The Stajcic Era, a Partnership of desperates or a Marriage Made in Heaven?

. i do wonder whether anybody has told Staj it is OK to appoint a different captain

. i am sure he has heard plenty of the 'heart and soul' ... 'born and bred' ... 'links to the community' ... 'all-time leading goal scorer' ... 'local hero' rhetoric ... but has anybody actually said 'you appoint the captain, the best candidate for the season without having to consider the incumbent'

. as far as i know nobody has been 'appointed' captain for this season ... Simon has simply carried the title forward

 

I think that’s a big part of it. In a normal game I’m sure we would have seen some defensive subs after their goal and looked to spilt the points. Elimination match, down a man and quite possibly going in to extra time complicates things a bit. If we had a more attacking bench I would have been fine with throwing caution to the wind and pressing them hard but we don’t have the troops for that.

 

+

+++++99999

 

If they don't trust Majok against AL opposition (and I don't blame anyone for that) it's a damning indictment on our recruiting team.
We were screaming out for an AL quality striker to replace Simon last season and they haven't solved the problem. Evidently Staj doesn't fancy Muzz either or is scared to drop Simon.
Either way it's a worrying sign.
Excuses like "we have tried" aren't acceptable.
Professionals get no prizes for trying.

 

Or giving Simon the chance to prove him wrong. I will be very surprised if he is the starting team captain and would suggest he won't start in more than half the games. Majok actually reminds me of a younger Simon - all uncoordinated arms and legs.

 

Agree on Matty. I think he should have been hauled but it shouldn’t be unreasonable for a coach to think a striker can avoid getting himself a second yellow. It’s just that with Matty he was fired up, stakes were high, he’s at home, and he’s already been in several scraps... if you know him well you hook him I think. I bet Staj in a similar situation in the future, would now at the very least give him an earful about being very careful. He shouldn’t have to do it for the experienced captain... but there it is.

Re cup game etc. I don’t want to sound like I’m doubling down, because Im really not attached. But I think the parameters of the game all point towards making subs myself. Not a bad idea to hold one till full time if you want to make sure you can cover someone who says I’ve got to come off. But you’ve got to get there first. And you’re down to ten with still 20 mins (with ET) to play. And look at that lineup...

Murray, De Silva, Oar, Silvera...
you’ve got a very attacking geared midfield on the park who are nearly all looking cooked. And only Duric to screen, but he’s already put in a monster shift and is looking pretty clearly much more of an 8 than a 6.

Two defensive subs have to come in for mine. See if you can hold them at 1 nil, maybe jag one at a set piece, otherwise hold out as long as you can and get to penalties and roll the dice there.

Keeping 3 subs held so you can then respond once you go into extra time is at best a pretty optimistic / high risk proposition. At worst very naive.

But I don’t think Staj is naive, I think he’s a great coach. However I do think he got that one wrong and may well agree. He did say in the press soon after he’s learning a lot.

 

Our game os pretty simple... score more goals than the other team... defence can play a huge part in reducing the number of goals you need to score to win...

But if you can't score you can't win...

 

Walmsley and Mulvey never grasped that concept

 

You start with a point. Make sure you come off with at least that.
Great quote from Jack Charlton

 

Long ago, I once referred to Simo as sometimes being like 'a baby giraffe on meth'.

Matty has evolved 'a little' since back then, to be more :

 

Whereas Okon thought you won games based on your pass count.

Interesting philosophies we’ve had.

 

I think Staj went with a similar strategy in our Roar game.

This time the variable was being down to ten men.

Did he use it as a lets see what they have under fatigue so i can use it as a teaching moment? Was it if they hold on this will build a lot of confidence? Was it hey Mat. You did this and the boys will be pissed at full time so don’t ever do it again?

We know he would have had some reasoning but I think he got it wrong. However a cup tie is different to regular season as extra time is involved and there is no “point” for a draw.

It was extremely interesting and a bad decision.

The team looks ok but I feel the better teams will cause a lot of trouble for our defence

 

Stajcic adds steel to the Mariners
A major focus of Stajcic’s rebuild of the Mariners centred around instilling a ferocious attitude to make his side tougher to beat.

And on the evidence of the opening round, the Gosford club are certainly on the right track.

No other side won more tackles (19) or more duels (75) than the Mariners in the opening round of the 2019/20 Season.

After winning their final home match of last season (3-1 against the Wanderers), the Mariners will hope that newfound resolve will help them register back-to-back wins in Gosford for the first time in four years.
https://www.a-league.com.au/news/stat-shows-stajcic-turning-mariners-around

 

That trailing right leg looks familiar...

 

Good stuff. Though still hurts we couldn't convert one of the best performances of the round into even a point. Back to back wins at home would be golden though.