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.
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