Round 17 - Sydney away

[localpom]

Critical we perform well here. If we can snag a draw or god forbid a win, we then have 4 crucial games that will decide whether or not we make the 6. Three home games against the Roar, WSW and the Nix in the 4 after that. We really have to win all those.

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

 

[Ozhammer]

No we only get in free for scum.

In fact they should pay us to go there imo....

 

[Forum Phoenix]

While reading that, the link to an older article captured the heart of my thoughts on the upcoming game. It was Wout’s quote about how “we’re only good when we’re playing football”.

WSW are top of the possession stats with 54.78% possession and are rubbish.

We are less than a percent below them ( and some people have argued it makes us rubbish also.)

But Sydney come in third by only 2% less than us. Short story; while less dogmatic about possession and more pragmatic and adaptable than us, SFC do like to have the ball, and they clearly like to feel they are dominant in any encounter. This is important to them as they usually are, and have grown more than used to it. And against us they grew downright pissy and agro before the first half was even over last time. They don’t just expect to win. They expect to dominate, and they usually do.

But when we played SFC, we had nearly 2/3rds possession and it was not because they just sat deep and watched us knock it around like several other sides have since. They wanted the ball and came after it but in all honesty on that day, we were just too good for them.

Thankfully, McGing also stepped up and scored as did Hoole or it could have been a travesty as we could have / should have had several more goals besides - but as has proven our want since Macca retired, we struggle to score. Our last true HAL quality striker imo.

But bottom line, in that game we beat Sydney not because they had an off day, but because they could not overcome our possession based game and it meant they never really got to play.

I’ve done a lot of coaching and when facing an opponent who is on fair judgment superior, using a strategy that will not let them use their strengths can be much more important than trying to use your own strengths. But this was also hand in glove for us, as it’s also the only way we play. We were also fighting fit and onsong of course, and Okon ball was in this instance executed almost perfectly, and proved the perfect tactic against SFC. And it gave the team and all us fans real hope. And I still think it should despite the hardships since. Because it wasn’t a fluke. A huge amount of work has to have gone in to be able to get a performance like that.

Can that work again? Well, we know Arnie will do whatever he thinks is needed to beat us, that hes a great coach and has a great team around him. No way he’s not seeing our errors and also plotting a very targeted strategy to kill off our strengths and not just rely on the idea they will dominate simply by playing their own game. He will have seen the recent jest game and won’t underestimate us.

If we are doing well in possession, will he have ensured that they will be a cooler side this time?

Last time Brosque with his veins bulging, eyes popping and ranting like a lunatic would have made for a better homicidal axeman than a football Captain. They may even have found a way to recover and gotten something from that game if Wilko was captaining instead. But if we start getting the best of them again, in front of their fans at home, I don’t think they’ll stay cool. So if we can rock the apple cart in the first 45 again - they may turn into pissy mongrels once more - in which case let’s hope there’s some decent refereeing. Yeah yeah I know, I know.

Can we replicate that performance? Well, we haven’t since, but we have shown many large segments of it again, recent jest encounter was right up there I thought - until it wasn’t. However without top players like DDS and Tom starting, I don’t think we have the ability to dominate Brillante and SFC’s mids like we did in that game... not many sides can. And it shows the class of DDS, Wout and Tom, and how fortunate we are to have these 3 players. They were truly brilliant signings by Okon.

What I expect though is still a solid showing from us, as in most games there has still been a lot of healthy signs and promise in our football.

I also don’t think many of our issues have been related to Okon. For mine I believe most of his coaching mistakes - though still his to wear - have related to injuries and suspensions combined with our lack of depth which relates as ever to $. Plus a bit of inexperience at this level. And I think many of our performance issues and failure to get over the line in games and capitalise on our momentum, possession, and at times, brilliant build up play, are player quality issues in attack.

So because I still believe in what Okon is doing. I think how we fare will depend entirely on who is able to start and or even play at all. Because in the words of the Wout, we will definitely need to play good football. And then if we are, it all depends on whether someone can step up and grab us a goal or two once more which has been a real a sore point and Achilles heel.

So... Come on you bloody yellow!!! We could all really do with another win, let alone another win over the league overlords.

And to do that at their home will be tougher again. But even more bloody glorious for it. And we could certainly do with another dose of glory. So let’s focus on glory. Glory is good. (Unless it’s purple of course - then it’s absolute gash.)

