A bitterly cold day today with a sticky pitch made for heavy going with the ball and the running across the team.
At times we were caught walking and it felt like we had 6 players back defending and no one in the middle meaning our strikers were pulled back to work in the midfield and then no outlet going forwards.
I admire the teams work efforts in tracking back and covering positions, but we have to work the same going forward too. Passes need to be made earlier, we cannot walk through 5 or 6 players each time, and shots need to be taken, and to work the keeper. This simply means not hitting it at the keeper, hit it to the side of them, make them move, put the pressure on and force the mistakes.
We didn’t press much in midfield and at times it felt like we were just watching them with the ball. We also did the whole wait for the ball to reach us instead of meeting the ball, at times, and we were punished for this also.
That is not to say we weren’t without effort or merit! 3 clearances off the line and almost a 4th today showed we really do work for each other at times! No offsides and no foul throws either! But consistency is an area we now need to build across our game!
Chayley - team spirit - I think the goalkeeping practice with Arun is seeing your confidence in goal flourish! More of a sweeper keeper today and brave coming out too - you made some fantastic saves from distance and close up! Great punches clear from corners today!
Harrison - constantly pushing up the pitch and some great tackles. We need to find a couple of throw set pieces that work, a tough job at the back today but you handled them well!
Matthew - the cleanest of tackles time and time and time again - fantastic running, the timing of those challenges you showed your worth as a defender, even pushing into the CDM position time and time again to close down the opposition in the second half! The true epitome of never give up was shown by you today to make it to that first goal line clearance was honestly superb!!! Well deserved Parents Player!
Cristiano - matthews partner in crime, you ran your socks off today and didn’t let your head drop, you just kept going, making it difficult for their strikers to shoot or get their pass away cleanly! Positionally you were excellent to cover Matthew too!! Well deserved man of the match!
Alex - there is something about the way you sometimes take a touch to wrong foot the opposition that makes me want you to push on more and more, and be that presence into the midfield, you’ve got a great foot for a long distance shot or pass across the field to switch the play too!
Bradley - another good game here sitting in front of the back 4 and you were one of the only ones who made themself available for every throw we had! Don’t panic - slow it down, your touch is better than you think!
H - a small spell in CAM and second half CDM - 2 fantastic goal line clearances when Chayley was beaten, and unlucky with the 3rd. Positionally you sat back more and more at CDM which left the midfield a little short at times. But technically your footwork is brilliant, just work on protecting that ball a little more just like at training! Some great positive comments from you for the team today too!
Neil - didn’t seem as settled as last week in the role, and got caught out a little up the pitch a few times. Get those passes away quicker and don’t be shy to have a shot outside the box. You have to work back to help the defense, and positionally left a gap at times today.
Oliver - a hard weeks running today on heavy going ground. Some great runs on the wing in the first half and working well with Harrison to get your passes away and support each other! I was really pleased you had a shot today too - definitely want more or those!
Leo - you were constantly well positioned today. Time and time again you peeled off your player, giving you time on the ball to get your pass away. Fantastic through balls to Ollie, Ahmed and Neil and you were always in the right place at the right time! Fantastic effort for the first time finish too!!!
Harry - you are better with that right foot than you realize! Moving you to the right wing for a spell in the second half gave us a different outlet to Ollie L. Some lovely touches to go past people and get your pass away. First half as striker you found yourself having to drop into the midfield to help out where we had some big gaps! Your footballing brain was well in gear today!!!
Finn - a solid 25 mins which saw some great footwork from you, to get your passes away. You chased the ball and put pressure on the opposition, and now we need to work on you using your body to help you turn a defender and push forward!
Ollie - a constant engine of a threat, running through players time and time again! Working back into midfield to help out in the gaps and some great pushes forward too! Always strong on the ball and looking more for passes!!!
Ahmed - you have good footwork, and we need to see it more, you were often more in the middle than our midfield and it’s a role we will look to explore with you! Don’t be afraid to shoot from outside the box!
Overall a little lack lustre at times, and we had no real fight in the middle, but we were still in it at half time only being 1-0 down!
We were just so quiet out there today! And that lack of comms meant at times there were 2 or 3 of us going for the same ball, yet the one player from the opposition would come out with it, where we just weren’t taking ownership for our actions! When we played nice football and passed our way through the side it looked like we were finding our feet and then if we lost the ball the fight to win it back wasn’t always there either.
Every player did things well, but we really need to communicate to help individuals become a TEAM, not a team of individuals!
You’ve got this Bees!!! ?? ?? ??
