Jump to content

  • WestSydneyFootball.Com Season 2012/13 A-League Team Preview - Central Coast Mariners

    mack

    By mack

    WestSydneyFootball.Com Season 2012/13 A-League Team Preview

    Central Coast Mariners

     

     

    central_coast_mariners_logo.png
    arnold1.jpg
    Central Coast are the third in the Season 2012/13 A-League team preview series.

     

    Unlike the Brisbane Roar, the Mariners have not been able to put to rest ownership and investment speculation. The Russian cavalry appears to be smoke and mirrors and that deal appears dead in the water. On the positive side the Mariners have opened their long awaited Centre Of Excellence. This includes several money-making ventures so it should in theory stop the club from going bankrupt at it's current rate of spending to the point where they might not need extra investment.

     

    Last year a 15 game unbeaten streak propelled them towards the top of the League table. The unbeaten run stretched from a 2-1 win against Perth Glory in late October all the way to the 21st of January with a 3-2 come from behind win against Adelaide. Their late season form was inconsistent. Draws and losses mixed in with only 3 wins from their last 9 games. Despite the loss of form, they regrouped for the final two matches and defeated Wellington in New Zealand to claim the League Premiership.

     

    Their finals campaign was an abject failure. A 2-0 loss in the first leg of their Major Semi-Final in Brisbane lead into conceding two goals in the first 25 minutes of the home leg. The Mariners threatened a grandstand finish by scoring two of their own in quick succession before half-time but an Henrique strike on 65 minutes condemned them to a 5-2 aggregate loss. They faced a resurgent Perth Glory line-up lead by Shane Smeltz in the Preliminary Final. A Kwasnik goal on 32 minutes was cancelled out by a Smeltz tap-in and neither team was unable to score after. With scores locked despite playing Extra Time the match headed to penalties. McGlinchey failed from the spot, Perth did not miss and the Glory won the shoot-out 5-3 going on to lose to Brisbane in a dramatic Grand Final.

     

    The Asian Champions League campaign did not fare better. Three draws set them on the back foot before a 5-0 thrashing against Seongham Illhwa hurt their chances of topping the group. They replied by destroying Tianjin Teda 5-1 to confirm 4th place for that team. In a do or die match against Nagoya Grampus they were unable to resist a Japanese onslaught and fell to a 3-0 loss confirming their third place finish in the group.

     

    arnold3.jpg
    Transfer activity into the club is understated. Zac Anderson joined the club from Gold Coast United alongside Brent Griffiths from Wellington and three new faces in the Youth Squad. The only big name to come was Mile Sterjovski who left Chinese side Dalian Aerbin to join the club on a one-year contract.

     

    arnold4.jpg
    Crowd favourite Mustafa Amini and Scottish target man John Stutton both reached the end of their loan signings and returned to their home clubs of Borussia Dortmund and Heart Of Midlothian respectively. Stuart Musialik was released, Sam Gallagher moved to Melbourne Victory, Alex Wilkinson to Jeonbuk Motors of Korea and Brad Porter retired.

     

    The Mariners are a very settled side playing the methodical and consistent tactical strategy implemented by Graham Arnold. McBreen and Kwasnik will provide a solid amount of goals as well as being targets for the midfield and defence to hit passes to. Ibini and Rogic will be hoping to make a big impact on the season and if they can both perform the Mariners can take the title. Patrick Zwaanswijk is the key to their defence and someone who can power in goals from the set piece or the penalty spot. Mathew Ryan will look to continue his development and could be on his way out of the club to Europe in the mid-season transfer window.

     

    The Mariners have a very tough opening to the season. They will be the opponent for the debut of the Western Sydney Wanderers. Their own home debut is the week after against the strong Perth Glory squad before they travel to Newcastle for the first F3 Derby of the new season. Week 4 sees them up against Melbourne Heart and then another local rivalry match against Sydney FC with new marquee player Alessandro Del Piero.

     

    arnold2.jpg
    Has their mental toughness become eroded by the ghosts of Final Series past and their failed ACL Campaign? Only time will tell. They will surely figure in the end of season play-offs but questions remain over their ability to win the big matches. Graham Arnold talks about how he believes the league Premiership is worth more than the finals Championship but in Australian sport it is the Grand Final that matters.

     

    The Mariners have the ability in their squad and management to win both the Premiership and Championship this season. Anything less than a Grand Final appearance for the Mariners will be considered a failure and once there they will expect to win it finally.

     

    I predict that the Central Coast Mariners will finish the season in 2nd position.