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

While reading that, the link to an older article captured the heart of my thoughts on the upcoming game. It was Wout’s quote about how “we’re only good when we’re playing football”.

WSW are top of the possession stats with 54.78% possession and are rubbish.

We are less than a percent below them, and some people have argued it makes us rubbish also.

But Sydney come in third by only 2% less than us. Short story; while less dogmatic about possession and more pragmatic and adaptable than us, SFC do like to have the ball, and they clearly like to feel they are dominant in any encounter. This is important to them as they usually are, and have grown more than used to it. And against us they grew downright pissy and agro before the first half was even over last time. They don’t just expect to win. They expect to dominate, and they usually do.

But when we played SFC, we had nearly 2/3rds possession and it was not because they just sat deep and watched us knock it around like several other sides have since. They wanted the ball and came after it but in all honesty on that day, we were just too good for them.

Thankfully, McGing also stepped up and scored as did Hoole or it could have been a travesty as we could have / should have had several more goals besides - but as has proven our want since Macca retired, we struggle to score. Our last true HAL quality striker.

But bottom line, in that game we beat Sydney not because they had an off day, but because they could not overcome our possession based game and it meant they never really got to play.

I’ve done a lot of coaching and when facing an opponent who is on fair judgment superior, using a strategy that will not let them use their strengths can be much more important than trying to use your own strengths. But this was also hand in glove for us, as it’s also the only way we play. We were also fighting fit and onsong of course, and Okon ball was in this instance executed almost perfectly, and proved the perfect tactic against SFC. And have the team and all us fans real hope. And I still think it should despite the hardships since. Because it wasn’t a fluke. A huge amount of work has to have gone in to be able to get a performance like that.

Can that work again? Well, we know Arnie will do whatever he thinks is needed to beat us, that hes a great coach and has a great team around him. No way he’s not seeing our errors and also plotting a very targeted strategy to kill off off our strengths and not just rely on the idea they will dominate simply by playing their own game. He will have seen the recent jest game and won’t underestimate us.

If we are doing well in possession, will he have ensured that they will be a cooler side this time?

Last time Brosque with his veins bulging, eyes popping and ranting like a lunatic would have made for a better homicidal axeman than a football Captain. They may even have found a way to recover and gotten something from that game if Wilko was captaining instead. But if we start getting the best of them again, in front of their fans at home, I don’t think they’ll stay cool. Si if we can rock the apple cart in the first 45 again - they may turn into pissy mongrels once more - in which case let’s hope there’s some decent refereeing. Yeah yeah I know, I know.

Can we replicate that performance? Well, we haven’t since, but we have shown many large segments of it again, recent jest encounter was right up there I thought - until it wasn’t. However without top players like DDS and Tom starting, I don’t think we have the ability dominate Brillante and SFC’s mids like we did in that game... not many sides can. And it shows the class of DDS, Wout and Tom, and how fortunate we are to have these 3 players. They were truly brilliant signings by Okon.

What I expect though is still a solid showing from us, as in most games there has still been a lot of healthy signs and promise in our football.

I also don’t think many of our issues have been related to Okon. For mine I believe most of his coaching mistakes - though still his to wear - have related to injuries and suspensions combined with our lack of depth which relates as ever to $. Plus a bit of inexperience at this level. And I think many of our performance issues and failure to get over the line in games and capitalise on our momentum, possession, and at times, brilliant build up play, are player quality issues in attack.

So because I still believe in what Okon is doing. I think how we fare will depend entirely on who is able to start and or even play at all. Because in the words of the Wout, we will definitely need to play good football. And then if we are, it all depends on whether someone can step up and grab us a goal or two once more which has been a real a sore point and Achilles heel.

So... Come on you bloody yellow!!! We could all really do with another win, let alone another win over the league overlords.

And to do that at their home will be tougher again. But even more bloody glorious for it. And we could certainly do with another does of glory. So let’s focus glory. Glory is good. (Unless it’s purple of course - then it’s absolute gash.)

Quality post as always FP and when we do fully execute Okon ball we are unstoppable, the thing that Okon needs to work on is consistently doing that and of course finishing. Bit harsh on the snake though, in 15/16 he was great and last year before he knew he was going to the Jets.

 

[Capt. Awesome]

Thomas Deng is playing for Victory tonight. So that means our boys should be back in town and may be used in some way in tomorrow’s game.

 

[Big Al]

Really need to see who’s available to see what fight we expect.

