Pirate Pete
Well-Known Member
New Central Coast Mariners marquee player Luis Garcia has promised there is plenty more in store after making a game-changing 30-minute cameo in Saturday night's 2-1 defeat to the Western Sydney Wanderers in Gosford.
The 37-year-old had not played competitively in more than 18 months but took no time settling into A-League life, giving the Mariners a huge spark after they looked destined to be soundly beaten by the ladder-leaders.
While questions were raised about whether the Spaniard could still cut it at such a competitive level, his first few touches of the ball allayed any doubts.
Friends, old and new: Luis Garcia poses for a photo after his debut for the Central Coast Mariners. Photo: Ashley Feder
"I did what I know what to do and it's not that I tried something different, I just played the way I have always played," he said. "It was easy because the guys around me work with the way I play. They are fast players, they run a lot and they are looking for the ball. For a player like me who likes to look for those spaces, it's very good for me."
Garcia served warning with his first play of the night, an incisive forward pass that put the Wanderers on the back foot, before following that up minutes later with a brilliant through-ball that set Mitch Austin away down the left.
That move ended with Josh Bingham clipping an effort that goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne could only parry away, allowing a simple tap-in goal for Fabio Ferreira.
Garcia's tricky feet won a free-kick on the edge of the area soon after, and having trailed all night, he nearly propelled them within touching distance of three points.
But a red card to Nick Montgomery swung the game against the Mariners and Brendon Santalab ended up bagging a later winner.
The Spaniard admitted he was a "little bit" nervous coming out of retirement but loved every minute of his comeback.
"I feel good. It was only 30 minutes, and with one man less, it's not easy, but I think I did good work," he said. "It's like starting from the very beginning. But after I went on I felt all right. The crowd were helping me so much since I arrived and it was easy to start playing."
Having only arrived on Thursday, Garcia said he felt an instant chemistry with his teammates despite the lack of time together.
"We trained together only one time but we understood each other very well in the first few minutes," he said. "Even in the training, we had a couple of those moves that were quite the same and we were lucky today that we finished with that goal for the equaliser. The team was feeling very well at that point and we had another chance that, maybe, could have changed the result.
"It was a pity that, at the end, we conceded that goal."
While watching the first hour on the sidelines, Garcia said he identified various areas on the field where he could make an impact when he came on.
"I thought I could help because I could see the space between the lines and this is the way I want to play," he said. "I know how [Wanderers' midfielders] Dimas and Andreu play. We have players that like to have the ball. They don't have a lot of range around to run, so I knew I would have some chances. I think the first few minutes were quite OK."
The former Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool star reckoned it would not take long before he could start matches for the yellow and navy.
"Hopefully I should be able to, even without playing a lot of time," he said. "We spoke with the coach [Tony Walmsley] and it's not going to be easy to have a lot of minutes. But there's not many games left, so we cannot wait a month and a half."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/...-big-stage-20160124-gmd097.html#ixzz3yCFcnlCL
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The 37-year-old had not played competitively in more than 18 months but took no time settling into A-League life, giving the Mariners a huge spark after they looked destined to be soundly beaten by the ladder-leaders.
While questions were raised about whether the Spaniard could still cut it at such a competitive level, his first few touches of the ball allayed any doubts.
Friends, old and new: Luis Garcia poses for a photo after his debut for the Central Coast Mariners. Photo: Ashley Feder
"I did what I know what to do and it's not that I tried something different, I just played the way I have always played," he said. "It was easy because the guys around me work with the way I play. They are fast players, they run a lot and they are looking for the ball. For a player like me who likes to look for those spaces, it's very good for me."
Garcia served warning with his first play of the night, an incisive forward pass that put the Wanderers on the back foot, before following that up minutes later with a brilliant through-ball that set Mitch Austin away down the left.
That move ended with Josh Bingham clipping an effort that goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne could only parry away, allowing a simple tap-in goal for Fabio Ferreira.
Garcia's tricky feet won a free-kick on the edge of the area soon after, and having trailed all night, he nearly propelled them within touching distance of three points.
But a red card to Nick Montgomery swung the game against the Mariners and Brendon Santalab ended up bagging a later winner.
The Spaniard admitted he was a "little bit" nervous coming out of retirement but loved every minute of his comeback.
"I feel good. It was only 30 minutes, and with one man less, it's not easy, but I think I did good work," he said. "It's like starting from the very beginning. But after I went on I felt all right. The crowd were helping me so much since I arrived and it was easy to start playing."
Having only arrived on Thursday, Garcia said he felt an instant chemistry with his teammates despite the lack of time together.
"We trained together only one time but we understood each other very well in the first few minutes," he said. "Even in the training, we had a couple of those moves that were quite the same and we were lucky today that we finished with that goal for the equaliser. The team was feeling very well at that point and we had another chance that, maybe, could have changed the result.
"It was a pity that, at the end, we conceded that goal."
While watching the first hour on the sidelines, Garcia said he identified various areas on the field where he could make an impact when he came on.
"I thought I could help because I could see the space between the lines and this is the way I want to play," he said. "I know how [Wanderers' midfielders] Dimas and Andreu play. We have players that like to have the ball. They don't have a lot of range around to run, so I knew I would have some chances. I think the first few minutes were quite OK."
The former Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool star reckoned it would not take long before he could start matches for the yellow and navy.
"Hopefully I should be able to, even without playing a lot of time," he said. "We spoke with the coach [Tony Walmsley] and it's not going to be easy to have a lot of minutes. But there's not many games left, so we cannot wait a month and a half."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/...-big-stage-20160124-gmd097.html#ixzz3yCFcnlCL
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook
