By MICHAEL COCKERILL
The champions will be dethroned, the only
question is when.
Phil Moss is keeping the faith, as he should,
but only the most optimistic Central Coast
Mariners fan - and they seem to be
increasingly thin on the ground - can see
them making it back-to-back titles. Selling $4
million worth of talent over the past couple of
years has finally caught up with the A-
League's serial over-achievers, who are now
very much back with the pack. Priority No.1
is to simply to make the finals, and with only
two of their last five fixtures at home, that's
no guarantee.
The Mariners still have some decent players,
but they're not yet the sum of their parts. The
challenge for Moss is to extract the best out of
his artisans, and more from his artists.
Graham Arnold's obsession for detail, tactical
nous, man-to-man management skills and -
not least - his sense of humour, created a
culture of excellence and an esprit de corps
which drove the Mariners to unprecedented
heights. Last season's title was the high
watermark for a club which has always
floated near the top.
Needs better service: Mariners import Kim Seung-yong.
Photo: Getty Images
Moss observed all this from close quarters as
the No.2. Now he has to recreate the vibe in
the infinitely more difficult role as No. 1.
After a long apprenticeship in state league
football and his time as Arnold's understudy,
there is much to admire about the way Moss
has dealt with the pressure of expectation.
Yet in terms of this season, he's going to run
out of time.
On the field, the period of transition has been
understandably challenging. The hugely
successful "Arnold Doctrine" began with
secure possession from the back. But there's
no Mat Ryan - the best keeper we've seen in
the A-League with the ball at his feet - no
Patrick Zwaanswijk, whose diagonal passes
turned around opposing fullbacks with
monotonous regularity, and now no Trent
Sainsbury, who relished carrying the ball into
midfield. It's not that the new-look Mariners
defensive unit doesn't have potential - Liam
Reddy has been reborn, while both Zach
Anderson and Storm Roux have big futures -
but the foundation isn't set. The structure,
mostly 4-2-3-1 but sometimes with a diamond
midfield, hasn't changed all that much, but
the quality of the possession, and the ball
speed, has. It's incumbent on the likes of John
Hutchinson, Nick Montgomery and Antony
Caceres to play forward more often, and
more quickly, if the Mariners are to
overcome perhaps their biggest problem - a
lack of goals. Too much time on the ball, and
a lack of vision, is closing the passing
channels for the forward line.
It's not all doom and gloom, of course, and
the front four which started against
Melbourne Victory last weekend - Kim Seung-
Yong, Mitchell Duke, Bernie Ibini and Nick
Fitzgerald - has the mobility and pace to
worry any defence. The key is in the service,
particularly to Kim. With Marcos Flores on
the long-term injury list, the South Korean
playmaker has assumed the role of game-
changer, and there have been some
encouraging glimpses, not least from the dead
ball.
But a player who spent long periods of last
year on the bench at Ulsan Hyundai clearly
lacks match fitness, while the adjustment to
the more physical elements of the A-League is
taking more time than Moss can afford. In
that context the supporting cast needs to get
him plenty of ball while his legs are still
fresh.
Moss continues to work hard at what he can
control, and as long as Hutchinson is around -
only Kevin Muscat has ever rivalled his
passion for the cause - be assured the
Mariners will not give up without a fight. The
issue is what the team and the coaching staff
can't control - a lack of stability around the
club. Every time new owner Mike
Charlesworth talks about shifting games to
North Sydney, or Brookvale, he chips away at
the raison d'etre of the Mariners. This is a
group of players which draws motivation and
inspiration from its symbiotic relationship
with the Central Coast community.
Does that make players sprint quicker, jump
higher, tackle harder and run longer? You bet
it does. Successful teams generally know what
they stand for. These days, too often, the
Mariners look like a team which has lost its
way.