Round 1 mariners v scum

[booney]

Great way to finish the year.Really impressed with Casella.Two world class saves from Birra.

Happy New Year to all forumites.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

A couple of first impressions before watching the replay.
Birraz is brilliant. What a difference a quality goal keeper can make.
Kuol, very impressive, has the potential to be a good striker.
Casella great debut looking good.
I did not like Nisbett playing on the wing. The middle of the park is his area. However, what do you do when you have 3 DMs? But what an amazing engine, he plays the last 10 minutes as though he has just come on the field as a sub. He made a massive difference then and contributed massively to us holding on.
Nigro, no complaints.
Clisby had a reasonably good game, skinned quite a few times and seems to be out of position often but then saves us at other times.
Stensness had a good game, played as a solid DM with authority and without the silly fouls of last year. Appears to have bulked up in the off season.
Ollie a good start. I would like to see him further up the pitch more.
Matty looked a year older and a yard slower, but is still our best defender when it comes to set pieces.
DDS looked lost when he replaced Kuol but improved when he moved to the wing.
Miller does not look like the fullback they are trying to turn him into. Looks totally lost when he gets up the park.
I do not like the 4 2 2 2 that Staj plays. I think that is what is killing us in the final third. There is no depth in attack in the middle and no one available for cut backs. It can work if the 6 non defenders can anticipate and weave into the holes but you need a lot of experience and drilling. If the opposition is quick on the counter many players can be caught out of position. Maybe Staj can get it working but I suspect he will need top quality players for it to be effective.
Personally I would prefer to see 4 4 2 or 4 4 1 1 with the narrow diamond midfield. Stens DM, Nizz AM, Ollie and Casella wingers.
I loved the continual hassling when the opposition had the ball. Roar used to do that so well in their glory days under Ange. It can cover a lot of defensive deficiencies.
The game was won on enthusiasm which is great to see, but I hope to see more skill displayed in future. Another winger and an experienced striker should be useful.
Next game will be tough. Macarthur showed a lot of talented players last night. When they gel as a team they will threaten for silverware this year.

 

[FFC Mariner]

Agree the 4222 isnt working because we arent that good to be honest. I thought Nis was quite brilliant and would have been my MoM except for Birra.
Without him we get flogged.
Why why why cant we just play 4231 with Simon coming off the bench.
Last 20 minutes was pure heart and they passed the test

 

[marinermick]

I do not like the 4 2 2 2 that Staj plays. I think that is what is killing us in the final third. There is no depth in attack in the middle and no one available for cut backs. It can work if the 6 non defenders can anticipate and weave into the holes but you need a lot of experience and drilling. If the opposition is quick on the counter many players can be caught out of position. Maybe Staj can get it working but I suspect he will need top quality players for it to be effective.
Personally I would prefer to see 4 4 2 or 4 4 1 1 with the narrow diamond midfield. Stens DM, Nizz AM, Ollie and Casella wingers.

They were playing 4-4-1-1 tonight with Casella and Nisbet playing wide. They tucked in when the fullbacks overlapped as you would expect them to.

it was also the first time time I have seen a defensive 4-4-2 since the Arnold days. The two banks of four made us more solid in defence.

 

[turbo]

Great to get the win first match when we’re clearly under strength. Overall I thought it was a nervous and clunky start but loosened up into the second half. Nisbet a perfect example of that and really redeemed himself.

Love the commitment from Kuol to get his head to the ball before the keeper, driving runs from Stensness, great debut by Casella and even DDS with a few glimpses of the player we want him to be. But MOTM has to be Birraz keeping us in it, best money we’ve spent in a long time.

 

[Ozhammer]

Happy to take three points from the Scummers any day of the year but doing it on NYE made it even sweeter and helped to draw a line under a truly awful year.

Defence went ok but still lots of improvement required, especially dealing with set pieces and balls over the top and we needed Simon to deal with aerial threats in our box repeatedly. Birraz again proved why he is one of our most important assets.

