We Will Get It Right

Woodbridge SC B05 vs TFC U13

Firstly, let me make myself absolutely clear that I am not criticizing neither berating only creating an awareness that will prevent another showing such as what happened in our last game.

I was thinking not to comment on Friday's game. However, after hearing about who won today's final I felt compelled to.  The words of the legendary soccer player Pele, "That it was the honest writers who made it possible for him to correct mistakes made when they wrote about it helped him immensely". Also, I can't stand by and behave like the thirty-eight people who watched Catherine Genovese mugged and stab to death in 1964  New York. They said nothing and did nothing.  

I chose to be like the first and not the latter.  Isaiah commented on the way home that our parents are like the Los Angeles Lakeirs fans only cheer when they are winning and cannot motivate them when not playing great as stated by Kobe Bryant.  Yes, we anticipated them to play better and possibly even win.  Should it not be a privilege and our right therefore to encourage our boys, being their parents...supporters and fans. Can we all honestly say that we gave our best possible verbal support to them in the game. A role of a parent is to provide emotional encouragement when needed. I failed in my role as a parent of a child who played in the game.

Like the coaches for example, they are to select a starting lineup for playing with the best possibly formation that will give the boys a fighting chance of securing a win. Making a decision can result in one being moved from a goat to zero, just using sports analogy. The coaches implemented a bold formation switch, in my opinion, based upon the opponent's style of play. Some people will argue for and some against and some only concern is their child being in it. Did the formation limit our creativity by our creative players? Case in point seeing our holding midfielder making those meandering runs and at times the central defender was restricted because of the formation, suffice to say.  Also our technical skilled player had to be playing as a holding midfielder not by design but because the nature of the game dictated. Similarly, those who were not capable enough of doing their specific tasks in the formation got exposed for lack of quickness, speed, physical assertiveness, and too many inaccurate passes. The cohesiveness was lacking, especially in our link up plays, our boys just lack composure and calmness (seeing so many coaches on the opponent's bench could foster that behavior).

At this juncture I cannot but lay some of the blame on The Woodbridge Soccer Club decision makers. If we continue practicing in a small box space we will continue to be disseminated on the field as spaciousness is foreign to some of our boys. It became apparently evident from a observation standpoint. So for the cost our boys need a bigger playing surface to practice on.

Cristian played the best game in my opinion since I have been watching him play albeit in a losing cause. No one can argue that for two quarters we defended with stout resolution and kept at bay the team everyone believe will keep their own trophy by winning it all (That didn't happen. TFC lost). All the blame cannot be centered on the formation used. Nevertheless, let's call a spade a spade and look as well at our roster of players available.

Doing an assessment on players in the tournament, taking into consideration what we have seen over the days Wednesday and Friday how do our boys match up from an individual perspective. 

The areas to analyze:
Keeper
Defender
Midfielder
Striker

There's no concern or doubt that our goalie has established himself as a standout thus far. Our defenders are no gimmicks in defending plus a bonus going forward. Our midfield is where there seems to be some issues as they are the engine of the team. Far too much reliance is levelled on some players to constantly cover for others' insufficiency within the middle of the field. Our strikers have to become a lot stronger and more physical plus holding up the ball to let players catch up (it's called link up) especially against quality opponents.

If I identified a concern, then I need to have a plausible explanation towards a solution. Honesty and integrity must first and foremost be the starting point in placing eleven players onto the field. It cannot be on the qualification of privilege or friendship for what message will be sent unspoken to those on the bench who know that they should be starting based upon previous performance, effort and, commitment.

As stated in previous blog postings, it would be great to win this tournament, but it should be also used to evaluate and formulate tactic, formation and starting lineup going forward. Along with new ideas and infusions gained by the coaches from being in the tournament.

Everyone has a point of view, my opinion might be totally misleading, misunderstood and biased but in essence I am willing to share my thoughts because of my sincere love for this Woodbridge Strikers 05 OPDL Boys Team. I still believe with all honesty that they have the potential of being the very best because like the great team we too have some key players who on their day can singlehandedly win a game.

Let us continue to applaud regardless of how they might be playing in a particular game with or without a Vuvuzela.
⚽🥅