Bonnyrig Dec 12 - A Game of Two Halves

Gentlemen,

we turned up to play football at Bonnyrig with some players trialling, some out injured/away but the all of you ready to perform.

What was clearly displayed, is the fact that:
1. We have the players and are capable of matching any team in the league (0-1 half time)
2. We can easily forget what we are learning and implode to disastrous effect (4-1 full time)

In short, it was a game where we displayed the best and worst of our game.

FIRST HALF
I had a brief chat with all of you before the match and it seemed that for 45 minutes you remembered and followed instructions.
You held the ball when and where you had to (for the most part), and we played within a solid shape where we pressured the opposition as a unit.

Don't get too carried away with the first half scoreline because as I remember it, it took us 15 minutes to get competitive and they missed at least three very good chances to score.

Knowing your place within the team structure and having the discipline to adhere to shape will be our main strength. This takes concentration, trust and confidence in yourself, your teammates and your coach. The defence should not play too deep, the midfield should not hold the ball too long and the strikers should not be isolated. We move and play as a unit with each player having sufficient cover and options so as to keep the opposition guessing as to what we are going to do next.

During this half, we played quick passes when they were on, we dribbled high in their half and the defenders placed themselves well to intercept passes. It all comes from the initial team effort to place the opposition under pressure from the outset, forcing loose or bad passes from them.

Strikers must close early as a unit, midfielders must take position and be alert with defenders knowing exactly where their strikers are. We did this most of the time and they had no answers. This is how we must play.

I will not go into individual performances here, but I have had a chat with you all and discussed the good and bad. Please work with me by listening, discussing and putting a strategy together which will improve your individual game for the benefit of the team.

Finally, the few real opportunities we had have to be converted. Set plays have to be aggressively used to our benefit and shooting must be quick, firm and accurate.

SECOND HALF
My failure at half-time, was that I didn't go around and emphasize how hard they were going to work to overcome us. I also didn't stress enough our need to continue pressing as a team, passing and playing as one. It only took one goal for us to change the way we were playing and totally destroy what we had.

The main problem was that unlike the first half, the defence sat too deep and the midfield did also. This isolated the strikers who reacted by dropping deeper and giving us no avenue to advance quickly. They could play unhurried passes from the back and placed us under pressure. We let them play and they took full advantage.

You must understand that when we have the ball, as often as possible, the first pass must be forward. We can break through the opposition lines more easily by leaving as many of their players as possible on the wrong side of the ball. This pass must be accurate and to feet. Players must be ready to receive and ready to move quickly into support. It's called the transition and we are working on it at training.

The worst thing I saw, was the decision individuals took to carry the ball instead of passing. We have players who can dribble, but beating three players and getting tackled by the fourth serves no purpose. Shooting too early serves no purpose. Arguing serves no purpose. We got sloppy and discipline disappeared. We paid the price.

A summary of the goals:
1st goal - too much space inside the box. The striker was facing away from goals and we should keep him that way by staying tight. Not so tight that we can be turned, just tight enough for him to offload backward.

2nd goal - classic display of players not pushing up quickly enough (to catch strikers offside), and not reading play (to see that a flick header would drop into a moving strikers path). We could have easily prevented by reacting earlier and forcing the opposition to work the ball and not just play hopeful passes (which is what they did to get the goal). It was well taken by their striker.

3rd and 4th goal - lack of concentration and our constant turnovers were too much for our defenders to cope with. This is the result of poor fitness and players following their own path rather than listening to me.

I implore you to work harder at training and work harder on your fitness. A few of you will not make the grade if you continue the way you are going and I will replace you if the team suffers. No-one is safe from expulsion. It's in your hands and I trust you will do the right thing.

Trial Match v Bonnyrig - 9am Sunday Dec 12

Guys,

the match at Bonnyrig Kicks Off at 9am. Please be there at 8am. Here is a link to the Google map page: http://www.google.com.au/maps?q=bonnyrigg+white+eagles&fb=1&gl=au&hq=white+eagles&hnear=Bonnyrigg+New+South+Wales&ie=UTF8&hl=en&view=map&cid=13210413743187656624&iwloc=A&ved=0CEcQpQY&sa=X&ei=t0EATfa0BsfykAXvsdi8Aw

We are trialing some new players and let me be quite frank. Some players will have to show their willingness to listen and play as instructed. If not, I will replace them.

Nestor

Passing and Movement

The exercise in this video you will be familiar with. It was shown at a coaching clinic with the players from NSWIS.

You will notice that they don't do everything perfectly, but they do move and anticipate to receive the ball after a few passes and not first time every time.

This means that they move and make runs, create space and options even though they may not receive the ball.

Passes are firm and not under hit.

The better moves and passes are toward the end. This shows that it takes a little time to work out how to move and play well when the game is introduced and that over time teams get it and improve.

We are capable of this and much more.

Fundamental Errors in Judgement - Loss to Bankstown

The good news is that as footballers, we have a team equipped to do what we set out to do. Individually, you have the basics which we will sharpen and add the missing ingredients. We also improved on our last outing and I expect that we will continue to do so.

What went wrong on the night?

• passing was underweight and inaccurate
• three touch instruction was not followed
• flat footed and static
• failed to move early into position or to challenge
• gave up ball trying to control ball when attacking it was the correct option
• forwards did not create space by running angles and displacing defense
• shooting was non existent due to previous point
• some players were doing too much and others not enough with the ball
• players expected to do things with the ball when the majority of the work is done without the ball
• switching of play was too slow

What went right?

• we attempted to pass as often as possible
• when we pressed as a team, we forced early errors from the opposition
• we were dangerous from set pieces
• we were a collection of better individuals who when combined were the better team
• no one failed to show their true capabilities (although not consistently)
• we showed improvement

I will continue to write about the match and add to this preliminary report. It is important that we learn from every match, every session and improve. Otherwise we will never get to where we want to go. 

Match on tonight 8pm KO

Hi guys,

be there at 7pm for the match tonight.

Pizza afterwards at Jailhouse Pizza 115 Grand Parade, Brighton Le Sands. it's 2 minutes away from the ground.

Jailhouse Rock Pizza Restaurant

http://maps.google.com/?cid=8385850252991873250s=7715430658630275649 -  10 reviews - Place page
www.jailhouse.com.au - 115 The Grand Parade, Brighton-Le-Sands - (02) 9599 0333

Nestor

Training is off - Wed Dec 1

Hi guys,

the grounds are closed today which means no training.

At this stage we are still on for Friday 8pm KO at our new ground. Be there 7pm and pizza afterwards at a nearby restaurant.

Note: During the season we will be road running when grounds are closed.