Midfield was serviceable and will definitely get better with more time together. I was surprised by Casella starting but he did well enough on his debut to show why Staj backed him. I feared playing a Nizzy out wide might be a challenge too far for him but he rose to the challenge brilliantly and he clearly had the Scummers worried when he was left up top when we were defending set pieces. Stens was serviceable and seems to have improved his ball retention, whilst Olly showed why he is going to be a vital part of our team this season. He probably tried a little too hard in the first 25 minutes and was lucky not to pick up an early card but he will definitely get better with more game time.

Simmo and Kuol worked hard up top and repeatedly defended from the front and Kuol showed tremendous bravery for his goal.

Of the subs, nobody really improved our play imho but they did do a job albeit that DDS looks very underdone for whatever reason.

In the immediate aftermath of the game I would give the boys a 7/10 based more on guts than craft. Be interesting to see if that view changes once I have watched the game back on the TV.

 

[greenlig]

Very happy with that. Showed heart for 90 mins which we didn’t do much last year. I thought DDS did some good work, obviously needs confidence. Niz was great, if he could shoot he’d be unstoppable.

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Unfortunately, of our best on park, I don't see how, Matty, Olly, Stens or Nisbet, after playing 97 minutes tonight can hope to put in another shift like that in 72 hours time. So it's going to be tough to get over Macarthur. Very interested to see what Staj does. He should also get a shout out for tonight. Not flash, but a well organised and committed team he managed to put on the park.

At least after our game on the 19th for the short turn around then, we'll have our 3 Visa players in the squad as well.

 

[Wombat]

Great to get the win first match when we’re clearly under strength. Overall I thought it was a nervous and clunky start but loosened up into the second half. Nisbet a perfect example of that and really redeemed himself.

Love the commitment from Kuol to get his head to the ball before the keeper, driving runs from Stensness, great debut by Casella and even DDS with a few glimpses of the player we want him to be. But MOTM has to be Birraz keeping us in it, best money we’ve spent in a long time.

DDS was excellent when he came on. Really helped us close the game out.

 

[true believer]

Is there a more beautiful sight in football ?

 

[shipwreck]

Did anyone see when Roy apparently punched Stens right before our goal? I remember Staj asking them to look at something but no replays or discussion

 

[true believer]

yeap hit him 5 metres away from kurt ams . i guess we're even for oli hoffman

 

[onto it]

Stens is strong af, I wonder what he benches

I'd say the same things we do.

 

[turbo]

Did anyone see when Roy apparently punched Stens right before our goal? I remember Staj asking them to look at something but no replays or discussion

Looked pretty blatant and he has form for that kind of thing. And unlike Oli on Hoffman it had nothing to do with challenging for the ball. He should have been off. Overall I thought the VAR was pretty fair, could have given hand ball penalties both for and against us but didn’t so it levelled out.

 

[priorpeter]

2021 and top of the league! #fts

 

[greenlig]

yeap hit him 5 metres away from kurt ams . i guess we're even for oli hoffman

It was wild how obvious it was. Only reason nothing happened is because Stensness is a tough nut. Roy should be gone for weeks.

Slow-mo for dramatic effect

 

[turbo]

It was wild how obvious it was. Only reason nothing happened is because Stensness is a tough nut. Roy should be gone for weeks.

Slow-mo for dramatic effect

That is what I hate about the way the game is officiated. If the player drops to the ground there is every chance Roy gets sent off, the player stays up and the officials let it go. It doesn’t pay to stay upright a lot of the time.

 

[Ironbark]

It's such an organic punch, like punching is just an extension of who he is

 

[greenlig]

I hope when he’s alone he’ll give himself an uppercut.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

They were playing 4-4-1-1 tonight with Casella and Nisbet playing wide. They tucked in when the fullbacks overlapped as you would expect them to.

it was also the first time time I have seen a defensive 4-4-2 since the Arnold days. The two banks of four made us more solid in defence.

Thanks Mick, always happy to be corrected on tactics.
I agree it was 4-4-2 in defence.

But when we had the ball I was pretty sure the wingers were well in advance of the DMs and both Matty and Kuol were up front. Maybe I am mistaken in nomenclature of formations and that is still referred to as a flat 4-4-2 I will watch the replay. Whatever, it is of academic interest.

What was noticeable was the hole in the middle of the park in the attacking third.