Monday Morning Report: April 6

Got a little bit of the *boilk* going on today, as I was sitting with Mumbles and Peter drinking Scotch until late (for a Sunday night). The 22oz Bud Lite that George forced on me didn't help either. Oh well.

It was a decidedly mixed weekend for AC D.C. Both co-ed and men's team were in action, and neither squad lost. So, that's good. But whereas there was some excellent individual play going on, the team didn't play well together. So, there need to be a lot of improvement, and that's gotta come soon.

The men's game was all about the wind. We had the wind with us for the first half, which mysteriously was only 32 minutes long. Then, we had to work agains the wind for the second, which was strangely 45 minutes long. I have told the head-ref this issue already. First, the positives:

Carlos had a great cross, that was enticingly close to producing a goal. He also had a great run which resulted in their keeper being ejected.

Luis saved a goal with his head (without using his hands this time).

Ali had a great pass to launch Khalid into the clear.

We defended against set pieces well.

Mumbles had the goal of the century. I mean, it was a thing of beauty. Chris' long pass over the top was pin-point perfect, and Mumbs brought it down Bergkampesque, and fired a rocket that even St. Buffon (Gigi! Gigi!) won't know what to do with. Very impressive!

Ok, now, the not so good. We started the game OK but once again conceded within 15". I have no idea why this happens all the time. Focus? Then, we went up a man and up a goal, but we played like we were down both. The passing was quite stinky (more on this later). The end result was 2-2. I'll take the point, but can't help but feel like we dropped two points there.

The co-ed game was against our old rivals DC HOOS, which is currently a very weak team. And again, there were some brilliant individual moments: Jen getting clear in front of the keeper, Lindsay creating the goal for Parham to finish ... but as a team, we couldn't make sense of things. The 1-nil result was acceptable, but no better.

A problem shared by both squads is IMPATIENCE. We are so used to indoor and short-sided games (e.g. 5-a-side tournament), that we've forgotten that full field games takes a lot of patience. We need to hang onto the ball, and build from the back. Impatience leads to high-risk passes, and losing possession. We'll lose more than we win if we continue to do so.

In the men's game, when we were up a man and up a goal, there's absolutely no reason to play high-risk passes. Keep the ball. Pass it back if there's nowhere to go forward. Keep the ball. Let their 10 men chase after you and get tired. It's really very simple.

But to be clear, keeping the ball doesn't mean INDIVIDUALS keeping the ball. I mean the team. Whereas most of you were launching the ball as soon as it came to you (i.e. high-risk passes), there were those (bad habit) who kept the ball too long. That ALSO leads to the team losing possession.

Neither squads have games this upcoming Easter weekend. I leave you with 3 thoughts: keep possession, better passing, build from the back.