Speaking before taking a well-earned break after two hectic seasons at the helm of the South Australian franchise, the former Socceroo says he wants his squad to be strongly competing for places when the new season kicks off.

"We want players to be fighting for their spots every week to keep the competition healthy. It's good for the team. I think it certainly needs to be competitive on the park," he told au.fourfourtwo.com.

"You put all those ingredients together you get a competitive team on the pitch."

Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
In one of Real Madrid's most outstanding performances at the Camp Nou, Los Blancos beat FC Barcelona 3-1 in the Spanish Supercup. Real were leading 2-1 after Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute goal, but just before the final whistle, we sealed the win with this beautiful Marco Asensio strike.
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Squad depth in a league with restrictions on player numbers and a salary cap means the pressure on A-League coaches to recruit smartly is even greater.

United struggled at times this season with their depth tested particularly as they competed in three different tournaments - the A-League, ACL and Club World Cup. In this respect, Vidmar says United can learn from their  southern rival.

"They [Melbourne Victory] had an unbelievable luxury throughout the course of the season," he said. "Look at the grand final, they had [Jose Luis] Lopez and [Ney] Fabiano on the bench.

"Any team with that sort of luxury you must be doing something right. And certainly Melbourne did everything they possibly could to get such a fantastic squad.

"And have a look at their players in the front and middle thirds ... they can't compare to any other team."

Vidmar expects new central defender Iain Fyfe to join the club as expected in spite of the former Sydney FC player trialing in China recently. Fyfe was unavailable for comment when contacted by au.fourfourtwo.com.

Vidmar says players leaving after signing contracts is one of the downsides of coaching in Australia.

The Reds boss added: "He [Fyfe] wanted to have a look. But this sort of thing started last year when we had Brucey [Djite] and Burnsy [Nathan Burns].

"They were on contracts and we tried to build a team around them and all of a sudden they want to go overseas and a transfer, so that plan goes out the window.

"This year we signed Sasa [Ognenovski] to strengthen the team on a two-year deal and he leaves after one. So you have to start over again so it's just not that easy. There's not that many quality players out there and it makes it very difficult.

"Everyone's feeling the pinch. Look at the Jets and Sydney. And [Nikita] Rukavytsya's gone from Perth.

"They say they leave for greener pastures but how green are they?"