S&L Juniors U11 Whites - Goldsworth Park Rangers Youth U11 Grizzi
Home match on a very sunny and pleasant day. Pitch 5 condition was excellent and suited our passing/ running game. Very friendly oppo too.
We spoke before the match about putting more pressure on the ball/ oppo (rather than standing off), winning high/ loose balls by owning space under, getting our bodies behind loose balls (not just wavy feet) and importance of being goal side.
Oppo definitely had the best 15 and got one goal. We then had a period of dominance where we could have had a few, oppo then finished stronger. We may have tired as all played the full match.
One observation is these games are always winnable until the end. Franco won't mind me mentioning Liverpool's amazing 3-0 come back against AC Milan to win the Champions League (ok some time ago). We have to all believe we can win until the end and keep the team spirits high. There was a bit of unhappy walking, certainly towards the end of the game, like we had given in a bit. Even loosing is FUN! It's all football.
We certainly never looked like the second best team, all in their positions did great. Cover from midfield to defence was very good.
We had a few corners to defend and I noted great improvement. Man marking, touch tight and goal side. We looked unlikely to let goals in.
Some wavy feet to try and control balls (not defending with our bodies), we could have put more pressure on the ball at times, some dribbles we held for moments too long (when there was a pass on) and we could have made a few more runs off the ball to give passing options to team mates (especially on wings). All will make us more certain to turn these games to wins!
Notable mentions for Jack for tireless running in CAM and creating chances. Also Ronnie for a >100% improvement in game play: incl. tackles (one especially was world class) and passing (on point to team mates). We had to give Player of the Match to Prayagh as he was up and down the pitch non stop and always there for defence cover. Well done!
