'Mentality' lost the Premiers Plate

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Fragile ... Central Coast have seen the Premiers' Plate slip from their grasp in recent weeks. Source: Dean Lewins / AAP

So, who is happy that there's a finals series now?

With Central Coast Wanderers five points adrift of the Western Sydney Wanderers' juggernaut, Graham Arnold's attention will likely have to turn to the A-League finals series – a format he hasn't been shy to criticise – for a shot at silverware this season.

Arnold declared the Premiers' Plate run and won after his side's loss to Sydney FC - the first time his Mariners side have lost back-to-back games since he joined the club – saying Wanderers have "two hands on the trophy".

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His side's trough has coincided with the side's arduous AFC Champions League campaign and whispers questioning whether the side has the killer instinct to get the job done when the pressure is on.

All of a sudden, Arnold is also throwing the gauntlet down to his players, after a lethargic performance against Sydney FC – their second loss to the Sky Blues this term.

"Probably the biggest disappointment was we lost the fight, the battle. You'd think we'd want it more than Sydney, but that wasn't the case," Arnold said after the game.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Western Sydney	24	16	2	6	15	50
2	Central Coast	24	13	6	5	22	45
3	Victory	24	12	4	8	3	40
4	Adelaide	23	11	3	9	1	36
5	Sydney	24	9	3	12	-8	30
6	Newcastle	25	8	6	11	-12	30
7	Brisbane	24	8	5	11	1	29
8	Perth	24	8	4	12	-2	28
9	Heart	23	8	3	12	-2	27
10	Wellington	25	6	6	13	-18	24

"Sydney really turned up ... their home record is extremely strong.

"If anything, I'm just disappointed by the lack of leadership from senior players in those types of games, and situations."

It's been well-documented that the Mariners are the competition's perennial Mr Consistent, but who haven't got the grand final silverware to go with it. Arnold has been a vocal advocate of the Premiers Plate being the No.1 prize in Australian football – but this year, that even looks like slipping from their grasp after setting the pace for so long this season.

Is it physical? Is it mental? Is the Champions League an excuse?

"There's two sides to fatigue; physical and mental," Arnold said.

"There's signs showing me the physical side is OK.

"They could be mentally fatigued. With that comes decision making and they're doing things they don't normally do. They're turning over possession, taking time on the ball.

"That could be a reason, but they've got to be bigger and better than that. But that's international football.

"Maybe we're not mentally strong enough to handle it."

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To exacerbate the perception of 'choking', the club's horrific record in penalties was lampooned last week. That overshadowed the fact that the Mariners were actually quite unlucky in three tough matches in quick succession, just lacking a killer edge to some polished play.

Against Sydney FC, they dropped the ball. They were outplayed - and even when presented with three or four decent chances – they weren't good enough to take them.

"Mariners won't want a great season to start to fall apart," Fox Sports football expert Mark Bosnich said.

"They were exceptional in all three games last week, but today they weren't.

"They need to pick themselves up and their mentality is very important."

Arnold wasn't completely displeased with the performance - but wonders where the finished product has gone.

"We found the spaces easily, got into good areas easily, we just lacked that final punch in front of goal."

A month ago, when the Mariners were the top dogs, Fox Sports football expert Gary Phillips told foxsports.com.au he feared that in the big games, the Mariners might lack the x-factor.

As we reach the business end of the season, is that prediction coming to fruition?

"While they're a very good unit, when it comes to a semi-final or a final, you need special players. While they've got very good players there, I'm not sure they've the special ones to win the championship," Phillips said at the time.

So how can a fatigued Mariners revive that killer instinct? Will be it be youth? Will it be the underdog tag? Or have the Mariners run their race?

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This time around, it's Arnold's turn to play the mind games to try and conjure some late season pressure on the Wanderers.

"The  pressure is definitely on them.

"There's nothing better than being in front; a test of character and mentality to withstand the pressure of being in front. Last year we were in front for 20 of the 27 weeks, this year, for 16 of the 22.

"Combining two competitions isn't easy. (Especially when FFA squads are restricted to) 23 players, and we've got three season ending injuries, which makes it tough.

"You don't want to use it as an excuse.

"Look at where we were two weeks ago before the ACL started, now it's made it a lot tougher."

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