GAME 5: COACH's CORNER

FIRST WIN OF SEASON REVEALS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

The Baron Says:

There's nothing sweeter than a hard earned win. It builds lost confidence, and gives hope where the gut check fails. Well done gentlemen...this game was well deserved!

Laurels:
- there was much more communication
- there was more controlled defending
- there was more controlled movement
- there was confidence in leading an attack
- lots of quality shots on net

Darts:
- substitution was not where it should be (2 min max!)
- our defending was still not where it should be (some players avoided defending)
- some of you looked lost during certain plays (?why?)

Summary:
We deserved to win by 5 or more goals. The opposing net minder was truly an inspiration to behold. He robbed us of what should have been a rout. Their goal was simple bad luck for us.

OUR COMING PLANS
Formation:
3-3-0 stays.

Executing Play
I want each of you to feel comfortable running attacks up field, whether defender or midfielder.
We played excellent counter attack football.
We make all efforts to defend...including forwards! Everyone must cover the play to ensure that the opposing team cannot score.
On kick ins, we arrange ourselves for the run at the net. Same for ANY set piece play.
Our guys should be ready to accept the goal kick offering.
If they attack...defend...defend...DEFEND. We should have six men clogging their play, challenging them physically, and looking for the counter attack.

Examples of great play:
Example 1:
Red came down the side. Baron cut off the ball carrier. The ball carrier sends one to an open man. Abe was there to challenge and take the ball from the Red player.
It could have very easily been a goal, but Abe had presence of mind to shift from forward to defense. This saved our momentum and almost led to a goal!

Example 2:
Tyler has the ball after some swift minded defending. He decides that he has a run. Justin is an option which Tyler takes. Peter and Mark close the defense, so Tyler shifts his position to attacker. He declares himself open to Justin, accepts the easy pass and nails one into the twine.
In this case Tyler went with his gut, used some smarts and led us to our first goal. He used communication to let Justin know where he was, and then took the shot. That's smart counter attacking!

Final Words:
Not every game is going to be this easy. Each man should take one thing they did wrong and learn from it. Improve! Each failure should make you a better player...not worse.
Thanks guys, for a job well done.

STATS:
Justin (A)
Tyler (G)
Jeremy (GWG)
Tyler (A)
Justin (G)

NET:
Ross (1-0-4) AVG: 6.00

Man of the Match
Tyler

GAME 4 : COACH's CORNER

ANOTHER LOSS, BUT A LOT OF LEARNING

Guys, here's my breakdown for the game:

The Good:
A lot of you were giving your best. You hustled, you played hard, and you didn't give up.

The Bad:
Lack of Communication. All the great effort went to waste, because no one was talking on field. On the bench you guys were like old friends.

The Ugly:
Substitutions were horribly done. People were waiting on the bench for minutes on end. Not only is this not fair, its disrespectful to your fellow team mates.

PLANS FOR NEXT GAME

Here are some improvements that we'll institute next game.

No positional subbing
By this point you should know your comfort zone. I want to allow people to move around. We need to shake things up. So I'm not designating players for positions except on the opening halves. Let's see what you can do.
Subbing was horrible. I had to wait seven minutes before I called someone off. You should be changing every 2-3 minutes. Another player I won't mention was off 10 minutes.

Formation:
3-3-0
Listen...I want to give us some leeway in deciding when to attack and defend.
In this formation, the Defenders act as defense (obviously) when the opponent presses. They switch to mid field on the attack.
Midfielders act as midfielders on the defense. They switch to forwards during the attack.

Passing:
One bad thing we're doing is not following the ball carrier.
When someone has the ball, I want there to be atleast two players to accept the easy pass.
For example:
Peter brings the ball up the side. Scott follows him to the side, keeping open for a pass. Anders assumes a position ahead. Baron slips behind for the option. It's simple. It's what we should be doing.

Communication:
Starting this game, start working on your verbal skills. Let players know if they're free and clear. If there's an opponent coming. If you're open.
So, adding to our passing story above.

The opponents are crashing our net!
Baron yells to Scott to cover a man. Ross notices an incoming and yells to Baron to cover the middle. Pass intercepted!
Pete yells to Baron that he's open. Baron passes and follows behind. Scott runs to the side, indicating that he's open. Anders fills in the front and says he's open. Pete passes to Anders. Abe and Chris are in the centre. Scott and Pete become Anders' options. Baron stays back to defense. Now Anders has a plethora of avenues. Does he lob it into the centre for a header to the twine, or does he pass to Scott for a blister?

