A-League - Round 14: Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners

All discussion for the A-League Round 14 match between Sydney FC & Central Coast Mariners may be posted in this thread. It will be stickied until next Tuesday.

BROADCAST DETAILS:

Sunday 8th January 2012

LIVE - FOX SPORTS 1 - 4pm EDT, 3:30pm CDT, 3pm EST, 1pm WST
 

Fitzy72

Debutant
Dec 16, 2011
79
0
Central Coast NSW
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Wexford - Hurling & Gaelic Football
Awesome in the first half and terrible in the 2nd. Very lucky to get all 3 points.

I don't think the Mariners were awful in the second half at all, they took their foot off the pedal a bit and a desperate team at home threw everything in their limited toolbox at us. Mariners were always in control of this game.

I thought Sebastian Hassett put it very well in the SMH today:

If Sydney's troubles are openly exposed, the Mariners' strengths are equally obvious. They put in a blazing first half, then took their foot off the pedal. Yet one still feels that had Sydney scored - and they had a few chances - Central Coast would have responded. Not that Graham Arnold, ever the perfectionist, was content.
''Our first 40 minutes was perfect football from us. They didn't have a chance, they couldn't get near us,'' he said. ''But in the second half, we showed that while we know how to win nice, we also have a quality of grinding out a win. We had the opportunities to make it 2-0 and kill Sydney off but we kept them in the game.''
There is a metronomic feel to the Mariners. They don't panic when they don't have the ball. They wait, or force, the opposition to give it up. And when they do, they flick the switch. They move swiftly when possible - like vipers - on the counter-attack, but can also be patient. Either way, it's smart football, and an appealing aesthetic.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-leagu...-for-crisis-20120108-1pq8d.html#ixzz1iuhkiCfo

The fact that we're winning games like this away, while stretching the depth of the squad is very pleasing. The Mariners look like a team completely comfortable with themselves and very focussed on their individual jobs to contribute to the overall team effort.

We'll be stretched further in the coming weeks when Bernie, Matt Ryan and Bozanic (?) are away on Olyroos duty. But the fact that the likes of Sainsbury, Kwaznik etc seem to ba able to slot back in fairly seamlessly says a lot about the player management at the club.

We're going to come down to earth with a thump at some stage, but I do think we'll be minor premiers.
 
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