New Central Coast Mariners defensive recruit Eddy Bosnar has been cleared to make his Hyundai A-League debut for the Club after the Mariners received his International Transfer Clearance (ITC) on Friday afternoon.
New Central Coast Mariners defensive recruit Eddy Bosnar has been cleared to make his Hyundai A-League debut for the Club after the Mariners received his International Transfer Clearance (ITC) on Friday afternoon.
Mariners boss Phil Moss has been impressed by Bosnar-s impact on the training track and in the dressing room since the former Suwon Bluewings, JEF United Chiba and Dinamo Zagreb man arrived at the Club last Saturday.
With his ITC now received, Moss said Bosnar will play some role when the Mariners host Kevin Muscat-s Melbourne Victory in a crunch Hyundai A-League clash at Gosford-s Central Coast Stadium on Saturday.
“He-ll (Bosnar) be involved for sure,” Moss said. “Whether I start him or bring him off the bench I am not 100 per cent sure yet, I-ll wait until tomorrow.”
“He-s certainly looked the part this week – his experience, his presence, he-s just been a magnificent acquisition inside the dressing room and on the pitch as well.”
“He hasn-t played 90 minutes for a while now but certainly he-s kept himself in great nick and he-s got through everything asked of him this week – he-s come out the other side feeling fresh and good.”
Bosnar has a reputation for thunderous free kicks, and Moss confirmed the ex-Sturm Graz and Shimizu S-Pulse man has been practicing his strong set piece strikes during his first week with the yellow and navy with a view to making an instant impact infront of his new fans.
“He lined a few balls up yesterday and there were a few boys that had already gone in for a shower,” Moss said. “They heard that he was lining a few up so they poked their heads out the dressing room door again to have a look. He was striking them very well, so I think there will be a few opposition defensive walls that might be shaking in their boots over the coming rounds.”
While the Mariners are still waiting on attacking midfielder Kim Seung-yong-s ITC to land, Moss confirmed that Kim, as well as the Club-s other recruits -Bosnar, Isaka Cernak, Glen Trifiro and Matt Sim – had fitted in well this week.
“We are still waiting for the paperwork but he-s (Kim) fit and ready to go so if we get the seal of approval overnight there is a big chance he will be involved,” Moss said. “He has trained very well this week, particularly in the back end of the week once he got over the travel and everything.”
“He-s settled in very well, he-s very happy, as is Eddy Bosnar and all the new players. They-ve come in and they know it-s all about the team and not the individual.”
“The intensity and the quality at training has lifted a good four or five notches since the new faces have arrived which is natural – it-s exactly what I wanted to create, real competition for places.”
“Anyone who was in a slight comfort zone has been well and truly shaken out of that this week,” he said.
Moss knows Melbourne Victory, who currently sit one spot behind the Mariners in fourth place on the Hyundai A-League 2013/14 ladder, pose a significant threat to any team in the competition.
But, with his side feeling confident following their strong start to 2014, Moss knows his men can get the job done against Muscat-s charges.
“There are certainly areas that we feel we can exploit but they are a very dangerous side particularly on the counter attack and in transition to attack,” Moss said. “They get quite a few bodies behind the ball defensively and when they break you down they break on you very quickly.”
“We have to be smart with the ball, we-ve got to be patient with the ball. But when we get the chance to hurt them we have got to take full advantage. The way the boys have moved the ball around at training this week has been first class.”
“We-re very confident because we-re at home and we know we play very good football here. I think we got a lot of confidence out of last week pushing Brisbane all the way to the 94th minute.”
“To do that away from home against the best team in the comp this year after the 48 hours we had losing (Daniel) McBreen and (Trent) Sainsbury, I think we gained a lot of confidence out of that.”
“We know that if we-re on our game defensively we-re a very hard team to beat and that-s what you need at the back end of the season and going into Asia,” he concluded.
Central Coast Mariners Squad vs. Melbourne Victory: 1.Justin PASFIELD (Gk), 3.Joshua ROSE, 4.Marcel SEIP, 5.Zachary ANDERSON, 7.John HUTCHINSON (C), 9.Mitchell DUKE, 11.Nick FITZGERALD, 12.Liam REDDY (Gk), 15.Storm ROUX, 17.Anthony CACERES, 19.Matt SIMON, 20.Bernie IBINI, 21.Mile STERJOVSKI, 22.Tom SLATER, 25.Eddy BOSNAR, 26.Kim SEUNG-YONG, 27.Isaka CERNAK, 29.Matt SIM **two to be omitted**
Ins: 25.Eddy BOSNAR, 26.Kim SEUNG-YONG (pending ITC), 27.Isaka CERNAK (new signing), 29.Matt SIM (new signing)
Outs: 6.Brent GRIFFITHS (groin – 1 week), 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (suspended – 1 week)
Unavailable: 6.Brent GRIFFITHS (groin – 1 week), 8.Nick MONTGOMERY (suspended – 1 week), 10.Marcos FLORES (knee – season), 14.Michael MCGLINCHEY (on loan – Vegalta Sendai) 18.Michael NEILL (knee – season), 23.Adam KWASNIK (knee – season)
Central Coast Mariners vs. Melbourne Victory – Hyundai A-League 2013/14 Round 18
Saturday 8 February 2014
Central Coast Mariners Stadium, Gosford
Gates Open: 4:30pm
Kick Off: 5:30pm
Tickets: Please CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the match
Twitter: Join the match conversation on Twitter! The official match hashtag is #CCMvMVC! Use #SuperheroSaturday too!
