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Central Coast Mariners
Semester Summary
It hasn’t been an easy ride so far with the loss of Graham Arnold early in the season, but Central Coast have remained a side that oppositions need to work that extra bit harder to beat. Whilst Arnold has gone and long-time assistant and Mariner man Phil Moss have taken his place, little has changed in the overall on and off the field philosophy of the club. Their late winner on New Year’s Eve over Perth Glory ensured that the Mariners ended their successful year on a high and a comeback draw over in Newcastle in the F3 derby was an early highlight, with a 4-0 away loss at the hands of Adelaide United an undoubted lowlight.
Areas of Excellence
Having always been their trademark, Central Coast are still very hard to break down and defeat, having only lost three out of 15 games. Despite the exodus of players and now coaching staff, they haven’t fallen dramatically. Phil Moss’ men have conceded the third least amount of goals in the competition, despite the losses of championship players Patrick Zwaanswijk, Pedj Bojic and Mat Ryan. The old stagers in John Hutchinson and Nick Montgomery have been constants of the club over the best part of last season and so far in this installment. Despite the dramas surrounding a potential relocation to North Sydney Oval, it hasn’t affected matters on field. The playing group that has been assembled by Graham Arnold, Phil Moss and the backroom staff at the Mariners doesn’t seem to be fazed by much as they still remain swimming with the A-League’s meanest sharks when others struggle to.
Areas in need of improvement
Despite having Danny McBreen return with match fitness under his belt after a loan stint in China and the returning Matt Simon, the Mariners have scored the second-least amount of goals this season. Melbourne Heart have scored the least, so that statistic should tell you something. We haven’t seen much of the swash-buckling style that charged them all season long to a Grand Final triumph, whilst retaining the defensive steel that was dominant in the past the Mariners have struggled to attack consistently and lacked the spark. The Mariners have also lacked creativity in midfield, which has now been exacerbated by the losses of Marcos Flores to a knee injury and Michael McGlinchey’s departure on loan to Vegalta Sendai, so it may be worth being active in the next transfer window. Moss will be hoping that the returning Bernie Ibini can help alleviate this problem as well. Central Coast have also been part of some of the poorer games this season and this could be due to the departures in the off-season and the transfer window so far catching up with them.
Top Students
With the attack failing to fire, the reigning champions have had their solid core to fall back on and no-one epitomizes this than former Blade Nick Montgomery. Kiwi Storm Roux’s early season performances saw him rewarded with All Whites honours in their World Cup qualifying playoffs against Mexico, joining the seasoned campaigner in McGlinchey. His presence has ensured that the club hasn’t missed Bojic as much as it could have.
Class Clowns
It is hard to go past Marcel Seip in his first season at the club. A replacement for the retired Zwaanswijk at centre-back, he hasn’t quite lived up to that billing as he has struggled to find his feet at A-League. The flip side to this is the added responsibility to Trent Sainsbury and the emergence of Zac Anderson.
Grade
B+. On solid ground as they enter the second part of the season, but need more to match it with the likes of Brisbane Roar, Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne Victory.
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Consistency has to be key from the Mariners, something they haven’t had over the season. They have a tough road to navigate with two fixtures against the Victory, Roar and another against the Wanderers to add to their upcoming ACL campaign. As a result of their win against Sydney FC at the weekend, they moved into third position and have a golden opportunity to overtake Western Sydney as they now have a game in hand.