Tiago Calvano says he felt comfortable playing as a holding midfielder in the Jets’ intra-club trial match on Wednesday.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets defender Tiago Calvano says he felt comfortable playing as a holding midfielder in the Jets- intra-club trial match at Ray Watt Oval on Wednesday morning.
Normally a central defender, Tiago played the first 30 minutes of the match at the base of the midfield with Ben Kantarovski and Ruben Zadkovich further ahead of him.
The Brazilian had some nice touches and did not look out of place in the midfield role, before being switched back into the defensive line later in the match.
“To be honest, I-ve played in that position a few times when I was younger, so it is not new for me,” Tiago said.
“I need a little bit more time there to adapt, but I feel pretty comfortable there.”
While Tiago said he was pleased with the way his partnership in the centre of defence with Josh Mitchell was progressing, he said he was happy to make the move into midfield if it would be the best option for the Jets squad.
“Josh is a good player and it-s very easy to play with him. With time we-ll get to know each other better and I think we-re going the right way,” he said.
“(Centre-back and midfield) are two different positions, but I-m here to help the team. Wherever Gary thinks it is better for the team, I will play.”
With two months to go before the start of the 2012/13 A-League season, Tiago said the Jets- preparations are well on track.
“We-ve had a lot of time to work together and now working a lot up in the front third,” he said.
“I think on Wednesday we had good connections and good combinations in the front third which was pretty good.
“It-s still a long time until the first game but I think we-re on the right track, but we still need to get better in some parts of our game and I-m sure we will do well.”