3rd May Saturday Game

Hi Guys,

this sat game is at Kingston International School. Please reach before 830am. Details are as follows

Location: Kingston International School
Time to Arrive: before 830am
Colour: Blue
Opponents: Unknown

the place is near KK hospital. it's at carlisle road off norfolk road =)

Matches in May

Dear all,

Pls do take note of the following arrangements in the month of may.

The first 3 weeks of May we have matches lined up already. these are on saturdays, 3rd, 10th and 17th May, Morning 9am game at Kingston International School near KK hospital.

=)

Rgrds
ks

It's raining goals: Unido 3-4 "Spain"

This match saw the return of SA to the side, after he missed the previous two Saturday games due to other commitments. It also saw some experimental positioning, as Alex was shifted into a more advanced forward role, while Weirong was moved to the right-back position. Ben took up the centre-back role next to KS.

It was a tentative start as the match kicked off late. Both teams were putting out feelers as the ball yo-yoed back and forth between both halves. "Spain" had a few good chances, but KS and Ben were resilient at the back and the frustration shown as one of their strikers reacted angrily to some disruptive play by the centrebacks and got booked by the referee for his unnecessary outburst. The half ended 0-0.

By then, grey clouds obscured the sky and rain pelted relentlessly down as the teams took to the field for the second half. Alex got his chance up front, while Hogan came in on the left wing.

The waterlogged pitch did no favours to either side and as tactics got thrown out the window, "Spain" grabbed a deserved lead. A quick through-ball over the top and their striker put it past Jackson to make it 1-0. Heads sagged, but before long, an elementary mistake by the "Spain" keeper from a cross by JQ allowed Hogan to nip in and grab an equaliser. This was the catalyst for more attack-oriented play, but "Spain" gave the left-back some real problems as the defence played a high line, and punished us with two goals in quick succession, even if one of them seemed a little fortunate.

The rain had slowed to a slight drizzle, and spirits were lifted as Alex steered in a cross from the right after Reubs had shown great vision and released KR down the flank. He showed his speed as he sprung the offside trap and slid a low cross to a grateful Alex, who calmly stroked the ball past two defenders and into the net.

And not surprisingly, we got right back in it. Another through ball by Reubs to KR, who broke free and attempted to round the keeper, who stuck out a leg and steered the ball out for a corner. KR took the corner, and screwed it up awfully, but a fortunate deflection saw the ball come back out to the flank. A pinpoint cross found a leaping Hogan, who sent in a looping header which dropped under the crossbar and into the net.

3-3, with 5 minutes of the game remaining.

Alas, it was not to be as "Spain" broke out of defence and some confusion in our defence allowed them to steal a fourth at the far post.

By then it was too little, too late as we fell 3-4, but the performance was heartening as we played well and the cohesion and adaption to the new formation and tactics shone through the gloomy afternoon.

Details for the match on 13th April, Sunday

VENUE: YISHUN BLK 367

TIME: 1415HRS

"DRESSCODE": BLUE

OPPONENTS: UNKNOWN

http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_3573/travel_

Stalemate: Unido 1-1 NTU Hall 11

(Post-dated!)

After swearing off the Yishun pitch, it was a wonder that we actually returned to face these opponents on this patch. Various comments heard regarding the state of the pitch after the draw with Shangwei's new-look team are better left unsaid.

But a bad pitch is better than no pitch as we faced up against a NTU Hall 11 side made up of players who probably were in the same age group as ourselves. They had their grey shirts, with "Eleven" emblazoned on the back, two guys with the number "11", and even a captain in the number 6, who didn't really call the shots (so I dunno what the armband was for anyway). But they had despatched our last opponents on that pitch 5-0 (we could only manage a 0-0 stalemate!) so it was going to be an uphill task.

In addition, we were in our dreaded yellow kit, which made the task seem even more ominous.

The match got underway in the hot 11am sun, and it was a tight encounter in the centre of the park, as both teams played three across. Leslie was left alone up front, with support from Seng, who was making his first return after a period out with some groin trouble. Reuben was in goal for Jackson, who had to "serve the nation".

Hall 11 broke the deadlock first, a through ball well put away by their number 11 with gold hair (the other fella had black hair). However, it didn't take Leslie long to show why he was the first choice striker, chasing down a loose ball and from a narrow angle, slotting home to bring us level just minutes later.

It was 1-1 at half time, as the sun bore down relentlessly on these madmen who were duking it out in midfield. After the restart, both sides had glorious chances to win it, but scuffed shots and lucky blocks ruled the day as the match finished 1-1.

The curse of the yellow jersey - yet to be broken.

Commitment

Hi all,

let me share my two cents for this matter.

First of all, I understand that I have not been joining you guys for the matches on Sunday due to my work commitments. I am truly sorry about it and hope you guys understand.

Secondly, I may appear to be joking all the time and may appear not serious most of the time I might say. It is not to make light of the whole situation, but rather, I believe that the atmosphere plays a part as well. If we are happy, we will be enjoying right?

