Adelaide United

Manager: Rini Coolen
Last Season: 3rd

Ins: Zenon Caravella (Gold Coast United), Spase Dilevski (Universitatea Craiova), Bruce Djite (Gold Coast United), Osama Malik (North Queensland Fury), Jon McKain (Al-Nasr), Dario Vidosic (Nurnberg), Evgeniy Levchenko (Willem II)

Outs: Robert Cornthwaite (Chunnam Dragons), Iain Fyfe (Busan I'Park), Travis Dodd (Perth Glory), Lucas Pantelis (Wellington), Adam Hughes (Perth Glory), Matthew Leckie (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Marcos Flores (Henan Jianye).

Can Adelaide fill the void left by Marcos Flores? That is the biggest question facing the Reds leading into the upcoming A-League season. Based on his performances at Skilled Park, Zenon Caravella might just be the man to replace the Johnny Warren Medalist. The ‘city of churches’ has also seen their skipper depart for the sunny skies of Perth with Socceroo Jon McKain taking over the armband, fresh from his return from the Middle East. A number of former A-League players have returned to Australia after spending some time in Europe including Spase Dilevski who played for the Brisbane Roar prior to his move to Romania and Dario Vidosic, another player who plied his trade at the Brisbane Roar before spending a number of years in Germany. Rini Coolen will be hoping his new-look squad fall into place quickly as they look to build on an impressive 2010/11 campaign that left many fans and pundits wanting more.

 

Brisbane Roar

Manager: Ange Postecoglou
Last Season: 1st

Ins: Sayed Adnan (Al-Khor), Besart Berisha (Arminia Bielefeld), Issey Nakajima-Farran (AC Horsens), Kofi Danning (Sydney FC), Matthew Jurman (Sydney FC), Jack Hingert (Dandenong Thunder)

Outs: Matt McKay (Rangers), Jean Carlos Solorzano (Melbourne Victory), Kosta Barbarouses (FC Alania Vladikavkaz), Luke DeVere (Gyeongnam FC).

What a season it was for Brisbane Roar, sweeping all before them on their way to an historic championship. During the offseason, they have seen four of their championship winning players leave Suncorp stadium, none more important than foundation player, Matt McKay. With the Socceroo departing for Scotland, defender Matt Smith has been awarded the Roar captaincy for the 2011/12 season. However, a lot will rest on the shoulders of experienced midfielder Thomas Broich. The German had a fantastic debut season in the A-League and his maturity could prove vital in Brisbane’s bid for back-to-back championships.On top of their already talented playing list, Brisbane have managed to sign the likes of Young Socceroo Kofi Danning, defender Matthew Jurman, Bahrain international Sayed Adnan and Albanian international Besart Berisha. Ange Postecoglou will be expecting more of the same from his side as they venture into the Asian Champions League for the very first time.

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