A-League: The big hole explaining the Central Coast Mariners’ early season slump
After a frustrating night in Perth the Mariners have slumped to three straight defeats, with coach Mark Jackson highlighting the huge hole affecting the team’s slide.
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The Central Coast Mariners’ men’s team is still looking for its first win of the season after going down to Perth Glory 2-0 in the late Saturday night fixture at HBF Park.
The loss leaves the side at the bottom of the table with Sydney FC on zero points after the first three games, in what is turning into a difficult hangover for last season’s champions.
With the club’s ALW side enjoying the week off with the bye, the focus will all be on the boys as we look at the biggest talking points after round three.
Catch up with Mariners Central below.
A big Cumdog-shaped hole
A frustrated Mark Jackson wasn’t pulling any punches after the team slumped to its third defeat in a row in the 2-0 loss away to Perth.
Despite controlling possession and dictating play for large parts of the game, the team simply couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net and at times looked out of ideas on how to break the Glory down.
“It’s a game where I thought we were in the ascendancy for long periods,” said Jackson.
“We had a lot of territory, created opportunities but again, we’re not creating those big clear-cut chances that we can finish. We had a few half-chances, lots of possession and chances to enter the final third but we’re lacking that final cross, that final decision in the final third.”
With just one goal from the first three games – scored by centre-back Brian Kaltack – the team is a far cry from the swashbuckling Mariners side of last season, with the gaffer not beating around the bush when asked what they’re missing and what they need to turn things around.
“A goalscorer, someone to put the ball in the back of the net.
“Let’s not get away from it, the team have lost significant players from last season who were scoring goals – Jason Cummings being one of them. I think he got 20 plus goals.
“We have to replace that, we have to have players step up and fill that mantle, and that’s a challenge for the players in the squad now and I’m still waiting to see that from the forward players.”
Forwards put on notice
Frustrated by the lack of goals in the opening two games, Jackson made four changes to his starting line-up for the game against Perth, with Dylan Wenzel-Halls replacing Alou Kuol up front and Max Balard coming in for Harrison Steele in the middle of the park.
Despite this, the team still couldn’t hit the back of the net, which led the coach to publicly challenge his attacking players to find their scoring boots.
“I’m trying to figure out who’s going to come in and score goals because no one’s stepping up at the minute,” he said.
“I’m still waiting to see someone step up and want to take that Jason Cummings’ mantle and go score some goals – and we’ve got to see that quickly. And if not, we’ve got to look to get that into the team somehow.”
In what were his most pointed comments since taking over the job, this was Jackson’s response when asked whether he had someone in the current squad who could put an end to the team’s goalscoring woes.
“At this moment in time, sitting in front of you know, my answer is no because we’re not scoring goals and we’re not looking a threat from that nine position.”
If things don’t start to click in the front-third, expect more whispers about the club hitting the transfer market in January.
Sucker punches hurt the most
It’s not just in the front-third where the Mariners have struggled so far this season, with the team conceding six goals in its three games.
In particular, the team’s susceptibility on the counter reared its head again, with a sharp break forward from Perth – and a clumsy missed interception from Brian Kaltack – allowing Stefan Colakovski to put the Glory in front in the 52nd minute.
The Mariners were lucky not to be two down 20 minutes later when Perth striker Adam Taggart found the back of the net after another counter attack, only to be pulled back for being narrowly off-side.
“It’s been the story of our season so far in the first three games: we create the better chances early in the game, don’t take them and then counter-attack,” goalkeeper Danny Vukovic told Channel 10 after full-time.
“We spoke this week, counter-attacks have been a problem for us, and the first goal we concede is from a counter-attack again.
Vukovic’s frustration with his own performance was clear for all to see, with the veteran disappointed in not being able to hold out Taggart’s injury time goal despite getting a good hand to it.
“And then the second goal, lettuce fingers from me and I throw it in.”
Mariners see red… again
“I haven’t seen it yet,” said Jackson when asked about Angel Torres’ red card in the 77th minute.
There was a similar response from Vukovic after the game: “I couldn’t really tell. From the big screen it was hard to see.”
In footballspeak, this is a code for the fact that the Mariners have absolutely no complaints about the decision.
Pushing forward on the hunt for an equaliser with just under 20 minutes to go, the Colombian became entangled with Perth’s Jacob Muir in back play before hitting the Glory player’s head with an open hand.
Yes, while he was impeded on his run and while his hit would not have caused Muir a serious injury, it is a clear a red as any in this day and age, with Torres ensuring that his side would play out the rest of the match with 10 men.
It made the Mariners’ job even harder, and is the second time in three weeks that the team has seen red while chasing the game, with Jacob Farrell given his marching orders at a similar stage in the game in the round one loss to Adelaide.
Nisbet continues strong form
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, with midfield maestro Josh Nisbet continuing his strong start to the season in the middle of the park.
Full of energy, tidy on the ball and with a never-say-die attitude, the 24-year-old was once again one of the Mariners’ best against Perth, being named the fans’ player of the match for the second week in a row.
After taking out the Mariners Medal in last season’s Championship-winning campaign, Nisbet has gone from strength to strength in the opening three games of this season.
Chance for a quick turnaround
One of the silver linings of the Mariners’ busy schedule is that the team won’t have long to wait for a slice of redemption, with the side taking on Bali United in the group stage of the AFC Cup on Wednesday night in Indonesia.
The Central Coast are currently in top spot in the group with six points from three games and will be hoping to pick up where they left off after sweeping aside the Bali side 6-3 two weeks ago.
From Bali, the Mariners will return home to take on Brisbane Roar on Sunday at Gosford.
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