We have not been playing together for too long on the pitch despite us having played together for some years already. However, I would like to say that sometimes, it is not winning that matters. Yes, to win is an added bonus but I feel that enjoying and playing to our potential is another matter. It sure feels good to win but what do we get from winning? Nothing right? Perhaps we feel too pressurized to win and that is why we try to over-do things sometimes. It is good to have desire to win but let us work together as a team and improve together.

I agree with what Jun Qiang has written. We need to have a unified direction. I would prefer us to play well and lose rather than to play like school kids and come out with a win. If we could think about it this way. It is easier for people to see your strengths and weaknesses than yourself. No one likes to hear negative aspects about themselves but I feel we need to be professional about this. I have been criticized before, Jun Qiang has told me off before, KS has given me advice, even Weirong too. But never once I took it personally. I do not have to agree with what they say, but keeping an open mind and having some food for thought would not hurt a bit.

What I really want to say is, understand why others are giving you advice and why several issues are brought up for discussion. If you choose to take it personally, it would not benefit everyone. No one would want to target anyone. We are a team, so lets hear each other's voices and more forward. This is what commitment is about. We commit to the same cause and we commit to improving together.

Given the time constraints and work commitments, I can understand if our meet-up sessions are short or we do not have the energy to last the full match. This would no doubt affect our fitness. However, if we make the effort, we can do it. I am doing my own running every Tues and Thurs. I understand my own limitations. I cannot run 10km like Jun Qiang at one go. But what I am doing is 3km every running session, working on my breathing and acceleration. The idea is not to be super fit but rather, being in shape. I do not think our team would mind if we can give a good 25 mins in a match as compared to a lacklustre 90 mins of ball-watching and non-involvement.

It all boils down to being committed. I am happy with this team because we do not take criticisms negatively. However, our understanding as a team needs some working on. As of right now, everyone is doing their own thing on the pitch. While I agree that training sessions would benefit greatly, there is a need to keep in mind the attendance. I propose to having our tactics written on this blog, with illustrations. We can scan a copy of our tactics so everyone could see them even if we miss the training sessions. If we can picture what our specific role is, I think it will be easier to execute. Of course it takes time to draw out and coordinate, but this is one avenue we could explore.

We are still not tactically-sound. We cannot depend on having a manager to draw out plays or plan training sessions for us. So I think it would be good if we could sit down and analyse what each person's strengths and weaknesses are and we plan our tactics accordingly. We could have several simulations where we could adopt for various matches and to adapt during matches when things are not working out.

Decision-making is another key area which I feel needs to be addressed. Everyone makes mistakes. But what is important is to learn from it. We may make a bad pass, over-dribble or miss a clearance. I think it is ok as long if we learn from it and not repeat the same mistake. We should improve our decision-making by understanding each and everyone's role. I am not saying the same persons will get to shoot all the time or who must stay in our half all the time. But rather, knowing what the situation demands for it. KS goes up once in a while for corners and free kicks or even counter attacks. It is easy to be caught up in the situation and everyone charges forward wanting to score. But we cannot have 11 players in our opponent's half right? If KS goes up then someone must cover him and be prepared to reat in the even of a swift counter attack. We must be ready to chase, slow down the opposition or even foul when necessary.

Therefore our tactics are important. We could plan like having 6 men going up, positioning in specific areas during attacks and who will stay back during corners. Of course there can be times where roles are changed as long there is communication between the parties. We know that we can play soccer, individually that is. It will be a great achievement if we could gel as one. And to do that, we need to have the commitment of every player. So perhaps another session of meeting up and discussing setplays and tactics would benefit us more instead of our pre-match talk 30 seconds before kick-off.

Pardon this long post, I was unaware that you guys met so I am voicing out some thoughts which I have. By the way, I am in the midst of changing my work schedule so I can join the matches on Sunday. But this would also mean my Saturdays will be burnt as I have to work either Saturday or Sunday. So I would not be able to join the Saturday sessions from May onwards.

Hope no one is offended by my thoughts. Not targetting at anyone, just something general. I am committed to this team and I will continue to do my best. Anyway, I look forward to the next match! Cheers!

Regards,

Sherman

Directions

The visions of the team are shared by everyone who voiced out on the Sunday night team dinner/ meeting.

They can be summarised by 3 keys words : Win, Enjoy and Team


Nobody in the team likes losing. Everyone wants to feel like a winner. Even as semi-pro, even as a recreational player. The team is losing its unified goals and directions, losing focus and forgetting how to win.

We attributed the key to winning under 2 aspects : 1.Physical 2. Psychological

Physical:

1. Fitness - Do we play to keep fit or keep fit to play? My advice is.. if you keep yourself fit, you will find it easier to play. You can think better, react faster, stay longer and most imptly focus on how to play at an optimal level. Work commitments, school commitments, Spouse commitments. These are just excuses and you know it better than anyone else. I am not asking for everyone to be incredible fit, but it takes more than lasting a game by walking through, its abt being able to run with the ball and able to still react without being "Shacked, cannot think"

2. Training - Being a recreational team makes it more difficult to conduct proper training. Equipment wise we are still doing fine, but its the facilities (field) and time commitments that are problematic. Since we are not professionals, I don't pay u to attend trainings and games and we have our full time work, lets be realistic.

