Pre-Season games 2017/18

[Wombat]

There was alot to like about tonights performance. Only disappointing thing was we didnt get bodies into the box so a few scoring opportunities went begging.

Glover. Looks classy. Very composed and has very good passing. (Kennedy, poor feet but great shot stopping)
Baro Very Good. (Liam Rose looked very good)
Golec Much better but still the odd error.
Mcging Pretty good game. ( Roux went well)
Rowles Very good player.
Appiah Great workrate. (Budgie gave us a few exciting moments)
Pain Lovely goal. Pretty good.
Tommy So much to like about this guy! My MOM.
Wout Solid pro.
DDS Good game. Im expecting a big year. (Hoole, looked lively and aggressive)
Asdrubal Surprisingly short but looks quality. (Bingers didnt get too many chances).

 

[style_cafe]

Any views on Pain's goal?

from where I was sitting it looked like DDS played the ball from the right into Pain who was at the top of the box (in the centre) DDS continued his run forward, past Pain & drew the defenders towards the left side, which opened up a huge hole in the defence for Pain to shoot with his right foot into the right side of the goals from 18 yards out

 

[style_cafe]

Thanks for updates Style.

Hey Tevor, I know the agony of sitting wondering how things are going at the game.
Hopefully I was able to help those that couldn`t make it.

 

[Capt. Awesome]

Tom Hiariej is my new favourite player. How good is he?!?!!!! So good to watch.

 

[Wombat]

Galloway was coping a bit of sledging tonight!! But he still looked decent.

 

[Gratis]

Baro was quality - anticipates superbly.
Hiariej is a pleasure to watch.
Wout - by half time was the stand out to be captain no two ways about it. Composed, directed and was in there on the ref for the team all game.
Appiah is fast and strong and I'm pleased to say still progressing technically. Some very good close control displayed at times. If he keeps improving could be quite good. L.Rose showed progression too and sends to have improved strength. Some real quality footwork skills. Girls like guys with great skills.
Pain, good year ahead I say, just watch. Same with Hoole. His set pieces are consistently decent, honestly thinking he may prove to excel with us.
Overall really liked all of our new players. There's still plenty of getting to know each other to improve anticipation but happy so far

 

[Gratis]

I liked the look of Glover and Kennedy made some sharp saves. Whoever gets the nod as starting keeper I'll be happy our number 2 keeper will be pushing him

 

[Gratis]

DDS was slick but still a little too easy to push around. Expecting will overcome that quickly with game time. We'll be cheering his escapades regularly.
Asdrubal will score goals. He's got a Roy quality about him and this year the service will be considerably better

 

[ZedSpecials]

everyone who posted this thread tonight deserves a medal. Much love. shame I couldn't make it as usual !

 

[Rowdy]

(Accidently posted this in the Australian Footbal thread thinking i was in here, so re posted my thoughts on last nites game)

Golec looked good last nite at CB for mine, handling the long ball passes with ease and showing some adept first touch passes when bringing them down - head , chest & off the feet going straight to team mates many times, impressed me.

Baro alongside him was superb, great positioning, reads the game well & constantly barking at players around him
- which is what you want from at least one of your CB's. An astute pick up by Okon, as Baro will be a solid signing for us this season.

Baro & Golec looking most likely the starting XI CB pairing, with Junior as cover - who showed some real class last nite beating a player twice then another to get out of danger deep on the sideline & with that kind of footwork will also still be a strong candidate for DM throughout the year to the Dutch Duo.
- Berry was terrible at DM subbing on for Brama, copping quite a bit of 'Bez!' barking from Okon.

Kye Rowles was getting a lot of direction from Okon last night on his positioning in the first half, having to get him to tuck in quite a bit when the play was on his opposite flank
Okon was urging & praising him into tackles quite a lot, so seems to be still moulding him into the LB position. Golec moved into LB when Junior (into CB) subbed for Rowles.

Defensively either will get the job done at LB, but a bit unsure about what both Rowles & Golec will have to offer when going forward ??? & as Okon appears to be playing the L&R Midfielders (Appiah/Hoole & Pain) much narrower, wanting the L&RB's to get forward. (not that that happened regularly last nite)

Which leads me into McGing at RB - he didn't look the goods in there last nite failing to predict to drop ftom half to deeper when play was switching along the back from LHS, Okon constantly having to drag him back and forth with direction.