Deng has come on with 20 to go for Victory so DDS and TBT should be a strong chance for the bench

 

[Ozhammer]

Glover would have to be a shoo-in for the bench and DDS too, so long as he is not hurting.

 

[Coastalraider]

DDS would likely have less minutes in his legs than a lot of our squad? He only played 2.5 games in the last 2 weeks, while a lot of ours played 3, it's not as though he will be significantly more fatigued than others.

If he played bench, that would likely push Hoole central (had a 1 game rest), and Appiah starting on the right (similar minutes to DDS).

I don't think it would be a huge risk to start him, and if he tires, push Hoole central then, and have Appiah come on against tired defenders.

We won't beat Sydney again by having our best attacking weapon on the bench.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Bit harsh on the snake though, in 15/16 he was great and last year before he knew he was going to the Jets.

You’re right JP. I’d wiped Roy from my mind.

 

[Capt. Awesome]

Arnie has been contacted by FFA for the Socceroos job. Let’s hope he is distracted.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Steve Corica new coach then? Though Arnie surely has so much faith in him it will just have to be Moss again. Right Arnie

 

[Timmah]

Steve Corica new coach then? Though Arnie surely has so much faith in him it will just have to be Moss again. Right Arnie

I hope once Sydney hand the job to Moss they have Walmsley's number handy...

 

[Big Al]

DDS would likely have less minutes in his legs than a lot of our squad? He only played 2.5 games in the last 2 weeks, while a lot of ours played 3, it's not as though he will be significantly more fatigued than others.

If he played bench, that would likely push Hoole central (had a 1 game rest), and Appiah starting on the right (similar minutes to DDS).

I don't think it would be a huge risk to start him, and if he tires, push Hoole central then, and have Appiah come on against tired defenders.

We won't beat Sydney again by having our best attacking weapon on the bench.

It’s the travel on top plus all his games where in that 2nd week. Would be a bit of a risk to start imo.

I’d rather bench him and if we still in the game bring him on

He is just to valuable to risk. We need him for the run home

 

[Coastalraider]

It’s the travel on top plus all his games where in that 2nd week. Would be a bit of a risk to start imo.

I’d rather bench him and if we still in the game bring him on

He is just to valuable to risk. We need him for the run home

I know it's a risk, and I'm torn because I saw what happened to Pain/Brahma with short turn arounds, but I just think we are getting very close to must wins, and we will already be weaker in the front third with Astro leaving. If we bench him, we may be 5 goals down by the time he gets on the field.

Like I said, I'm torn, but I'm leaning towards putting our best lineup on to start, and trying to frustrate the game away from Sydney like last time. We won last time because we didn't let Sydney into the match in the first half, and their frustration made them play worse in the second.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

New signing to come on in the last 20 we reckon?

 

[JoyfulPenguin]

Horses currently playing at Westfield Doncaster I think it's an omen for tonight!

 

[Big Al]

Nine news last night saying SFC playing there bogey team tomorrow
And it’s Graham’s 200 game as coach or 250 not sure.

Would love to break that unbeaten streak they have at home and really be there bogey team

 

[Timmah]

Updated squad this morning - no Buhagiar or Glover but DDS and Skapetis are in, with Bingham and obviously Adsrubal out.

Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1.Ben KENNEDY (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Josh ROSE, 4.Jake McGING, 5.Antony GOLEC, 6.Tom HIARIEJ, 7.Andrew HOOLE, 8.Blake POWELL, 10.Danny De SILVA, 13.Kwabena APPIAH, 15.Alan BARO (c), 16.Liam ROSE, 20.Adam PEARCE (gk), 21.Kye ROWLES, 22.Jacob MELLING, 23.Wout BRAMA, 24.Lachlan WALES, 27.Peter SKAPETIS
**two to be omitted**

Ins: 3.Josh ROSE (return from suspension), 7.Andrew HOOLE (return from suspension), 10.Danny De SILVA (return from international duty), 23.Wout BRAMA (return from injury), 27.Peter SKAPETIS (new signing)

Outs: 9.ASDRUBAL (departed club), 17.Josh BINGHAM (omitted), 25.Peter KEKERIS (omitted)

Unavailable: 11.Connor PAIN (hamstring)

 

[sydmariner]

Steve Corica new coach then? Though Arnie surely has so much faith in him it will just have to be Moss again. Right Arnie

don't they need to conduckt a global search first