Match Review
Well done all to those who turned up yesterday (esp. Gordon and Andy, who were ill/recovering from illness and Shiuy, who was carrying a toe injury) - we mustered 7 player at the end and put up a real fight. The final score was 0-3 (we lost to Sierra Leone) but that is totally misleading. We started the match at 7:40, and it was still 0-0 at 8:40. It was unfortunate that we lost a late goal, and because we had to chase an equaliser, we lost another two quick goals. Our defence was rock solid, and we all worked very hard to track our men. Special mention to Chris and Patrick especially for tracking men very closely and never gave up. We made a lot of interceptions, espcially Chris in anticipating passes. We made it very difficult for them, and really they didn't have much goal opportunities in the first hour. We had a few very good chances throughout the match (esp. a couple late in the game when Neil made his typical dashes late in the game, I think Shiuy had at least one 1-on-1 and Andy had a good volley opportunity), but again we were not able to finish clinically. Gordon had a good game and made few (usual by his standard now) heroic 1-on-1 saves, but I thought it was his reading of the game (i.e. quick thinking to dash out of goal to cut/intercept plays) that made the impression. I felt had we got another sub - especially a player who can control the play and take the ball up and/or an in-form striker, we would have either drew the match or won the game - the team who scored first would have taken the game I think. It was that close and we felt this team was beatable. They are a good side, but certainly not at the same level as Spain/France/Peru. Let's aim to beat them in the final round.
The side note is that it is really great to see we really do have the fighting spirit and never gave up. We are improving in many areas - tracking-back, communication (calling for the ball/taking ownership of marking/calling man-on etc.), even attacking plays are improving though it is clear that this is the area we need to work on most. Final round starts next week and we are on level points with Nauru and Taiwan (equal 5th). We are well positioned to fight for 5th place (i.e. the crown in the "lower league").
Man of the match - Chris (a.k.a. makelele) for stepping up a gear on this game. Excellent work rate and truck loads of steals/interceptions.
Patrick deserves a special mention too for excellent work rate as well and also for coming to the match to rescue the rest of the squad. You made a huge difference. It is quite clear that Patrick is comfortable with the size of the pitch. Great all-round play.
Squad 1. Nick 2. Chris 3. Andy 4. Gordon 5. Shiuy 6. Neil 7. Patrick
What we did well?
1. Defensive play was exceptional. I don't recall they had any open goal opporunties as we marked them very tightly, and even if we were beaten one-on-one on dribble, we either tracked back to recover or had another player to cover. We anticipated many of their passes and intercepted. Very very few defensive errors (whether individually or as a team).
2. We created good chances. Especially later in the game when we made more through-passes and had the forwards holding the ball to wait for support (rather than go alone for a speculative shot).
What we could do better?
1. Finishing needs more practice.
2. Ball control (esp in air)/dribbling still need more work again. We lost most high balls - we either need a lot more practice/experience or perhaps we should making these passes. When we boot the ball up, we can try to keep the lower and towards the corners (or even hit against the wall).All comments/suggestions welcomed.
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