Not much to say here; got our asses whooped by Windsor 9-0. Really shocked we were blown out like this, but, in the end, I guess I should remember that they are a bunch of 11-year olds and things, like a snowball going downhill, can continue to roll a long way and get a lot bigger before it coasts to a stop.
Suzanne gave up on photos pretty early in this debacle. I do have video (lots of video) and actually watched all nine goals over again. Didn’t find a whole lot to tell Matthew as words-of-wisdom; did point out one or two things his teammates did that ZI hope to never see him do.
As you might expect, a 9-0 ass-whupping did get a whole lot of “Coach Stu Says”
Email: Well that was a strange weekend! At this age when you don't focus on the winning but focus on the performance you sometimes are going to have a bad day, we just had a very bad day! I don't hide behind player development when we lose as that is simply not fair, we just were not at our best on Sunday and made mistakes that we must learn from.
For me the biggest teaching moments were:
1. Possession vs Penetration. In the first half there was no possession and all penetration. This lead to us losing the ball and constantly being unbalanced. The second half it was all possession and no penetration. The boys are starting to understand what I want but I think they were so shell shocked from the first half they just kept the ball for keepings sake. There needs to be more purpose to our play!
2. Defensive Shape: When to step and when to drop. We made too many mistakes defensively today to overcome against a fast team!
3. Communication. We did not communicate as well as I we needed too.
4. Head Dropping: I know it was hard, it was for me too! But we must remember "its not how you fall but how you get back up!"
5. Intensity levels: A few of the boys suggested that we where not as focused as much as usual and I have noticed a few players intensity levels in training dropping recently! I have told them that there is a no tolerance for the rest of the season. Training must be harder then game day and we must make it more competitive.
Overall I actually think it was good for the boys to get knocked down a peg or nine to get refocused. Practice was intense last night and we will address the above points tonight when I have a full squad. I also want to apologize for the display. There were several things I need to do better with the boys to get them playing the style we want while not being prone to the mistakes we made this weekend! It was a great Saturday and not so good Sunday so I will refocus the boys and we will do well this weekend I am sure!
Game Report:
| 1ST HALF SUMMARY |
| We started off ok with some good wing and full back play to try to create 2v1’s on the outside. However when we played the ball back to the fullbacks we rushed our crosses. These lead to the first goal where we were counter attacked on. We proceeded to lose the ball in key areas of the field and were unbalanced and this made it very easy for the opposition to create good chances against us! They played good 5-10 yard passes and drew us out and then played around us. This nearly always came from us losing the ball in the middle of the field which led to them having more numbers then us in areas of the field and exploiting that! We conceded a few poor goals where both center-backs stepped and they got in behind us and we just never really got into the game until 4 minutes before half time. Until then everything was long and there was no purpose to our passing! |
| 2ND HALF SUMMARY |
| We talked at the half about the boys showing more, passing to feet and trying to pass our way up the field with quick 10 yard passes. And just for a moment we looked good. We moved the ball around well to create opening on the outside but the final ball was always too slow and we had to start again and we eventually got picked off and conceded again. The boys knocked the ball around well and the checking to show for the ball was good but everything was in our half. There must be more PURPOSE to our play! When the opposition ‘steps’ on us we must try to find the penetrating ball and expose our greater numbers up the field! There wasn’t a lot of purpose to our play in this half and too often we kept the ball for keeping sake! We didn’t move as a team and the units didn’t really connect well. |
| OVERALL |
| Well I never expected that to happen to this team! The Canadian team is a very good team but we could be better them. We just didn’t play to our strengths in either half. We gave away the ball too much in the first half and conceded 4 goals that I would expect us to stop. We over played it in the second half and there was no urgency to break down the opposition! We kept the ball for keeping sake for the most part and although players were demanding the ball there was no thought of the next pass. |
| Goalkeeper: Tough day, made some good saves but must be more off your line to deny through balls and not get down too early in game after conceding! These are the games you should want to be in because you are being worked more! |
| Defenders: Not a great day. Too many silly mistakes with and with out the ball! We will address the concept that when one goes other drops as that cant happen again! |
| Midfielders: Just didn’t do enough with the ball today. The second half was much better at getting on the ball but everything went backwards when there was time to turn! |
| Forwards: Again didn’t create enough but I the service was poor today! Need to make things happen for your selves more in games where things are not going well! |
