Saturday saw us play our second of five games against St Edmunds. We mixed it up a bit and tried an new 5-3-2 formation.
What can I say, first 30 minutes was fantastic. Everyone as talking, listening and getting stuck in. The football we were playing was brilliant and St Eds didn’t really have an answer to it. Defensive we restricted them to just a handful of half chances at best in the first 25 minutes. We were tracking and closing down well and when we gained possession we broke well as a team. We gave them all sorts of problems at the back. If at this point someone said we were going to leak 8 goals I would have laughed at them!!
Disappointingly and for no apparent reason we just crumbled on the half hour mark, which is something we all know is not an option in division 1 and were punished severely. We stopped listening, talking and lost our composure. As soon we gain possession it was like a hot potato, we couldn’t get rid of it quick enough. Closing down was an issue as well time and time again we allowed them to much space and time to pick out passes which cut us open. Unfortunately too many players got lost and fell to pieces.
Having said that it is a testament to how far we have come in the past month or so. To be disappointed with our performance shows we are making great steps in the right direction. I think the new formation suited our style of football more than 4-4-2 and has given us a good platform to build on.
This Saturday we are home to Barons and will look to build on our opening 30 minutes. We will all need to be strong and committed for the full 90 as Barons are another top team capable of running riot if allowed. We need to pick ourselves up and go again. Come Saturday win or lose, I want everyone to walk off the pitch knowing they gave 100% which is all I can ask for.
What can I say, first 30 minutes was fantastic. Everyone as talking, listening and getting stuck in. The football we were playing was brilliant and St Eds didn’t really have an answer to it. Defensive we restricted them to just a handful of half chances at best in the first 25 minutes. We were tracking and closing down well and when we gained possession we broke well as a team. We gave them all sorts of problems at the back. If at this point someone said we were going to leak 8 goals I would have laughed at them!!
Disappointingly and for no apparent reason we just crumbled on the half hour mark, which is something we all know is not an option in division 1 and were punished severely. We stopped listening, talking and lost our composure. As soon we gain possession it was like a hot potato, we couldn’t get rid of it quick enough. Closing down was an issue as well time and time again we allowed them to much space and time to pick out passes which cut us open. Unfortunately too many players got lost and fell to pieces.
Having said that it is a testament to how far we have come in the past month or so. To be disappointed with our performance shows we are making great steps in the right direction. I think the new formation suited our style of football more than 4-4-2 and has given us a good platform to build on.
This Saturday we are home to Barons and will look to build on our opening 30 minutes. We will all need to be strong and committed for the full 90 as Barons are another top team capable of running riot if allowed. We need to pick ourselves up and go again. Come Saturday win or lose, I want everyone to walk off the pitch knowing they gave 100% which is all I can ask for.
Shanks
