 2019 |
| 1 | GK | Daniel Margush | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 13 January 2020 |
| 6 | MF | Vince Lia | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 18 January 2020 |
| 5 | DF | Michaël Maria | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 18 June 2020 |
| 30 | GK | Isaac Richards | Unattached | Mutual contract termination | 6 July 2020 |
| 31 | MF | Mirko Boland | VfB Lübeck | End of contract | 8 July 2020 |

### From youth squad

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Notes |
| 29 | FW | Kusini Yengi | 20 | scholarship contract |
| 35 | FW | Al Hassan Toure | 19 | 2 year scholarship contract, followed by 1 year senior contract |
| 49 | FW | Mohamed Toure | 15 | 3 year scholarship contract |
| 70 | GK | Ethan Cox | 16 | 3 year scholarship contract |
| 40 | GK | Dakota Ochsenham | 20 | 1 year senior contract |

### Contract extensions

| No. | Name | Position | Duration | Date |
| 6 | Vince Lia | Central midfielder | 1 year | 5 June 2019 |
| 18 | Lachlan Brook | Forward | 2 years | 5 June 2019 |
| 7 | Ryan Kitto | Winger | 2 years | 31 October 2019 |
| 20 | Paul Izzo | Goalkeeper | 2 years | 1 November 2019 |
| 27 | Louis D'Arrigo | Midfielder | 3 years | 6 December 2019 |
| 35 | Al Hassan Toure | Striker | 3 years | 6 December 2019 |
| 2 | Michael Marrone | Defender | 1 year | 15 January 2020 |
| 26 | Ben Halloran | Winger | 2 years | 4 March 2020 |
| 16 | Nathan Konstandopoulos | Central midfielder | 1 year | 5 March 2020 |
| 4 | Ryan Strain | Right-back | 2 years | 10 March 2020 |

## Technical staff

| Position | Staff |
| Head coach | Carl Veart (caretaker) |
| Assistant coach | Airton Andrioli |
| Goalkeeper coach | Eugene Galekovic |
| Director of football | Bruce Djite |

## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

    As of 11 August 2020
| No. | Pos. | Player | A-League | A-League | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2 | DF | Michael Marrone | 10+4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Ryan Strain | 27 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Stefan Mauk | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 7 | DF | Ryan Kitto | 11+11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Riley McGree | 23 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 13 |
| 10 | MF | James Troisi | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | Kristian Opseth | 14+7 | 6 | 1+2 | 0 | 24 | 6 |
| 14 | FW | George Blackwood | 14+7 | 4 | 1+1 | 2 | 23 | 6 |
| 16 | MF | Nathan Konstandopoulos | 2+7 | 1 | 2+2 | 1 | 13 | 2 |
| 17 | FW | Nikola Mileusnic | 21+1 | 5 | 2+3 | 1 | 27 | 6 |
| 18 | MF | Lachlan Brook | 4+3 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 20 | GK | Paul Izzo | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Michael Jakobsen | 26 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| 23 | DF | Jordan Elsey | 18+3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| 24 | FW | Pacifique Niyongabire† | 0+3 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 26 | FW | Ben Halloran | 21 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 12 |
| 27 | MF | Louis D'Arrigo† | 19+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | Chen Yongbin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | Kusini Yengi† | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | Yared Abetew† | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | Al Hassan Toure† | 7+5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 7 |
| 36 | DF | Noah Smith | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | Dakota Ochsenham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | FW | Taras Gomulka | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 49 | FW | Mohamed Toure† | 0+9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Players no longer at the club |||||||||
| 1 | GK | Daniel Margush | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Michaël Maria | 18+3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| 6 | MF | Vince Lia | 1+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Isaac Richards | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | Mirko Boland | 1+4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | Carlo Armiento† | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
† = Scholarship or NPL/Y-League-listed player

### Disciplinary record

    As of 30 July 2020
| Rank | Position | Name | A-League | A-League | FFA Cup | FFA Cup | Total | Total |
| 1 | DF | Ryan Strain | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2 | DF | Michael Jakobsen | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 3 | MF | Riley McGree | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | FW | Ben Halloran | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Louis D'Arrigo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Jordan Elsey | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Ryan Kitto | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | George Blackwood | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | DF | Michaël Maria | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Stefan Mauk | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Mirko Boland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Taras Gomulka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | GK | Paul Izzo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | DF | Michael Marrone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Nathan Konstandopoulos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Kristian Opseth | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Al Hassan Toure | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Mohamed Toure | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | James Troisi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | 36 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 43 | 1 |

### Clean sheets

    As of 30 July 2020
| Rank | Name | A-League | FFA Cup | Total |
| 1 | Paul Izzo | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Total | Total | 4 | 2 | 6 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### Overview

| Competition | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| A-League | 26 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 44 | 49 | −5 | 042.31 |
| FFA Cup | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 100.00 |
| Total | 31 | 16 | 3 | 12 | 59 | 54 | +5 | 051.61 |
Updated to match played 6 August 2020 Source: Competitions

### A-League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Sydney FC (C) | 26 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 49 | 25 | +24 | 53 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series |
| 2 | Melbourne City | 26 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 47 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and Finals series |
| 3 | Wellington Phoenix | 26 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 38 | 33 | +5 | 41 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 4 | Brisbane Roar | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 40 | Qualification for 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs and Finals series |
| 5 | Western United | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 39 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Perth Glory | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 43 | 36 | +7 | 37 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Adelaide United | 26 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 44 | 49 | −5 | 36 | |
| 8 | Newcastle Jets | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 34 | |
| 9 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 33 | |
| 10 | Melbourne Victory | 26 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 33 | 44 | −11 | 23 | |
| 11 | Central Coast Mariners | 26 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 26 | 55 | −29 | 18 | |
* 1 2 3 All Australian teams withdrew from the 2021 AFC Champions League on 4 June 2021.
* 1 2 3 4 5 The top two teams enter the Finals series at the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third to sixth enter the Finals series at the elimination-finals.
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the 2021 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

#### Result by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| Ground | H | A | A | B | H | A | H | H | H | B | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | B | A | A | H | H | A |
| Result | L | L | W | ✖ | W | W | W | L | W | ✖ | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | ✖ | D | D | D | W | W |
| Position | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | 7 |

#### Matches

On 8 August 2019, the A-League fixtures for the season were announced. Due to the odd number of teams, Adelaide United will have byes in rounds 4, 10 and 24.

## Awards
### Adelaide United Goal of the Month award

Adelaide United Goal of the Month award winners were chosen via open-access polls on the club's official website.
| Month | Player | Competition | Opponent | Votes |
| October | Al Hassan Toure (AUS) | FFA Cup | Melbourne City | 38% |
| November | Nikola Mileusnic (AUS) | A-League | Central Coast Mariners | 54% |
| December | Nikola Mileusnic (AUS) | A-League | Wellington Phoenix | 70% |
| January | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| February | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| March | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| April | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| May | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| June | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| July | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| August | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded | Not awarded |