4-2-3-1-Blastoff!

There's a new gold standard in the A-League...and it's RED!

Last Friday night Adelaide United took on Perth Glory, one of the big improvers of the 2010 A-League, and blew them away. The victory left us, deservedly, six points clear at the top of the table and showcased a side that is playing the sort of football we all dreamt about seeing in the dim, distant past. The sort of football Reds' fans believed in but rarely saw through the dark days of last season.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

Adelaide's revival - or rebirth - has been built on an risky, amazing change from playing 4-2-3-1 to playing ....wait for it....um ...this is a bit odd...4-2-3-1. Yep, same old same old. Boring, eh?

Well - no.

Throughout last year the Adelaide faithful (definitely including me) begged, whinged, cried, screamed, threatened murder and generally made a right old fuss about the formation. We fantasised about playing two forwards and the goals that would rain down on the opposition. We called for tactical reconstruction to rival the Kama Sutra in flexibility and experimentation. Everyone from the ex-player pundits to the Viddie-baiting terrace-rats had an opinion about which trans-formation would break the shackles and set the Red heart free. But we ended up with 4-2-3-1. And we have it still.

It's not what you do but who you are.

So why have we flipped the table on its head? Basically it's about personnel and encouragement. We have a centre forward who can carry the load - and it's a heavy load up the front on your own. We have a playmaker who dazzles. We have Paul Reid (Captain Quiet) back to full fitness. In this league a few changes can make a huge difference.

But it's more than that.

Rini Coolen has asked the players who they are and why they want to play football. And he's listened. And he's watched. And he's asked them to go out onto the field and remember who they are. And he's freed them to express who they are as footballers.

The Pim Verbeek style of management, based on, "You're not very good so let's not take any risks in case you embarrass me", alongside, "Let's put square pegs in round holes" - something Viddie was a little prone to himself - has disappeared from Hindmarsh.  In its place has arrived a system that seems to say, "I trust you. You're gifted. Show me what you can do. Enjoy your football".

This is all happening at a club with no owner, which is run by the 'dreaded' FFA and thinks a marquee is a large tent you use to cover a BBQ on fan days.

It goes to show what good recruiting, a decent manager and a positive attitude can do in the tightly controlled football league we love to hate to love. I can only hope some of the other managers and owners are watching and listening like Rini has. If they are, they might also notice the fans are coming back.

Hats off.

There has been one other change at Hindmarsh that is worthy of note. It concerns a player named Hughes. Rumour has it that he played for us last year. If he did, then miracles happen. Some have said he spent last year worried about his daughter, who was ill. I sympathise but many people have issues to deal with. I doubt that her return to health (wonderful as that is) is the real reason Adam has become a certain starter and has won over a crowd who used to boo his name when it appeared on the team sheet.

Football is a fickle world and - as Michael Theoklitos knows only too well - sometimes a bad start means a swift end. So credit to Viddie who did show faith in Adam Hughes. Credit to his team-mates who have stuck by him. Credit to Rini, who has given him a role and trusted him to do it. But most credit to Adam himself, who must have had his owns doubts and nightmares, his own dark night of the soul, when faced with hostile 'fans' and failing form.

Adam Hughes has now won over most of the fans that had written him off. He's done it by never raising the white flag, by putting his body on the line, by working on his skills and his timing and by embracing the Rini Coolen philosophy of football. This year he's made goal-saving tackles, showed glimpses of skill that have surprised and forged a partnership with Paul Reid that is the envy of the A-League and the backbone of the Reds' success.

So, hats off to you Adam Hughes. We're glad you stayed. We were wrong. Miracles happen.