Can Central Coast be 'good' if they don't score?

Daniel De Silva still has faith in his Central Coast squad ahead of their clash against Adelaide, despite their lack of goals this season.

He states that his side plays very good football, however, they often lack the cutting edge.

De Silva’s statement might be true, as the Mariners have some very good lead up play, but some people find it puzzling how a ‘team’ can be ‘very good’ if they often miss their opportunities.

Central Coast are currently last, with a tricky clash against the fourth-placed Adelaide United, which they have lost their last three encounters against, by only one goal.

Fortunately for them, Adelaide have the lowest conversion rate in the A-League, (10 per cent), despite scoring more goals (22). However, the reason that Adelaide are fourth despite struggling to score goals is because they have only conceded 23 so far.

Does this mean that the Mariners’ defence has a responsibility for the Mariners sitting ninth, not only blaming the offense?

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Despite sitting tenth on the table, not everything has gone for the Mariners. The Mariners played some fantastic football in their past two encounters against Sydney FC, and deserved two better results than they were credited for.

They also thrashed Wellington 4-1 in a dominant display against the bottom team, as well as Daniel De Silva and Blake Powell doing a fantastic one-two, meaning Central Coast were deservedly victorious against Perth Glory, 1-0.

That one-two was in Round 9, however, and Central Coast hasn’t been able to win a game since then. Besides, Daniel De Silva has been less effective since November.

However, Central Coast’s midfield is a place which has a lot of depth, with experienced Wout Brama, Tom Hiariej, Connor Pain and Andrew Hoole, and with more young, inexperienced and talented Liam Rose, Daniel De Silva, Adam Berry, Lachlan Wales.

Up the front there used to be four players who could play as a central forward, Kwabena Appiah, Asdrubal Padron, Josh Bingham or Blake Powell, with none delivering much.

However, the sudden departures of Appiah and Asdrubal left only Josh Bingham and Blake Powell as central strikers and new signing, Peter Skapetis, and two of the three haven’t delivered.