Mariners Squad - 2019-2020

[Coastalraider]

Staj has made a real focus around building a team mentality, as much as I know that we need a visa striker, I’m a little concerned by the destabilising effect a new guy might have at this point in time, so close to round 1.

 

[turbo]

Managing the change (if we find a striker) will be important and attitude will be a big factor.

But in terms of the guys we have up front they have to know the level displayed so far in preseason isn’t enough for a starting striker at A league level. As much as I wanted Murray to step up he hasn’t put enough away against lower level sides. Matty doesn’t look like he’s on track to score any more than last season where penalties padded out his figures.

If anything I think the riskiest things for harmony would be if we recruited a total douche or if we slotted in someone above them who wasn’t an obvious improvement. If we went with Kenny Athiu as our main striker for example not only would it be suicide but that could do some serious damage within the team. Berisha while a little past it still has the credentials to get respect as long as he isn’t a total dick. I hope we can do better than either of them but they aren’t bad examples. Should be some free agents looking to get things done, WSW got things done pretty quickly with their incoming striker now that his options have reduced.

 

[turbo]

Polarising opinion here but I would have been happy for us to take a punt on Cillian Sheridan from the nix. He’s not the level some would be hoping for but I still think he would be a clear step above what we have now and would bag decent figures with more time which was always going to be tough to take from Krishna or Williams last season. He can hover up front or play deeper like Murray tends to at times to bring others in and judging by social media seems like he’s a funny guy likely to fit in to a team. Think he went to Israel though.

 

[Big Al]

Matt Simon 300mins FFA Cup
1 goal 1 Assist vs NPL teams

Majok 33mins FFA Cup off the bench
1 goal.

We need any decent striker no matter when

 

[yorkshireman]

any chance WSW will see Duke as surplus with their new signing?

 

[turbo]

They pretty much made him the face of the club in the off season so very unlikely

 

[Corsair]

any chance WSW will see Duke as surplus with their new signing?

He's the captain so I doubt it.

He was never that good for us anyway, even though I liked singing Duke will tear you apart, he never really did!

 

[localpom]

Happy with the squad so far apart from our obvious lack of a 10 plus goals a season striker. That will be the difference i think between making the 6 and not. Muzz could do the job if he plays and scores a couple early which will give him the confidence he needs. That's a big if on both counts though.

 

[Insertnamehere]

Happy with the squad so far apart from our obvious lack of a 10 plus goals a season striker. That will be the difference i think between making the 6 and not. Muzz could do the job if he plays and scores a couple early which will give him the confidence he needs. That's a big if on both counts though.

we need to play quick counter ball on the ground football to give muz real goal scoring opportunities.

 

[turbo]

If we were to give Murray a shot at the main gig I would worry they’d be on a hair trigger to put Simon back on if he has a bit of a dry spell. Not that he’s any more likely to score but that seems to be the default because he’s the senior player.

 

[Big Al]

If we were to give Murray a shot at the main gig I would worry they’d be on a hair trigger to put Simon back on if he has a bit of a dry spell. Not that he’s any more likely to score but that seems to be the default because he’s the senior player.

Murray is better in the air and on the ground with movement. Would at the minimum let us know whether Muz is good enough

And i can almost guarantee we will be complaining if Simon has a dry spell which i see as very likely. Our attack looks poor at best

 

[Coastalraider]

So I’m sure someone at the launch last night quizzed Shaun on the status of our last Visa spot, what’s the goss???

 

[Rowdy]

So I’m sure someone at the launch last night quizzed Shaun on the status of our last Visa spot, what’s the goss???

Said that Staj was looking at bringing in a #9 or a #10
..... when I heard this I was absolutely dumbfounded to say the least, about his possible intention of bringing in ANOTHER #10 !!

We ALREADY have x5 attacking capable midfielders who can play at #10 :
-Danny Da Silva
- Tommy Oar (who I think will provide FAR greater benefits to the squad IF he was played permanently attacking- wide left than played in the middle).
- Milan Duric
- Mario Shabow
- Michael Mcglinchey.

There's a 6th possible option of moving Silvera into the #10 role if need be, due to injury or because he's form is just to good to be being left out of the starting XI.

Again ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS if we sign an out& out #10.

We NEED a #mofo STRIKER, period !!!

 

[Rowdy]

I mentioned Sammy Silvera above because, last nite Staj mentioned to one of the boys (Morrow I think) that he said something along the lines of 'watch this space!'
- when it comes to Silvera.

Staj say's that Silvera performs x3 times better at training than he has shown in the pre-season games thus far.

He thinks that he is going to kill-it in the A-League this season.

