Mariners boss Phil Moss hailed his side’s near-perfect performance against Brisbane Roar on Saturday night which resulted in a 2-0 win and a guaranteed third-place finish on the A-League ladder.
Central Coast Mariners manager Phil Moss hailed his side’s near-perfect performance against the Brisbane Roar on Saturday night which resulted in a 2-0 win and a guaranteed third-place finish in the A-League ladder.
With a crucial Asian Champions League clash against FC Seoul coming up on Wednesday, Moss maintained that competing in two competitions was actually a boon for the Mariners.
Defending with five across the back and relying on rapid counter-attacks, the Central Coast blunted Roar’s passing game and were able to score a pair of well-worked goals in the first half, via Nick Fitzgerald and Anthony Caceres.
The Mariners coach was thrilled at the way his players carried out their task against the competition’s top dogs.
‘Probably as close you can get to perfect in a football game of 94 minutes,’ Moss said.
‘But (I’m) just so delighted with the way the players stuck to the game plan and executed it.
‘I came in on Tuesday morning and outlined the way I wanted to play against Brisbane this week, and it wasn’t about Brisbane, it was about us, we’re in two competitions and we need to be adaptable, and the way that the players embraced it, and the way the senior players drove it during the week, and by game night everybody knew their jobs and, I thought, played it out to almost perfection.’
The Central Coast manager said the win over Brisbane would serve as a confidence booster for the side ahead of the A-League finals series and their crunch mid-week ACL fixture.
‘This week was all about us,’ he said.
‘It was about making sure our last performance of the regular season was very good and that we could take some confidence into the finals series and into the ACL game on Wednesday against Seoul.
‘And I think to be successful in Asia, you have to be adaptable tactically, and we’re coming up against a very good Seoul team on Wednesday night, so tonight was really about us adding another string to our bow.’
As for having to juggle two competitions at once, Moss had no complaints.
‘I think it’s been a blessing for us this season, to be honest.
‘The more games, the better, and it means that all 22 players are used, and no-one’s getting stale sitting in the grand stand.’