Central Coast Mariners Head Coach Mark Jackson gave his pre-match thoughts ahead of our clash in Adelaide on Saturday evening.
Jacko remains positive despite a narrow defeat in China on Tuesday night, as the squad are looking to take a positive performance forward and add to our opening day point against Melbourne Victory.
“We wanted the result of course but we’re positive about the performance and execution on the pitch. There were strong performances from individuals but as a collective it was a strong performance, especially against a team like Shanghai Port, for us to compete was really pleasing.” Jacko said.
“It’s about building momentum, like last season it’s about understanding what we need to do and sticking to our processes. I think we’ve shown signs that we’re getting stronger and stronger after every game.
“After the Melbourne Victory game, we spoke about how we can be better in attack, how we can create more opportunities and that was apparent against Shanghai, we were a lot better with the ball.
“We have recovered and prepared well”
“A lot of the players and staff have experienced [the travel] last season. We have to recover from these games well, we won’t work the boys too hard [on Friday] so we’ll be tactically and physically ready for Adelaide.” Jacko said.
“We’ll train before we travel, a light session but still working the lads to enhance the team and individuals. We’ll be ready for the game coming up.
“It’s always a tough game at Coopers Stadium, it will be a good atmosphere for their first game, they’ll be up for it and feel fresh and raring to go and maybe trying to catch us after our travel but we have prepared and recovered well. The boys are fit and strong and we’re looking to take the positivity from the Shanghai performance forward.” Jacko said.
👏 Praise for Bradley Tapp
“I don’t like talking about individuals but we’re pleased with how he has transitioned [to centre back]. We see something in Tappy to play in that position, especially his composure on the ball being a midfield player.” Jacko explained.
“He showed that in the lead up to Nico Duarte’s goal, his composure to stay on the ball and see that pass.”
“But other players, Nathan Paull and Diesel Herrington, are fighting for that place, it’s just at a particular time I pick a team and Tappy has done well there.”
“There has been a lot of standout performances from the players so like always we will focus on the collective rather than individuals.” Jacko said.