Jake struggled in possession when getting closed down and reciprocally when trying to defend his flank. What surprised me most was he was looking a bit puffed at around 35mins from Okons constant barking for movement (unfortunate for Jake, he was on Okon's side that first half).

On top of that, it took some encouragement from a few of us on the fence to get him to push forward when the opportunity arose -with us screaming "carry, carry" to get him going, instead of the safe pass back into the midfield he was contemplating.

Roux, on the otherhand when coming on in 2nd half, WAS straight into the attacks pushing forward, right to the edges & into the 18.

Okon has been favouring (maybe trying out) McGing at RB quite a lot in pre-season BUT if Roux is 90 min fit, he's my first choice in there hands down.

 

[Rowdy]

From another thread:

From what I have seen Kye Rowles while ever he is playing well and in form should be our starting CB next to Baro. He is also our best performed LB at this stage.

Then the question is LB - at this stage I give it Josh, similar defensively but he better than Golec going forward.

Shaun was standing behind us in the 2nd half and I asked him what the go was with Josh Rose, whether he was fit or not?said as far as he was aware Josh was.

So no real explanation? as to why he wasnt even at Pluim last nite.

At the moment a back four of:
Roux---Baro---Rowles---Rose with cover of
McGing--Ascroft---Rose---Golec

Yeah, I'd have that as my starting back 4 as well, with Golec & Kye battling each other.

Roux & Rosey give us much more going forward
- both with experience of doing just that
- & better 'engines' for the up'n' down the flanks compared to McGing & Rowles/Golec

 

[tsd]

Great signs last night, I saw it pretty much the same as whats already posted. Tom Hiariej is an absolute gun in that 6.

The defence and midfield will be light years ahead of the last few seasons.

the negative was the amount of ghosts on the receiving end of DDS no look flick-ons... give it a few months to gel and hopefully the front 3rd can look as good as the middle and back

 

[BrisRecky]

Haved to agree with Wombat and Rowdy , the squad this year will be giving us more great times than bad , and I might be byast, but our two dutch men are magnificent, and yep, Wout for Captain imh....Baro was immense, Conor looked ready to go, which is more than he did sometimes last year, as for keepers Id make Gloveman no1 , Ben K stopped some pretty good shots but Tommy G impressed more, Kwabi was o.k, still has that case of Pedj Bojic syndrome, you know, were his feet move faster than his brain, and as for Kye, holy shit, how good is this guy, he was nailing passes , defending brilliantly, I like him....then there was Asurabol, or The Spanish Flash if you like, once he gets sorted with his targeting, we will be shouting OLE ! quite a lot as the cannon goes off....yep, this season is gonna be a vast improvement

 

[Rowdy]

The smaller Pluim pitch didnt help, with not much cutting edge in playing through the middle going forward, which was why Asdrúbal wasnt getting much service to feet.

Long/over the top balls were the main way of getting it to him, and despite his quite strong physique - his smaller staure couldn't combat the heavy, over the shoulder 'fouling' tactics the Nix dished out to him.

Asdrúbal looks to be proficient in rolling Defender's 'off the shoulder', so we may need to work that into the tactics more.

He's just as quick as RO'D, maybe quicker? & definitely stronger physically, so on a bigger pitch like CCS& others, utillising the space with 'balls in behind' for the Spaniard may be more productive for him.

That tactic was just not playable last night, perhaps playing Asdrúbal in the 2nd half might of been better, as that space opened up a bit more.

Apparently, from a few mates trying to chat with him at the Mariners 'Woodport Inn Kit Launch" Asdrúbal's grasp of 'English' is not the best, with Okon giving directions in one syllable Spanish.

 

[Rowdy]

Shaun was standing behind us in the 2nd half and I asked him what the go was with Josh Rose, whether he was fit or not?said as far as he was aware Josh was.
- So no real explanation? as to why he wasnt even at Pluim last nite.

 

[pjennings]

as for keepers Id make Gloveman no1 , Ben K stopped some pretty good shots but Tommy G impressed more,

Very impressed with Glover, maybe a bit quiet, but he is still settling in. I went behind BK's goal in the second half when we had made a number of changes. His organisation and talk were very good, his only down side was his left footed distribution. Glover looks to have the edge - but BK will look better than he did behind the stronger first half team and will fit in nicely when Glover is on NT duty or injured.

