MR U10s Silver NL 2023/24 Team (Market Road league) - Alpha football intelligence
A shame to lose of course, but with a positive take home of a significant improvement in how we played from the first half to the second half.
Facing a much larger team, we started off making consistently weak tackles with no commitment to any duel. This was greatly improved in the second half, winning a superb amount of tackles with great bravery and aggression.
The scoreline doesn't reflect the chances created though. There were some fantastic wide-runs and balls won in the opposition half which offered us enough goal-scoring chances. We created more than enough to get a result out of that game, and will work on finishing in the coming weeks, to better our chance conversion going forwards.
The biggest areas for improvement that were present through both halves were fitness and build up play.
Fitness: players from start to finish were not able to close down their opponent with the necessary sprint pace. Neither was tracking back at all sufficient, with many players deciding against returning to their position throughout, because of tiredness. Moreover, attacking players were unable to maintain what could be a superb dribble down the wing, because they ran out of energy after the first man beaten. I would appreciate if parents can prepare their players of the fact that we will be incorporating fitness into our training, until we can reach a suitable level.
Build up often led to dangerous chances being conceded. It is crucial to use the width and secondarily the midfielder, to move the ball forwards. In the event that a player decides that it's necessary to attempt a clearance or kicking the ball out, it has to happen with enough power to land the ball out of the danger areas. We will also be working on building out from the back in training.
With regards to a comment from one of the parents after the match, about the players positions: please be aware that we had to adapt to the fact that we had 3 players being registered incorrectly on the morning of the match, and more importantly, had 7 players - with over half being registered as attacking players, and only one defensive player, who wanted to play in midfield. It is not possible for me to accommodate all players in their ideal positions for the entire match, when I have 5 wingers/strikers. I will continue to do my best to ensure the team is set up, to the best of my knowledge of the players, in the way that is most productive for the players' development, the team development, and finally the outcome of the match. Your trust and support with this would be much appreciated.
I urge you all to communicate the points in this match report to your boys, and to continue to ensure they are correctly registered in as much advance as is possible.
Do also feel free to message me privately with any questions or concerns as they come up. I am always keen to hear and adress your thoughts.
