Following our hard-fought goalless draw with Carolina Core FC that extended our unbeaten streak to five matches, Head Coach Chris Nugent answered questions from media.
Nugent was asked about the performance overall, managing playing three matches in one week, Eldin Jakupović's leadership and much more.
Here's everything he had to say:
on the entirety of the performance against Carolina Core FC on Sunday afternoon:
"I thought we put in a good performance and limited the quality of chances they could create. We had a lot of good quality shots that we would hope we would finish. We missed some somewhat decent chances, which can happen. I told the team that I'd rather we come out of this game feeling like this than after the first playoff game in October. I was pleased with how we played. We stuck to the plan and made it difficult for the opponent. We got in good positions, and I think with a little more confidence around the goal we would've got one or two more shots off either half and that could've impacted the game."
on the reason behind Nathan Koehler being substituted out at half-time:
"We've got three games in eight days. We're trying to get as many points as we can. You never know what kind of results the league will deliver. He was injured the last time we played Core, so we have to be smart getting him back in. We have one eye on the playoffs as well as this being a key preparation period for us. It's the same for a few other guys. We need to get their fitness and balance everything with all the travelling and the games coming up."
on other positives he saw from the performance:
"We had more of the ball, which is a good thing. I do like having possession. I don't think we need to have 70% possession, but it's nice to have a bit more of it. We weren't really under pressure for long periods of the game. They had little windows of momentum. We were able to adjust and when they adapted their press we were able to find the pass inside. When they made a change for that, we were able to exploit them in the wide areas a little bit. It was positive that we were seeing the pictures and adjusting to it on the field. We got key players in good positions, which is another big factor and the confidence will come as well for the forwards."
on the amount of opportunities created and specifically the performance of Yuval Cohen:
"He was excellent. His hold-up play was very good and he made it difficult for a good center-back. He occupied him a lot, which opened up a lot of space for Danny [Mangarov], Anthony [Garcia] and Keegan [Ancelin] in the second half as well. His willingness to press and to fight and get on the ball was huge for us. We know he can score goals. The good thing is when good forwards aren't scoring, there's a ton of goals to balance it out, so he may be hitting form at just the right time. He scored an excellent penalty as well in the shootout, so I was really pleased with that."
on Eldin Jakupović's performance and the security he provides to the team:
"It's huge. The secret of coaching is having good players (laughs). That really is the secret. Having good players that can come up big in key moments—we've relied on Eldin more than maybe we'd all like at certain times, but that's football. There's going to be times when key players are all over the field, whether it's a center-back, center midfielder or a forward and they step up. That's the key thing about having a good team. When we're maybe not perfect all over the field, we have key players who step up and make big plays. He's experienced and he takes care of himself. He looks after himself correctly throughout the week, he prepares in the right ways, so it's full credit to him for coming out here, throwing himself about and being committed to playing at the level he is."
on Farid Sar-Sar's consistency—the only other player with Eldin to have played every minute this season—and the leadership and stability he brings to the team:
"Similar to Eldin—it's his professionalism that stands out. I've always been high on Farid ever since we got him in during the off-season two years ago. He's passionate. He cares. He drives the team around him. His ability on the ball is at a high level. He can play on the left or right side. I don't think he always gets credit for that—we forget that he's not naturally left-footed when we do see him on that side. His ability to help us build out, recognize some of the pressure and the old-fashioned, throwing yourself in defending; he loves that side of the game. It's huge to have those two at the center of our defence back there."
on managing the squad and preparation time with two away games in the space a week:
"Rest and recovery—hopefully the guys are heading to bed now and they sleep until tomorrow afternoon. We're fortunate that it's a local trip on Wednesday, which will help in not spending too much time in an airport. We want to try and win every game. That's always going to be the plan. We also want to put ourselves in a good position for playoffs, whether it's individuals with how they fit or the form they're coming in or us as a collective team. There will be some rotation, some rotation may come later than others—I don't want to field a team that I don't think will give us a chance of winning, so we've got to make sure we always do that. I also wouldn't want to lower the integrity of the league by not playing games competitively just because we're already in the playoffs. We know that we can finish anywhere from second to eighth place potentially depending on results, so the better situation we can put ourselves in, the better it will work. We will rest and recover best we can and take one game at a time. We had this earlier in the year when we had three games in seven days as well. The guys managed it well and we had some good performances there, so this will be no different."
on the team's five-match unbeaten streak and the aim for having momentum heading into the playoffs:
"We know every point is valuable in this league, especially in this league where you get the bonus point. It's very hard to judge results and outcomes in other matches, so you never know who is going to beat who. The plan is to win. We want to get more points than we had last year. We want to finish higher up and potentially get a home playoff game. You never know what's going to happen no matter which position you're in the table.
