Mariners v Wellington pre-season cup thread

[mustapha_beer]

A good performance from the lads.....and Wilko FINALLY gets a goal. About bloody time, too - 1 goal in 61 games is not the kind of ratio we're looking for!!!!! Kwas took his well, too.

We could have had more, but then again I was pretty impressed by Wellington, and thought it could have easily been 2-2 at halftime. Danny made some very good stops, and so I'm not sure what Lawrie's comments about it being an easy win on the Mariners site were based on.

Anyway, from last night, I would say Boogs on for Viddie from the start, and a bit more movement up front from Mrdja & Saso....Sasho.....bugger it, Petrovski....otherwise, all good!

[offtheball]

I thought Tommy was great.
Couple of lapses at the back covered well by Danny.

First 10 minutes was excellent. We looked great when we held the ball.

Mrdja looked really dangerous. However, he stands offside constantly and then wonders why the flag goes up.

[~Floss~]

Any possible issues in the back would be lessened with Heff in LB and Boogs getting a bit of experience at A-league level.

[Bearinator]

Boogs in, Vidmar out. He is old and past his best, but Boogs looks freaky good at the moment. And f*** me, you would not want to be in a wall and watching Nik come running at the ball. That boy can smack em.

[Farthing]

They played really well last night, very attacking football and kept the ball well, they probally should have won by more than just 2-0.

I dont know if ive missed it before hand but does anyone know why didnt heff play

[LeedsMariner#4]

i think it was a groin strain

[M23]

bearinator said:

Boogs in, Vidmar out. He is old and past his best, but Boogs looks freaky good at the moment. And f*** me, you would not want to be in a wall and watching Nik come running at the ball. That boy can smack em.

I wouldn't say get Viddy out, he was picking the ball off those Wellington strikers beautifully most of the time, although yeah he had some lapses (but who dosn't ;D). Boogs did look quite good, nice to see a defender with a bit of strength on him (same goes for Jedi in the middle), and yeah definatly like the way Niki hits a dead ball

[Andy]

bearinator said:

Boogs in, Vidmar out. He is old and past his best, but Boogs looks freaky good at the moment. And f*** me, you would not want to be in a wall and watching Nik come running at the ball. That boy can smack em.

I was think the same thin about Mrdja when he was lining one up in the second half.
To make it worse he has about a 10 metre run-up so the defenders are shitting themselves for a good couple of seconds.

[ceburoo]

I thought the ball movement in the first half was very good. BUT our marquee player looked horribly out of touch, condition and looked out of his depth there. He was doing the commentating on Fox and maybe he has picked up on the way his former team mates are playing in the ASIAN Cup at the moment. He certainly wouldn't have been out of place in Bangkok on that performance.

Our strikers will never win a direct through ball race so they will have to poach and look for balls on the blind side of the defender IF THEY CAN STAY ONSIDE.

Our defense was a bit dodgy at times and I am sure both Brownie and Heffernan will stiffen up the left side that looked exposed at times.

A point about Wellington. Is Campos (#21 the late substitute) one of their Brazilians. Whoever he is he will cause some trouble to a lot of defenders. He had some very nice touches that players will benefit from in the future.
Once he gets to know his team mates definitely Wellington won't be the easy beats of the A-League as their predecessor was in versions 1 and 2. They will play some entertaining football so we better not underestimate them in the future.

[LeedsMariner#4]

id like to see viddy play right back rather than in the centre, he is quality when bringing the ball forward
(although ossie had a decent game there as well)
wilko and boogs in the middle and heff on the left!

[Auburn Mariner]

Spewing that we could not be there. Great start, can't wait to watch the boys with Merrinator and Aubinho at home in Orange on Saturday.

Good crowd numbers too, so let's hope for good numbers at the Ice Bowl, ahem, Wade Park next weekend.

[Bearinator]

davejackson10 said:

id like to see viddy play right back rather than in the centre, he is quality when bringing the ball forward
(although ossie had a decent game there as well)
wilko and boogs in the middle and heff on the left!

He has player left back before, at cardiff that I know of, but I cant see him ever playing on the right. And Boogs is just a machine at the moment, from all the pre season iv seen. It would be hard to not start him come season proper, if viddy keeps up his current "form".

