Adelaide United assistant coach Ross Aloisi has declared that "no one abides by" the A-Leagues' salary cap rules.
The financial restraints are designed to create a level playing field for clubs in the competition with limits placed on how much can be spent on certain players.
There are however allowances granted for marquee and designated player signings with some clubs able to spend far more and in turn vastly improve the quality of their squads.
Ahead of the new season starting on November 19, Aloisi believes the Reds may struggle to keep pace with the sides that have splashed the cash outside of the salary cap as he highlighted the flaws in the current system.
“We’re not 100 per cent sure (how we'll go this season) because the league is going to be better, there’s better coaches that have come into the league with Popovic and my brother, there’s more money that’s come into the league, better players that have come into the league,” Aloisi told SEN SA Breakfast.
"We are always confident in our football ability, but in saying that, it’s very, very hard to compete with the clubs that spend so much more money than what we do – we’re talking about three, four, five million more than what we can afford.
"I don’t think people realise exactly how the salary cap works. I’m not even sure what it is anymore because no one abides by it.
"They say it’s $2.5 (million) and there’s a minimum spend...that’s fine, but you’ve got clubs like Sydney FC, Melbourne City, Western United, Western Sydney Wanderers, Melbourne Victory, they spend a lot of money outside the salary cap on foreign players and we just don’t have the money to do that.
"Sometimes it’s very hard to compete against those clubs when they’ve spent so much money. We’ve got good young boys coming through, our objective is to make the finals and be successful within the finals."
Adelaide finished fifth in the A-League last season before losing to Sydney FC in the semi-finals.
The Reds kick off their new campaign against Perth Glory on November 20 with marquee signing Daniel Sturridge awaiting them.