    1. Perth Glory
    2. Central Coast Mariners
    3. Brisbane Roar
    4. Melbourne Victory
    5. Wellington Phoenix
    6. Sydney FC
    7. Western Sydney Wanderers
    8. Newcastle Jets
    9. Adelaide United
    10. Melbourne Heart

    Go to articles

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    moxey25

    moxey25

    Posted

    Yeah, Mariners are always quality and Arnold is a brilliant coach.

     

    Ibini, Rogic, Anderson, Ryan will only get better.

    Kizza

    Kizza

    Posted

    Yeah, Mariners are always quality and Arnold is a brilliant coach.

     

    Ibini, Rogic, Anderson, Ryan will only get better.

     

    True test will come when these guys inevitably leave

    moxey25

    moxey25

    Posted

    Yeah, Mariners are always quality and Arnold is a brilliant coach.

     

    Ibini, Rogic, Anderson, Ryan will only get better.

     

    True test will come when these guys inevitably leave

     

    Arnold will just bring up another youngster lol. Duke/Oates and Caceres!

     

    Ryan is almost certain to leave in January though, Pasfield isn't to bad.

    patjennings

    patjennings

    Posted

    Mack - good summary - but maybe a little harsh with the "Transfer activity into the club is understated". I think the Mariners are a slightly stronger squad than the beginning of last season (especally given that two of the squad that left didn't feature at all last year) - but much stronger than at the end of last season.

     

    They've lost Wilko, Amini, Musialik, Porter, Gallagher and Sutton. Only Wilko played more 50% of the time and Gallagher and Musialik didn't play at all. They had already lost Simon and Rostyn Griffiths.

     

    In comes Sterjovski. Anderson, Caceres, Oates, Brent Griffiths, Duke and Montgomery. Sterj and Montgomery are really the replacements for Rostyn Griffiths and Matty Simon. Rogic had already stepped up to replace Amini mid last season when Amini was injured.

     

    The big loss is Wilko but many rate Anderson. Look for a big year from Mitchell Duke and expect Montgomery to be a great import.

     

    So since the end of the season the changes are:-

     

    Sutton-------Sterjovski, Duke

    Wilko-------Anderson

    Porter------Oates

    Gallagher---Griffiths

    Musialik----Montgomery

    Amini----Caceres

    ge0rge10

    ge0rge10

    Posted

     

     

    They've lost Wilko, Amini, Musialik, Porter, Gallagher and Sutton. Only Wilko played more 50% of the time and Gallagher and Musialik didn't play at all. They had already lost Simon and Rostyn Griffiths.

     

     

    Mariners were top and gonna win the comp easy til they lost Simon and Griffiths. They were the 2 players they couldn't afford to lose. Montgomery should be a great signing for them, but I'm not convinced by Sterjovski at all.

    montywoodpeg

    montywoodpeg

    Posted

    Mariners were top and gonna win the comp easy til they lost Simon and Griffiths. They were the 2 players they couldn't afford to lose. Montgomery should be a great signing for them, but I'm not convinced by Sterjovski at all.

     

    Indeed, Simon and Griffiths were notable losses that weren't suitably replaced in the latter half of the season. Goals were running thin, and the intended replacement Sutton never found his feet.

     

    I'd expect to see a lot of Kwasnik, Mile, Bernie and Duke playing up front. I've never really been sold on Kwasnik as a goalscorer, but he's rather relentless and helps to create opportunities. Bernie and Duke will likely play on rotation as pacey young strikers capable of stressing the older slower defenders, perhaps catching some by surprise. Hopefully we're not discussing how a CB and a player who left early in the season are still in contention for the teams leading scorer at the end of the season.

     

    Taking Wilko's position will be a battle primarily between Sainsbury and Anderson (we may see some of B.Griffiths, but he's less familiar to us, and hasn't taken the field and many trial games from memory). Both quite young and promising, Sainsbury got some game time last season while Anderson was a starter for GCU (whose defence got plenty of attention last year, let's be honest), competition for positions is good news, and to play alongside Zwaanswijk will teach them a few lessons.

     

    I have high hopes for Montgomery to fill the boots of R.Griffiths, he comes with a reputable resume of experience.

     

    I was always impressed by the ability if the Mariners to win headers in the defensive half of the field. I felt confident they could defend against corners, crosses and free kicks into and around the box, they were always so consistent. I hope that trait remains despite some of the roster changes, and that they can again translate the aerial strength into some goals at the other end of the field like last season.

     

    If we're honest, we should expect the departure of Matt Ryan in that mid-season transfer window to somewhere overseas, He will surely be missed when this inevitably occurs.



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...