• Join ccmfans.net

    ccmfans.net is the Central Coast Mariners fan community, and was formed in 2004, so basically the beginning of time for the Mariners. Things have changed a lot over the years, but one thing has remained constant and that is our love of the Mariners. People come and go, some like to post a lot and others just like to read. It's up to you how you participate in the community!

    If you want to get rid of this message, simply click on Join Now or head over to https://www.ccmfans.net/community/register/ to join the community! It only takes a few minutes, and joining will let you post your thoughts and opinions on all things Mariners, Football, and whatever else pops into your mind. If posting is not your thing, you can interact in other ways, including voting on polls, and unlock options only available to community members.

    ccmfans.net is not only for Mariners fans either. Most of us are bonded by our support for the Mariners, but if you are a fan of another club (except the Scum, come on, we need some standards), feel free to join and get into some banter.

Should Kuol start?

Should Kuol be in the starting lineup?


  • Total voters
    33
After the last few matches in particular I feel like Staj should be giving more time to Kuol. This is a kid who has just been signed by a German club, so why is he not being given every opportunity he can here while we still have him? He makes an impact, so why not try that from the start? He's scored 7 goals, just one behind Simon and more than Urena.
 

Old Spice

Member
I would have taken Simon off at the 55Min mark.
Simon was playing great tonight + Marco's production drops off exponentially in the second half of every game. I also think it would be an absolute disaster playing Kuol and Urena together, both of them are lazy on defence and don't run. He tried last week playing them together for about 12min and they didn't link up at all.
 

Old Spice

Member
He definitely does. Yes he might have the odd occasion where he will track back and make an explosive tackle, but take specific note of when oppositions play out from the back, he will literally be walking on defence, he will miss pressing on heavy first touches and lacks the enthusiasm to cover passing lanes. I hate bagging on the guy because he is my fav player, but there is a reason Staj makes the double change at striker, you need Simon to balance out Marco and you need Bowman/Nis to balance out Alou
 

Ozhammer

Well-Known Member
I think Simmo and Urena both did their jobs pretty well last night in a tight, tough game. Yes we would all have loved to see Kuol come on and bag a winner but sometimes the battle doesn’t necessarily allow for it. That said, he should have been given more than a 15 minute cameo and if Matty or Marco have to miss a game, Alou may not have enough minutes in his legs to step up, so that is something Staj does need to consider.
 

Big Al

Well-Known Member
More time for me to. Urena and Simon are working to well together and scoring and assisting first half goals.

Staj has said Koul is explosive and uses him in short burst to maximize this and it is effective.

Even when Koul started Staj took him off at halftime or very early. We were 2 wins with 2 Koul goals and two losses with 0 Koul goals in his 4 starts (Urena was just getting fitness time)

His energy to the crowd is just as important as his to the team. At home must be on at 60min.

I’d even like a short spell with all 3 on together

but basically to Urena and Simon the pressure is on to perform and they are
 

Old Spice

Member
Do you really think that’s enough to judge the combo? 12 minutes mid second half in a game we weren’t playing great in anyway?
Staj lives and breaths the game, and he lives and breaths our club. Don't you think he has considered all possible combinations? Or you just think it has slipped his mind playing Alou and Marco together, and we are just so far ahead of his thinking? They don't work well together, they are both lazy on defence.
 

Big Al

Well-Known Member
Staj lives and breaths the game, and he lives and breaths our club. Don't you think he has considered all possible combinations? Or you just think it has slipped his mind playing Alou and Marco together, and we are just so far ahead of his thinking? They don't work well together, they are both lazy on defence.
Koul has only been lazy after picking up the 4th yellow and we haven’t been pressing any where near as much but Urena and Simon have that click that you can’t plan and I’d say Urena and Koul don’t.
 

turbo

Well-Known Member
Staj lives and breaths the game, and he lives and breaths our club. Don't you think he has considered all possible combinations? Or you just think it has slipped his mind
Staj has done wonders for us this season but he’s not perfect. We’ve seen and lamented substitutions or lack there of, stuff that’s visible to most fans and doesn’t need a career in coaching to say he got that wrong. Staj also needs to manage the personalities in the dressing room and we don’t see that.

My gut feeling is Simon’s resurgence has caused a headache and altered what was probably going to be the natural evolution of Kuol as a starter. Signing OS likely played in to Staj’s thinking and forward planning as well.

I disagree that Kuol is lazy in defence, we’ve seen a number of important interventions. Though perhaps he does less busy work defending from the front when not totally necessary.

We haven’t seen enough time with the two together to say they don’t work well together that’s a simple fact. Especially time when both are fresh. Many of us see some potential there, maybe it doesn’t come off maybe it helps get us to some finals games at home who knows. What I am asking you is what does Simon bring to the table when he’s linked up with Urena that Kuol doesn’t?
 

Old Spice

Member
I disagree that Kuol is lazy in defence, we’ve seen a number of important interventions. Though perhaps he does less busy work defending from the front when not totally necessary.

