They scored very early with a straightforward approach instead - a long ball behind the defence after winning the ball in transition. This highlighted the Mariners’ strength: numbers up front upon winning the ball high. Their early pressing was very promising, and they were threatening on the counterattack. Their tight central press made it difficult for City to play out through the middle, and forced them wide, where they recovered possession. They looked best when the front four had the ball and had space to run into in between the lines, and almost punished City’s early passing (14 min (video), 15 min (video), 27 min (video). Unfortunately for the Mariners, they couldn’t work these situations into their normal build up play, and after the early spell, they were few and far between.

Another approach they used was long balls towards Jamieson, who had difficulty dealing with these balls all game and stuggled under pressure (11 min, 34 min, 37 min). Their 2nd goal came from another instance of this.

Melbourne City in Attack

The Mariners’ press was narrow and tight, meaning that City had difficulties playing through the middle. Long balls to Noone were an option, as he stayed high up by the touchline on the left. He managed to receive the ball due to the narrow press in midfield, with Griffiths playing some excellent long balls out to find him.

The most threatening play, however, came from when they lost the ball, and then proceeded to win the ball back and catch out the Mariners in transition. The Mariners being poor in transition is said quite a lot, but lets have a look more closely at what it means.

Central Coast Mariners in Transition