OVERALL POINTS
Guys, we need to practice this every game. These very principles are what our own opponents are using against us.

IDEA
We need to practice more as a team, in a less competitive environment. I'm thinking that we should gather who we can and attend the free times at the Civic. Play as a team and practice. I'll get some times and let you know what's available.

STATS:
Anders (PK)
Scott (A)
Justin (G)

NET:
Ross (0-0-4) AVG: 6.75

Man of the Match
TBD

SUPERSTAR RETURNS SUNDAY

FANS ARE "REVVED" AT JUSTIN's RETURN

Justin's Back after his European Tour!

"Mix a couple of Abes in, a few Anders, maybe a Baron and that's just the beginning of how cool I am," taunted Justin, who will make his first appearance as a guest midfielder this Sunday.
"I'm Super Star J! I run this SH-T! I instantly give your team a real chance to win and some credibility!"

In previous years, the former all star had won the golden pear, and was instrumental in making the Spartan name a household mechansim.

"I really don't care who he is," replied Pete in a pre-shower interview," but I hope he wears pants. I'm tired of players thinking they can score without pants."

The Baron was enthused about the reunion of the two old friends.
"J is probably one of the most electrifying elements in professional football today. His only weakness is an open net. He's 0 and 79 with those. But on gritty and beautiful shots that hit the twine, he's second to none."

After an amiable split post Spartan Outdoor disaster, the two friends have attempted to come to terms with J's total awesomeness.

As Captain of his co-ed team, J has trounced the opposition, and left any pretenders long in the dust.
"Adding women to a team gets the juices flowing," advised the master of football trix," and that's why my team is better."

Others were not so certain, including Anders who is on a one game point streak.
"J is just distracting," confirmed the young midfielder," after all, who can play with all those cameras flashing and women screaming. At one point we had a guy run on the field and try to dry hump his leg."

"I take that all in stride," finalized the Baron." It's a game for the fans, and we're looking for the up!"

COACH's CORNER

THIRD GAME REVEALED MUCH ABOUT THE TEAM!

Guys,

We're coming close now to finding our niche. Each loss has been analyzed and sorted.

Weaknesses:
The most glaring weakness is our defense.

We're not covering the man. Out of the 18 goals scored against us, only three were quality goals. The rest were passes to a man that was wide open and uncovered. A simple guarding of open men would have cut down the goals against!

Remember that the goalie will worry about the ball. Our job in defense is to guard a man and make sure that there's no shot on net!

The mid fielders should be participating in the defending of the net. The only guy that shouldn't be near the net is our forward, who should be skulking about, shaking his shadows and preparing for a quick pass to launch at the net.

Strengths:
The mid fielders and forwards are starting to get the hang of short passes and hitting the net. This is a big improvement from last year. We're taking shots, quality shots, and operating better with each game.

Subbing:
I'm a little concerned about subbing.

If you're on for more than 2-3 minutes you aren't working your potential.

I want to see better work in this regard. Don't let your team mates down.

This Week:
We will try a 3-2-1 formation.

Emphasis on stopping the enemy from hitting our net.

Mid fielders should be ready for a quick counter attack.

The forward should move around and keep in their end for a quick pass...keep yourself open at all times!

STATS:
Kyle (A)
Abe (G)
Anders (A)
Scott (G)
Jeremy (A)
Scott (G)

NET:
Ross (0-0-3) AVG: 6.00

Man of the Match:
Abe

GAME TWO: COACHES CORNER

3 - 2 LOSS REVEALS IMPROVEMENT!

Guys, this team we played was very good. They knew how to pass, shoot and play. In fact, they were better than the team last week.

Here's our breakdown:

Laurels:
- we did less on the dump and chase. It's still a problem, but I think that we're making progress.
- we were defending better. We're still not there, but atleast there's improvement.

Darts:
- we weren't following the play with open men; the ball carrier had no easy pass
-  there's no communication on field -- you guys should be knowing names by now!

Causes for Concern:
- some players were operating while gassed. If you can't keep up with the play, it's time to sub. Plain and simple.

Plans for Next Game:
We're going to try a 2-2-2. We may move people around as time permits. The focus will be to find a formation that works for our team.

STATS:
Abe (PK)
Scott (A)
Jeremy (G)

NET:
Ross (0-0-2) AVG: 4.5

Man of the Match:
TBD