The committee appointments were reshuffled due to an unfortunate injury to me. Coupled with the manager absence, it was timely for me to step up to take on the role of managing the team in the meantime. I decided to give Jansen a starting spot upfront because he went to buy himself a pair of 17+ Messi boots. But I gave him only 7.5 minutes in that position.
I stuck with the same formation that we had always used to. No point changing to something that none of us would know. For a start, I benched all the Man U supporters to show the power of the manager and gave Ron the captaincy. I also gave specific instructions to each player and told them that if they don’t follow, they will be removed.
As if he’s out to prove a point to me, Jansen struck a wonderful goal within 5 minutes of the start. He took a short pass from Andy and curled a beautiful shot into the top right corner. Job done boss. That happened soon after I sub Stuart out with Patrick after less than 5 minutes. Why? Simple. He didn’t listen to my instructions. We were clearly the better team and it was told to Jansen by the opponents bench when he was removed after 7.5 minutes. His goal was his last contribution. We were putting the pressure on them. Particularly Andy. He was everywhere and he duly got his reward when he pounced onto a loose ball and slammed it into the bottom corner. 2-0 up and we were supposedly cruising. Well, until about the 16th minute, the captain of the day decided he couldn’t take it anymore and asked to be removed. We then lost control of midfield and conceded a soft goal through Sherman’s legs. Ole. Harold was doing his usual dancing routine. On one such attack, he picked up a header from Patrick and shot hard. It evaded the keeper and nestled into the bottom corner for us to take a 3-1 lead into half time. Special mention to SK who was really making full use of his only half as he went sliding everywhere and putting his body on the line to defend. And he needs to repair his car as well. Probably letting his frustrations out.
You might think I should be happy with the scoreline. But I wasn’t. We were not doing the basics right. And we didn’t put in the effort. The complacency was there and it doesn’t bode well. I tried to encourage the team to step up. But all these fell to deaf ears as we immediately conceded another goal in the second half. 10 minutes later, another defensive mistake allowed the opponents to equalise. We then somehow lost it and couldn’t control the game. A lot of time, we spent doing things on our own and forgot about teamwork. Patrick missed a sitter as a beautiful cross from Stuart (yes, he came on again) on the left narrowly skinned his shin. Pikachu then got hold of a ball in our half. He stormed forward down the right wing, exchanged passes with Stuart and clipped the ball past the keeper but into the side netting. Honestly, the best effort of the game as he ran the entire half of the pitch from start to finish. Unlucky to not have scored. Minutes from the end, we got a penalty. I screamed for Stuart to take it but he declined. Ok, that was your last chance. No more. Harold took matters into his own hand and plopped the ball onto the spot. Calmly he strolled forward and he kicked it straight to the keeper. A video was captured of that to remind him of it for a while. A lousy, really lousy attempt for a penalty kick. At a moment when we can win the game, this was a really poor effort. Final whistle went and we finished with a draw.
For me, I’m disappointed with the result. But to the team, it didn’t seem to matter. All it matters was that they get a game. The opponents were physical and we were too soft. We let them get all over us.
I don’t think I am suitable for this role. I hate losing. And I definitely feel this should be an easy game for us to get a victory. We didn’t keep our shape. Basic skills and effort were lacking. Players were not committed, except for a few. I will take this week to assess how I should approach each week now.
