Back again !
After 3 games in 3 days during our visit to Vermont and a rare off day where I was able to get away from soccer for a brief moment, I am back for our final week of preseason before the players start school. The Stingers travelled to the Burlington Vermont area for 3 games and we returned with our first win and 2 hard fought losses (but still losses). Preseason games aren't about winning because if it was, we would simply schedule games against opponents we know for sure we can beat (if there is such a thing) and pad our record in order to look good. Point of fact, last year in our 7 preseason games, we won 3, tied 3 and lost only one.... but yet only managed 1 win and 2 ties in the games that counted , the regular season. In fact in looking back over past year's results, in the two years we had our best results during the regular season, 2004 (8 wins, 3 losses and 3 ties) and 2005 (8 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie ) we actually didn't win a single game during either of those preseasons (pretty much even split between losses and ties). You might actually want to track down statistics from recent proffesional teams and see how they have done in preseason vs. how they have faired in regular season, you might be surprised at the outcomes. So all that to say, that preseason is about getting the team ready, preparing the individuals and the team as a whole to face the opponents during the regular season when wins, losses and ties actually count in the standings and are the measure of where you fit within you league. Sometimes you learn much much more playing against tougher, more experienced competition, forcing a team to get out of their comfort zone and push themselves to improve, than playing weaker teams where things come too easy and bad habits become the norm.... think of it like being thrown in the water and being told "learn to swim or drown" ok maybe a little extreme but I think you get the image. However, losing and winning are both contagious and you certainly want to avoid getting used to and accepting the first and want to learn to expect and enjoy the second. This year, with so many younger players many of whom are experiencing university level soccer for the first time, force feeding them some intense, high quality games so that they have to get up to par quickly might be drastic but might also be just what is needed. Our 3 games in Vermont provided in my opinion just what we needed in order to evaluate what our team is capable of but also show our players what is needed for us to be succesful and compete at the level required. We started off with a 5-1 win against Norwich University. Are they a great team, a very good team, even a good team ???? Hard to tell but I think the score isn't just about their quality but about us being able to generate scoring chances and capitalize on a number of them. Good teams are able to beat the teams they are supposed to beat and beat them by a score that indicates their respective levels of play and then find ways to beat teams that they might be even with or that are slightly better than them. I think we did that first part quite well in our first game, now we have to work on the second part...finding ways to win, when the going gets tough. Both our 2nd and 3rd games of the trip mirrored each other fairly closely. Good starts but giving up a an early goal to put us behind, some erratic play followed by a regain of confidence and some very determined play...followed by a late back breaking goal. Friday saw us loose 3-1 to St Michael's in a game that could have ended differently. A big "hat's off" to 4th year player Alex Eskanazi who stepped into goal to replace injured goalie Fanny B. and gave us a chance to get a result. We gave up two goals in the first half on two mental mistakes that led to break aways. We managed to pull one back after convering on a penatly kick (Alli Burgess) and managed to put sustained pressure on the opponents as we looked for a tying goal. We actually had two golden chances that if we expect to do well have to be finished, only to give up a 3rd goal with a little over 10 minutes remaining as we had pushed players forward. Saturday, the story is a little different but the result similar. We gave goals early (3rd minute) and late (90 minute) and between had a panicky first 30 minutes only to slowly settle down and find our game. For large parts of the second half I venture to say we were the better team on the field but just couldn't find a way to put the ball past the opposing goalie. I give full credit to all the team for determination and effort, now the job of the coaches is to fix the mistakes we are making and help our players have the confidence to bury the chances when they arrive. I start week 3 of training confident and excited about what is possible. To quote Fanny in her guest post, there is a special vibe around this group and I think we can really only get better as we grow as a team. This week, 3 practices, two games (Dawson and Middlebury) 3 days off during the long weekend and get ready for the season !
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AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
January 2023
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