[brett]

Great start, no complaints.

I thought Hutcho actually did well at left back, and had a handful of an opponent (Smeltz?).

Wellington acquitted themselves well and I don't think they'll finish bottom under Herbert. A comfortable win for us despite some saves by our hero in goals shows what a good position we are in with our strength in depth already.

Already looking forward to seeing the boys treat Orange to a goal or two!

[yellowcake]

I didn't think Viddy was poor enough to have his start at serious risk, still has a sweet touch. Boog's challenge indicates our depth - I do want to see him get more time.
Tommy was delightfully blinding at times but seemed to be MIA for stretches too (like after the first 5 mins, the first half).

I enjoyed Nik punishing the wall (you'd know you'd ben hit!) but he must have something with more finesse? I though he and Sasho were a bit lazy. Great to see Kwassy get one!

Sydney and the Roar have done us a favour with 0-0. One step towards a home play-off on 4th August

[omni]

Boogs had a poor start, getting outrun by Coveny wasn't great, but he got better and better, very strong!

[Bearinator]

yellowcake said:

I didn't think Viddy was poor enough to have his start at serious risk, still has a sweet touch. Boog's challenge indicates our depth - I do want to see him get more time.

Im not basing my decision on this game alone, but every game the boys have played this pre season so far. I hope he dose hit some form, because id hate to see him picked because of his name alone, whilst someone so young and with quality and a point to prove is wasted on the bench.

[thesandman]

Too bad I couldn't make it - was busy freezing my arse off in Canberra.

Glad to see it was Wilko and Kwassie scoring. Wilko because, well, it's about bloody time. And Kwassie because if he can get some confidence and get his touch figured out he's going to be lethal (we all know how many goals he should've scored but missed last season).

I don't want this to become a debate on the relative merits of Kwassie though...

What were the two goals like?
Also, how was Hutcho? His form was WAY off at the end of last season, he was seriously lacking confidence. Has the off-season done him good?

[skilbeck]

i believe when sasho finds some form he will be dangerous, but judging by last nights performance neither him nor nik looked that sharp. but i dont believe we should be starting all 3 of nik, sasho and kwasnik if simon is unavaliable, we just tire all 3 of our attackers early in the game with little depth to bring on a fresh attacker. hutch works better as an attacking player but im guessing when browny and heff return they will push him back to the left wing midfield role. with regard to vidmar i reckon boogaard will give him a serious run for his money soon if he isnt already and i hope that this competitiveness between those 2 and o grady as well as wilko and the fullbacks can improve the standard of our backline

[bakery5]

Good performance by the team. I think the attack was pretty good in the first half with good passing. Some errors in defence, but Danny V was on fire.

Hutch provides an good option for LB, if Brown and Heff are unavailable. Might see Vidmar playing LB during the pre-season to see how he goes, but this would depend on injuries to other players.

[Ursus]

I actually sat where I could see the game .

I did not think Viddy had as bad a game as some here are maling out, he pulled off some classic tackles nearly as good as some Tobin used to execute. However having said that, they got in behind us a few times and allowed Danny to show how good he is.
Wilko gets better every time out, he would be useful in Asia at the moment.
It was good to see Tommy's quickness again, hopefully if he can build an understanding with our stikers they may provide him with plenty of goals.
Kwassy showed he has speed to burn and a strong work ethic, he put himself about all over the park and will be one of our most dangerous players if Lawrie leaves him on the right wing and does not try to play him as a striker.
Mile in Spenny's role is like a breath of fresh air and is improving with every game. His distribution of the ball was positive (something we have been lacking in that position) and he shows great strength.
Gumps, I thought, lacked touch but hopefully that was only because he was trying too hard and the opportunities were not presenting themselves. He should be back to his best when he, Nick and Sasho develop some understanding.
Nick and Sasho lacked sharpness but I guess that is not there style. I thought sasho held the ball well but lacked options. Both have been to the Stewart Petrie school of getting caught offside . Early days yet.

This first serious run I thought was positive. With more understanding and single touch passing to come in attack this team has possibilies.
I am lookin forward to V3 .