MATCH DAY EVALUATION
Match Day 8 – Glen Waverley vs. Box Hill (Under 15 A’s)
Conditions: Overcast with sunny breaks and cool conditions. Pitch was bumpy and poorly grassed in centre corridor and goal mouths but wings were well grassed. Pitch was a good size encouraging good ball movement.
PLAN: Team was asked to:
· Concentrate on 2 touch
· Break the lines!!
· Play balls diagonally
· Compete for every ball
First Half: Box Hill started brightly enough and some good interplay was evident. However, balls to forwards were predominantly vertical in nature and sprayed over the top of the forwards heads. This was done despite the team being told to play to our strengths of playing the ball on the ground and to play diagonally. Some good forward runs and crosses by Orlando and Mills-Warthold showed they had listened to instructions as balls into the box were fired in 1st time or after 1 touch as requested. GW were comfortable defending our balls through given they were playing a deep sweeper behind the two forwards of Box Hill. Neither Box Hill forward played up to the last man which made his job very easy. A number of 1 on 1’s with the GW keeper did not result in scores and it was left to Bryden to cross a ball in to the box which sailed over the keepers head into goal. Great team spirit as displayed as the team congratulated Bryden. However, after this the last 15 minutes or so were lack lustre to say the least. Decision making was poor, balls to forwards were being flicked on when control, lay the ball back to the midfield and playing again would have been the better decision. Also, the midfield seemed to be unable to link up and play with the forwards in attack which will be addressed this week at training. In addition, there was a lack of intelligent decision making displayed by the defence at times. Holding the ball when playing early was the right thing to do and vice versa. Our GK was rarely troubled or called upon to save shots. All in all, 5 out of 10 as a score for the team’s 1st half.
Half time score 1 - 0
Second Half: After discussing the effort or lack thereof, a more committed and structured display by Box Hill lead to some good chances, brilliantly capped off by ‘the wee man’ in Clark who headed in from a cross. Given his height, his ability to score with his head does put the acid on forwards and midfielders who seem unable or unwilling to score with a header. A number of changes were made in an effort to rest players for the important game against Doncaster Rovers next week and Orlando and Mazzollini were put into centre midfield with Drossas replacing Pagotto. Nguyen scored twice after good pressure and build up work and Orlando then followed up a cross and some goal mouth scrambles to score on the far post. Kasapidis martialled the defence well but there appeared to be some drop off in the midfield pressure as a number of hopeful balls forward resulted in one on ones with Kasapidis and their forwards. This cannot happen against better teams which may have better quality forwards that get by Kasapidis. We must ensure there is never a 1 on 1 in defence. Bondole and Becker had glorious chances to head in from close range late in the game and a one on one with the GW keeper and Becker resulted in a poor finish and no score. In actuality, the score line is a bit flattering for GW as 7 to 8 goals was probably a fairer score line. Overall score for the team – 7 out of 10
Final Score 5 – 0
Overall Comments
Opposition: The GW defence was strong and ably led by their sweeper who was fast, committed and strong. De Blasio, as an ex GW player, was man marked by another GW defender and was unable to exert much pressure or deliver any real fire power for BH as a result. Their midfield and forwards were constantly under pressure and they were not able to muster a meaningful shot on goal.
Box Hill: A reasonable effort only. What is disappointing is the team’s inability to ‘lift itself’ up for games where we are expected to win and the team having to be spoken to strongly at half time before we see what they are capable of. I am not sure if complacency is setting in or whether we need to up the intensity at training. There were good individual efforts but every player should analyse their performance and determine where they could have done better, made a better decision, worked harder to get the return pass, etc. Everyone has a good deal of improvement in them!!
After a good result for us (Malvern drew with Ringwood) we are now 3 points clear on top but we face a resurgent and clearly defensively strong team in Doncaster Rovers at Wembley this Sunday. They have let in only 5 goals all year and recently have mustered reasonable scorelines against teams lower on the ladder. Hence, we must be defensively strong, and attack them at 110% from the first till the last second. Malvern have GW this week and after their disappointing effort this week, will surely bounce back to get 3 points. This means we MUST NOT and CANNOT afford to drop points against Doncaster.
Also, this week each team member will receive their mid year evaluation, authored by the coach and assistant coach. Given we are half way through the year, it is imperative players know their strengths but more importantly their weaknesses and where they can improve. The evaluations, how they are taken by the players and their reactions will also be vital pieces of information on which players are capable of and want to step up to Super League level.
Don’t get comfortable Box Hill. When you’re on top, it just means you have to work even harder to stay there…………
Coach: John Di Martino 22nd June, 2009
