Mariners playing Suwon Bluewings in the ACL whether we like it or not!

Regardless of the reason they are there, all A League fans should be supporting Central Coast Mariners on Wednesday night when they open their Asian Champions League (ACL) 2013 campaign at Bluetongue stadium against K-League giants Suwon Bluewings.

There has been plenty of talk about whether the Brisbane Roar or Central Coast Mariners should be the beneficiary of the one automatic place in the ACL given to the A League by the Asian Football Confederation. For what it’s worth, I have two offerings to the issue of ACL places.

1.            I believe the Premiership is the main objective of the A-League (for me)

2.            I believe a cup system should replace the current finals system and Grand Final with an FFA Cup.

No-one has to agree with these views. They are simply how I believe it should be. Australian sporting traditionalists will say you sort out the competition on Grand Final day. Football traditionalists say the opposite. I say replace the current finals with an FFA Cup which in time could be evolved to include lower leagues in a classic English FA Cup style scenario. I do not believe it is necessary to hold finals and a Grand Final just because Aussies are familiar with this. In fact I believe this is a point of differentiation for football and that there should be no major concern about any conflicts with the commencement of the other codes seasons. We should not be afraid to compete with them anymore.

Aside from all of that and without wanting to focus on those teams who missed out on an ACL opportunity, isn’t it nice that the team which has positioned itself best in our current A-League competition is now representing us? I believe the Mariners are probably the only team right now with a true chance to use past experience and current form to have an impact in the ACL competition.

Anyway, the Mariners are in it. They’re the A-League’s representatives and all A-League fans should be hopeful they can perform well and do us and our competition proud on the Asian stage. I certainly follow other A-League clubs matches when they play in the ACL competition.

K-League side Suwon Samsung Bluewings arrived in Australia on Sunday and I understand trained at the Mariner’s Centre of Excellence Monday in preparation for Wednesday’s match. With a long list of successes including four K-League titles and three Korean FA Cups the Bluewings are a quality team with plenty of individuals who can hurt their rivals. After finishing fourth in this year’s K-League Suwon were admitted to the ACL when Pohang Steelers won the FA Cup and also finished third in the K-League – both the Cup winner and the top three K-League sides being admitted to the ACL.

Bluewings are coached by club playing legend and one time assistant coach Seo Jung-won. Fans might recall him having scored against the Socceroos in matches in 1990 and 1993. The team’s stars include former top J-League striker Jong Tae-se who helped DPR Korea reach the 2010 World Cup Finals. His size and strength both in the air and on the ground will be something for the Mariners to watch out for. Macedonian International Stevica Ristic “Stevo”, who I seem to remember visited Bluetongue Stadium previously with Pohang Steelers a few years back, will be a handful for the Mariners once again.

For the Mariners, this is the part of the season where we have to call on all our resources and experience to try and make a dent in the ACL while balancing our prospects of retaining our Premiership. No easy task
indeed. Graham Arnold has already hinted that some of the older players might be rested after their energy sapping performances in Saturday night’s terrible conditions. Some of the possible options include Zac Anderson, Anthony Caceres, Brent Griffiths, Adriano Pellegrino and Hayden Morton. All of whom have proven they can do a job in Arnie’s system of play.

After Saturday night’s demolition of Melbourne Victory the squad will be confident and I’m hopeful our game plan better suits this year’s tournament than our previous attempts. Regardless of who takes the field, we know the players have been equipped to do the job the team requires so we shouldn’t be too concerned about selection rotations. Our other advantage will be in playing at our fortress Bluetongue. Having not lost at Bluetongue this year, we go into the match full of expectation that we can apply the required pressure to our opponents and get the result we need.

I think the Mariners can spring somewhat of an upset and get away with the three points on Wednesday night. My prediction: – Mariners by 1

Google+