Game Notes: NorCal Fall League vs WSC

Dear Extreme Family,

I think we demonstrated on Saturday that you can play well and lose a match.

The game should have been over within a few minutes - we had chances and we failed to execute. We dominated proceedings for the entire half but lacked the will to finish.

Then, in one moment, we made a litany of mistakes that should not happen and they took advantage. Going into halftime 0-1 was completely against the run of play.

Many of you could see I was frustrated at the break. I didn't have much to say to the girls. Our game plan of attacking down the flanks and cutting off the supply to their creative players was clearly working. There was nothing for me to add except to say it was up to them as a team to have a greater commitment and energy. By leaving them to talk amongst themselves, I was hoping that they would strengthen their team mentality and resolve.

They did. For much of the second half it was one-way traffic and in the last 5 to 10 minutes Woodland were counter-attacking as we pressed players forward. But we missed too many chances and in the final third you need to be more clinical offensively and defensively.

We had a great team performance and great energy in the second half. But we have to be more clinical to achieve our goal - we can't lose a game like that.

We are a team that wants to have the ball and work tirelessly to press and hound. They took advantage of our mistakes, you have to give them credit for that.

We are on the verge of playing very well. The basis is there, the collective team quality is there but we have to transform that into points.

I wasn't angry with the team. I felt sorry for them because they had an outstanding attitude and an outstanding display. You can only congratulate them for their improving team attitude. I feel sorry for the fact that they have not been rewarded but we live in a realistic world and when you don't score and don't take your chances then you don't win big games.

So to sum up, their are two aspects we evaluate after each match, the performance and the result. This weekend, the performance in terms of system and style of play, creative ideas, team-play was good - the result needs to be improved.

This weeks trainings will be fun and focus on finishing

See everyone at training.

One Club! One Love!