Adelaide United

Last Season: 1st

This Season: 9th

Last season’s champions never looked like defending their title after a fairy-tale 2015/16 campaign.

The Reds failed to replace top scorers Bruce Djite and Pablo Sanchez, who scored 20 league goals between them last year, and as a result Guillermo Amor’s side finished the season as the division’s lowest scorers with just 25 goals.

Defender Stefan Mauk was also a huge loss, as the Reds conceded 18 more goals than in the previous season - when they had the tightest backline in the division.

After a poor pre-season in terms of recruitment, it took nine weeks for Adelaide to record their first victory of the season. They won just four more league games after that.

Highlight

There wasn’t much to shout about for the Reds in the A-League this campaign, however their AFC Champions League campaign at least brought them some joy.

A 3-1 victory in Korea over Jeju Utd was the main highlight, while a last-minute equaliser from Senegalese striker Babá saw Adelaide earn a 3-3 draw away at Gaba Osaka.

In the league, the Reds greatest triumph came at the Hindmarsh Stadium against Melbourne City in Round 15.

Adelaide came from a goal behind to record a dramatic 2-1 victory, with Mark Ochieng netting an 87th minute winner, sending the home fans into raptures.

Lowlight

Adelaide were a shambolic wreck in their 5-0 defeat at home to Perth Glory in Round 19.

The home fans fell silent after just 15 minutes when defender Lacopo La Rocca headed the ball into his own net - with no opposition players anywhere near him.

Perth’s Diego Castro was then allowed far too much space to cut in from the left-hand-side and make it 2-0 with a neat finish into the far corner.

Adelaide’s wayward defending continued, as Andy Keogh and Adam Taggart registered on the scoresheet before Castro completed the rout.

Star Player

Dylan McGowan was the backbone of Adelaide’s defence, playing all 27 of the Reds’ league games.

In his third season with the club, McGowan made 120 clearances, 57 blocks and finished the campaign with an 81 per cent passing accuracy.

The defender also scored four goals and finished the season as his side’s top scorer- emphasising Adelaide’s lack of firepower.