 

[Rowdy]

Had good hands with the rapid fire shots he caught
BUT
Some of his kicks out from hands barely made it to the halfway & also looks a 'little heavy' and slow with his footwork reacting & moving about his area.

 

[localpom]

What i'm liking for this coming season is that we have far more players with the ability to score goals from midfield, and defence. Tommy H, and Wout can obviously hit the ball from distance. And are less likely to hit it over the palm trees and into the road than previous seasons. Hooley, Kwabs, Pain, and even Trent can all hit the net. DDS also. We have far better technical players for dead ball situations, with a few big guys that can head the ball for a change in Golec, Baro and Rowles. Coupled with a far better defensive structure it bodes well.

 

[Rowdy]

PAIN STRIKES DOWN PHOENIX IN FRIENDLY:


Connor Pain struck the only goal of the game as Central Coast Mariners defeated Wellington Phoenix in a friendly on Tuesday night.

As preparations ramp up for the upcoming A-League season, the Mariners and Phoenix met at Pluim Park.

The only goal of the match came in just the seventh minute through Pain.

The 23-year-old hit a bullet from outside the box into the bottom corner of Lewis Italiano's goal.

“Tonight, was a really good hit out, as we expected,” Okon said. “At this time of pre-season you want to be matching up against other A-League teams and that’s exactly what we did tonight.

“I thought the performance was excellent, we were really energetic when we didn’t have the ball and that’s an area we talk about a lot. With the ball, I think we created enough opportunities to score more than one but at the end we come away getting important minutes into the legs and no injuries.

“Tonight it was great for Asdrubal to get his first start, he was full of energy and linked up well with the front three. It was a really positive performance and hopefully there’s more of that to come.

“Kwabena Appiah is a nightmare for any opposition player, he doesn’t give you a second to rest. He’s on the right path, he’s a player who can play anywhere in the front line and I really see him being an important player for us.

“There’s competition everywhere. For me it’s not a problem, it’s what we need. If we have that competition than we know we’re going to be a strong team and it’s about winning football games so we need everyone to play their part.

“Last season when teams muscled up on us we struggled to go with them and now with Tom Hiariej and Wout Brama, they give us that steel in the midfield. Everyone else feeds off that which really helps.

“I for one know what Daniel [De Silva] is going to deliver for us. What’s important for him is that we introduce him gradually. There is that temptation to give him more minutes but he had 45 on the Gold Coast, 60 tonight so hopefully for round one he is as fit as everyone else. We’re looking to Daniel for 27 games, not for just one or two games,” Okon said.


Central Coast Mariners:
18.Tom GLOVER (GK) (1.Ben Kennedy 45’), 5.Antony GOLEC, 15.Alan BARO, 6.Tom HIARIEJ, 13.Kwabena APPIAH (12. Trent Buhagiar 74’), 11.Connor PAIN, 21.Kye ROWLES (2. Storm Roux 61’) 4.Jake McGING (16. Liam Rose, 61’), 10.Daniel De SILVA (7. Andrew Hoole, 61’), 23.Wout BRAMA (14. Adam Berry 74’), 9.ASDRUBAL (17. Josh Bingham 45’)

Head Coach: Paul Okon

Wellington Phoenix:
20. Lewis ITALIANO (30. Oli Sail 45’), 2. Daniel MULLEN, 3. Scott GALLOWAY, 4.Goran PARACKI, 7.Gui FINKLER( 14. Alex Rufer 81’), 8.Dario VIDOSIC, 10.Michael MCGLINCHEY, 11. Hamish WATSON (9. Andrija Kaludjerovic 61’) 18.Sarpreet SINGH (13. Marco Rossi 73’) 19.Tom DOYLE (15. James McGarry 73’), 21.Roy KRISHNA, 22.Andrew DURANTE (17. Ali Abbas 73’

Head Coach: Darije Kalezić

 

[Capt. Awesome]

Apparently according to NBN news we are to Melbourne Victory next behind closed doors. No mention of the date.

Some good highlights here too.

http://www.nbnnews.com.au/2017/09/13/mariners-show-off-future-stars-against-phoenix/