Suggestions being brought up include : 1. Meeting earlier before games for simple team warm up and trainings 2. Meeting on sat to play training match within our own team.

Areas we have to work on :

-Tactics : We can arrive 15 mins earlier before warm ups for changing of gears and for tactics briefing with the aid of a sketch board.

-Shooting : Proper shooting exercise can be done during warm ups ( not dead ball shooting)

-Set Pieces : Corner kicks and free kicks drill ( who, where and how to move and to familise with the taker's range) can also be done during warming up

-Off the ball movements (how to make off the ball running to draw defenders, to creat space for team mates to shoot or pass) Certain small details can be gone through and for individual to keep in mind the match.

-Crosses : Same as the set pieces drill, we have systematic crossing exercise (i.e 1-2 crosses, high/low sharp crosses)

-Passing : Long, short passing , 1 or 2 touches between 3 to 5 guys

-Close Control : can be honed with the passing drill

The whole of warming up can be done in 25 mins. - 5 mins for stretch and light jogs, 15 mins to do a combi of shooting, crossing, set pieces 5 mins for passing exercise.

we can re arrange the sequences for the warming up drills but tactics briefing is a must from now on since alot of us are lost about our game plan during the match.
So i suggest we arrive 30 to 45 mins earlier before the proper kick off.

To encourage everyone to keep on time: we will devise a pts awarding system for all time keepers
Failure to do so will result in a fine.


For the awarding system, I suggest a pt allocation system where a scorer gets 5 pts, an assist 5 pts, a clean sheet will have 5 pts for the Gk and defenders.

A foul throw will have 1 pt deducted, a yellow 2 pts and a red 5 pts off. Late comers will be fined and have 3 pts deducted.

We can work on this system and your suggestions are more than welcome but pls try to be constructive and more concrete with your ideas.( Try to jot them down so that i can organise it)

We can come up with monthly winners and annual winners and prizes such as a trophy, a voucher or even a football jersey can be awarded thru the contributions of a team fund.

Psychological-

To be able to win, mentality we must be prepared.

Even if we play unknown opponents every week, we must approach each game with our full concentration. Like I said, we only get to be footballers once every week, so we must be professional.

Full concentration meaning - to be constantly aware of the team's tactics, to be aware of team mates movement. A small slip can lead to conceding of a goal or a extra sprint or movement can result in a goal for us. So we must not switch off and let our minds wander.

Trust - This is a big word. But I am sure everyone understands its importance in any group, team or organisation. What we want is to be able to express ourselves , our skills without being reprimanded heavily if we screw it up. To be able to achieve that, I suggest the screwing party and the receiving party keep these few pts in mind :

1. Responsibility -

Picture this, you chase after the opponent long and hard and finally put in a smart tackle or timely interception in our own half. you move the ball quickly and made a beautiful long range pass to an unmarked teamate who can a quick pass to the strikers and counter hit the opponent. This team mate decide to take on the defence himself and being heavily hounded by 2 -3 defenders, loses the ball and from which the opposition counter us and scold.

You: feel Angry, wasted, disappointed and wary of passing the ball to that team mate in the future.

Your team mate: Disappointed with himself, feel blamed and unhappy with losing the ball.

My pt is simple. Nobody does anything stupid on purpose to make our team lose. I didn't try to mis control the ball or mis pass the ball to let our team lose.

What we can do in this situation is :

Trust and be responsible

Trust- learn to understand everyone has their own strength and weakness. I can't shoot but i can run at the defence. But if i am in a better position, you should at least let me try to take aim, who knows out of the 10 times, I can get it hard and strong shot in.

But keep in mind, trusting doesn't mean you don't support your team mates. When he is holding the ball, make spaces for him so that he can pass to you if need be, watch his back and be prepared to fill in his position until he moves back.

Most importantly, learn to understand the difficulties of your team mate and trust his intention. Instead of sniggering, despising him, learn to accept and try to cover his weakness for him. For he will do the same for you.

Responsible - Learn to accept that sometimes we can't improve on our weakness overnight. It takes time. If you are the one witnessing your teammate losing the ball away, you wun feel too happy about it as well. Therefore, learn to accept responsibilities. If you want to shoot, dribble.. be very sure not to screw it up. But if you screw it up, try to understand where the frustration of your team mates are coming from. If you get a negative response, be responsible, accept it, move forward and try to win the ball back or make better decisions next time. DO not be afraid to play confidently but remember we are a TEAM and we are responsible for another.

Keep this in mind, its part of the emotions in the game. At the end of the day, after the match, We are not only team mates., we are still FRIENDS.


Change of positions and substitutions

There was a mention of the desired change or adding of positions to many players. We can make experiments but not at a over haul extent. Making some changes and try outs during certain games or during training matches within ourselves can definitely be done.
Regarding the substitutions issue, I am sorry but in every game there are bound to be some stronger and weaker players. But it doesn't mean it stays the same everytime. Nor it means the so called weaker players cannot get to play or start. It all depends on the tactics, the turn out. Like I said before, no one is indispensible.


Therefore I urge everyone to try to understand and be patient. For now, the main aim of the team is to improve and move forward together.

Yours Truly,

Junqiang