Zenon Caravella says he’s pleased with the progress the Jets have made in terms of building chemistry and cohesion.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets midfielder Zenon Caravella says he-s pleased with the progress the Jets have made in terms of building chemistry and cohesion within the squad this pre-season.
Caravella played 60 minutes in the Jets- 3-0 trial match win over Sydney Olympic at Belmore Sports Ground on Tuesday night.
With Newcastle playing a 4-3-3 formation, the former Adelaide United player teamed up with Ben Kantarovski and Ruben Zadkovich in the heart of the Jets- midfield.
Caravella said he was pleased with the Jets- performance against the NSW NPL 1 side.
“I think the combinations are starting to come and we-ve been working on that at training a lot and now it-s just about getting more familiarity with each other-s game,” Caravella said.
“It feels like the team is really gelling and we-ve still got a lot of games to come before the start of the season.”
The Jets have also implemented a 3-4-3 system at different points during the pre-season and Caravella said the squad is comfortable using either formation.
“They-re two completely different systems,” Caravella said.
“I-m more used to playing with a back four myself, but we can play with a back three because we-ve definitely got the players to do it.
“It-s just a matter of shuffling things around a little bit in the midfield and I guess it depends on who we-re playing against and what tactics Gary want to use.”
Caravella said he-s fully recovered from an achilles problem that had troubled him earlier in the pre-season.
“It was my second game of the pre-season and it was good to get more minutes under my belt,” Caravella said.
“I felt good and hopefully I can keep the momentum going.
“The Achilles feels fine. There was no pain the morning after the match, which was a good sign.
“Now it-s just a matter of getting more minutes and more load into the achilles and building it up to the season.”
Caravella said the Jets are looking forward to testing themselves against Sydney FC in another pre-season trial fixture at WIN Stadium in Wollongong on Saturday.
“We need games like this,” Caravella explained.
“It-s a good yardstick to see where we-re at five weeks out from the start of the season.
“It will be a good test for us and something that we need to get that battle hardness in our bodies by coming up against a good, strong team.”
Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Saturday, September 14
Kick-off 5.30pm