 

[turbo]

We ALREADY have x5 attacking capable midfielders who can play at #10 :
-Danny Da Silva
- Tommy Oar (who I think will provide FAR greater benefits to the squad IF he was played permanently attacking- wide left than played in the middle).
- Milan Duric
- Mario Shabow
- Michael Mcglinchey

I agree that another 10 seems crazy but depending on how our search for a 9 goes I could see why they’d want to look at alternatives. Right now I’d suggest our strongest XI in the 4-1-4-1 has Kim as the DM then the 4 looks something like
Oar —— Duric —— DDS —— Silvera
Which uses 3 of your 5 (or 4 of 6) leaving Shabow or Weemac as backups, neither of which have been making the bench at full strength. Nisbet might be in the mix too but ultimately there’s not a lot of depth at that end of the pitch, we could change things up a bit to accommodate but more than one injury/suspension/rep duties will take a toll more than it will in the back 4.

Still I can’t see Simon fitting with the attacking midfield we are putting together, his style is the opposite of the fast game we should be trying to achieve with those players. If we can’t land a suitable 9 we either need to give Murray a good crack at it and stick with him to let it click or we need to look alternatives like Silvera as someone else suggested or maybe push Oar forward?

 

[BrisRecky]

Yep, Matty Simon just ain’t gonna work with the apparent set up, and no I’m not knocking * the wizard of woy woy...it’s either give Muzz the spot permanently or get fkn shopping

 

[Forum Phoenix]

We can set up to play counter attacking football. But I’m not sure why some are envisioning us as a pacy counter attacking side?

Imo Oar is not as fast as he once was and won’t be breaking away against most HAL defences. Silvera is talented but not really an out and out speedster from what I’ve seen. Ditto DDS. Obviously not Simon or Duric. Muzz’s pace is only average at HAL level. Only Majok looks to maybe have the pace to break and most don’t rate him at all.

I think we’re going to be all about combination plays, cutting teams open with good triangles, through balls and skinning players. And Matty ideally knocking down done good balls into dangerous areas for others.

 

[turbo]

I think we’re going to be all about combination plays, cutting teams open with good triangles, through balls and skinning players.

I don’t think what you’re expecting is too different from what I or others are suggesting Matty will have issues keeping up with. When those combinations or skinning a player opens up a gap we need to be able to press our advantage rather than holding it up. It’s not so much about being a speedster but having their instincts being to go forward to shoot or set someone up and doing it for at least 70 minutes per game. The kind of hold up play we saw last year will dull what Oar and Silvera have to offer.

I don’t say any of this to put him down or be rude. I’m trying to be objective based on what we’ve seen offered last season and this preseason hasn’t shown any different IMO.

 

[Rowdy]

Yep, Matty Simon just ain’t gonna work with the apparent set up, and no I’m not knocking * the wizard of woy woy...it’s either give Muzz the spot permanently or get fkn shopping

(Not to shoot you down Reck)

For everyone who has the mindset of:
'IF' Simo can't get the job done THEN throw Muzza up the front instead'
...... then I'm about to put a spanner in your works.

Speaking to Muzz last nite @ the MarinersPalooza event, the Boys & I gave him a bit of the 'Feed The Muzz, Feed The Muzz'' chant, which he loves & laughed at, but I asked him;
....... 'In all seriousness mate, what position/formation would you prefer personally to be playing in to be at your best to be able to score more goals, ie. 1 up front, sitting in behind the striker, or playing wider as you have been more predominantly utilised' ??

His surprising response:
' I actually prefer to NOT be on my own, but have someone to work with, play-off & in and around them'

I woke this morning and pondered Muzza's words from last night & quickly concluded that it's unequivocally necessary for us to be signing a quality Striker if were to be any semblance of success this season
- NOT to become THE MAN that 'singlehandedly' scores all our goals BUT because this new striker is the only option/or way to bring about goals from Muzza, Simo (whoever? else selected that is in that front third) & it's these 'subsidiary' goals from other players that truly makes or breaks what is evaluated as a successful season.

It's been plain & simple for most of us on here that the guys that we've got at the moment that occupy that front third can't quite execute on their individual own's.

I think what is needed is a CATALYST player, to help bring the best out of Simo, Muzz, Silvera, Majok.
- once it happens each of them will jyst grow into the next level of their individual games, different for each one of them.

If the club don't rectify this, then we will be hearing commentators all season, ad nauseum about how :

"The Mariners are getting into good area's but it's their lack of cohesion and more importantly the finishing thst has been costing them points ALL SEASON to now"

I really dont want to be hearing that out of Hill's or Harper's mouths in 2019/20.

 

[Ironbark]

Muzz definitely works better in a front 2. I've wanted to suggest it for a while but there's no structure I can think of that I believe Staj, or even most modern coaches, would realistically go for atm