We haven’t seen enough time with the two together to say they don’t work well together that’s a simple fact. Especially time when both are fresh. Many of us see some potential there, maybe it doesn’t come off maybe it helps get us to some finals games at home who knows. What I am asking you is what does Simon bring to the table when he’s linked up with Urena that Kuol doesn’t?
We need to go back and watch the first couple of games when Kuol started, everyone was distracted because we were winning, but the TV would literally pick up Staj, constantly yelling, "Alou, your man!" "Alou Move!" he is definitely lazy on defence; as I said before, yes, he does make the occasional explosive trackback, but it is few and far between. I watch every striker In the A-league off-ball and take physical notes to try and improve my own coaching game, and his lack of defensive effort is apparent.

The last question is a good one and something to think about! Marco is just as bad as Alou, if not worse, in terms of defensive effort but makes up with his offensive creativity. Are you going to risk having two people on at the same time who are defensive liabilities? You need Simon to balance out Marco, and you need Bouman/Nis to balance out Alou!
In terms of what Simon brings when linking up with Marco that Alou doesn't? Composure, experience, defensive aggression, leadership, heart, work rate, ariel prowess (but I would def give the edge to Alou here), soft first touch, creativity, finishing (arguably) height, extra playmaking with Macro.

What does Kuol bring that Simon doesn't? Speed, acceleration, jumping ability (reportedly has the highest vertical leap in the club), fitness (arguably), strength (Arguably), offensive enthusiasm.

Why does Kuol have to replace Urena? Because Marcos productivity drops off exponentially in the second half of every game.

A bit irresponsible to jump to any conclusions about man management in the dressing room, don't you think?
 

Forum Phoenix

Well-Known Member
My vote is no
My vote was at least more minutes off bench.
I think Simmo and Urena both did their jobs pretty well last night in a tight, tough game. Yes we would all have loved to see Kuol come on and bag a winner but sometimes the battle doesn’t necessarily allow for it. That said, he should have been given more than a 15 minute cameo and if Matty or Marco have to miss a game, Alou may not have enough minutes in his legs to step up, so that is something Staj does need to consider.

They both had very good games, but their work rate noticeably (and expectedly) drops off second half. Kuol forces oppositions to change which is what we desperately needed by 55 minutes. He also ignites the crowd. Which shouldn’t be discounted in switching the rhythm of a game.

That aside, as a player, he got fourteen minutes and set up what could have been two goals. And in the 15 minutes just prior to his sub we broke twice with massive space but had no runs from a striker to capitalise.

One of Sydney’s weaknesses is pace at the back. We failed to exploit this second half and which is when they would have bern most vulnerable.

I agree with Bikini and you that the early forced sub really didn’t help. But imho you still have to respond to the game as it’s unfolding - sure you can always plan for the eventuality that someone else is injured and keep a player on the bench till 90. But, Corica was right they dominated much of the second half, were running us ragged with their fresh legs and we desperately needed to stop that. But we didn’t try. We almost got away with it.

Staj/s subs are almost consistently strange to me. Casella was starting games not doing much wrong and we were winning. Then struggles to even get minutes off the bench. Nisbet has been in an out even though he’s been exceptional in most games which in playing DM you can understand due to Olly and Stens, but until yesterday was put behind Bouman in the pecking order when he clearly offers a lot more across the board.

Janota struggles to ’get any minutes, which is uncommon and concerning for a foreign visa player, then he starts ahead of nizz though he’s been hardly playing and has a shocker. Then he’s back to no minutes.

Smylie, scores in early appearance, then disappears. Hatch one goal scoring cameo and gone again. Bouman must be going, oh shit, I was starting, now I’m coming on at 90. Miller, disappears till last night though I still think there’s a case he’s a much better RB prospect than Nigro who still reliably gets caught ball watching.

Staj's failure to give development minutes to Hall in games like the one against the fire chickens could have bitten us hard yesterday - he did well - but he was clearly feeling the occasion and nervy at the start,

And then we’re back to Kuol... has anyone in this league ever scored seven off the bench? Enough to get him picked up by Stuttgart but he can barely nick a few minutes off Marcos or Matty. Not many young players would cop that in his position, I love him for it. But seriously, he’s almost worth getting on just for the level of fervour he gets from our young supporters.

Now I’m not convinced Kuol should get the start - it's not broken and neither Matty or Marcos deserve top be dropped, but imo he just has to cone on by sixty, and he’s earned that for sure.
 
Last edited:

turbo

Well-Known Member
We need to go back and watch the first couple of games when Kuol started
A bit rough to assume he hasn’t grown and developed in his first pro season. That’s a teachable area and I’ve got no doubt he can do it. If anything he just needed to learn a bit more balance to avoid the silly yellows or doing too much at the wrong time.

I think your list is being very kind to Simon who we’ve had the opportunity to watch for far longer. He doesn’t have the legs to run out the game and it becomes apparent when the runs happen and he isn’t there or we’ll behind. Ideally we use him in his Sydney role to defend a lead.


Why does Kuol have to replace Urena? Because Marcos productivity drops off exponentially in the second half of every game.
I have no issue with replacing Urena and thing the double change has largely worked well - except we didn’t use it last night despite having a fresh Bouman available. Should have been both on for the strikers by 65m. I don’t think we really disagree there.

A bit irresponsible to jump to any conclusions about man management in the dressing room, don't you think?
I never made conclusions or statements about that, simply said it’s a dimension the fans don’t see or need to consider in their analysis. It’s another layer of complexity in the puzzle.
 

Online statistics

Members online
5
Guests online
317
Total visitors
322

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
6,716
Messages
378,677
Members
2,708
Latest member
KguaooChami
Top