Academy Game Reports January 20
Age/Gender: U14 Boys
Location: Kingdom Sportscenter (indoor)
Result: L 9-3 / 9-1
Players: Gareth, Ethan, Teddy, Dominic, Silas, Luke, Alfonso, TJ, Grady
Goal(s): Silas, Luke
Player of the game: Silas
Offensively, the Dutch Lions had some of their best moments on counter-attack situations and were able to create scoring opportunities on multiple occasions. The Lions were also effective in their 1v1 challenges and some individual skills also resulted in shots on goal. However, the speed of play and the aggressiveness from both opponents made it difficult to keep possession of the ball and limited our offensive play.
Defensively, the Lions had some positive moments in which we defended as a team and had an effective defensive shape. The Lions had difficulties in the defensive half when they lost their shape and were exposed in 1v1 and 2v1 attacks from their opponents.
Coach Shane was quoted, “The first indoor game is always tough to adjust after competing in the outdoor season. The speed of play, constant pressure throughout the game, and overall conditioning is something we have to adapt to quickly. We will continue working on our game fitness and our defensive organization this week.”
Coach Shane nominated Silas as the player of the game offensive production and defensive work rate for both games.
Age/Gender: U14 Girls
Location: Kingdom Sportscenter (indoor)
Result: L 6-3
Players: Morgan (U15), Camille, Alessandra, Alicia, JJ, Shelby, Sumera, Ainsley, Ashley, Ema, Emma P, Katie, Nicole
Goal(s): JJ, Ema, Sumera
Player of the game: Ema
Defensively, the Lions did well defending in numbers and were aggressive in their 1v1 challenges. The Lions defenders maintained a solid defensive shape on the defensive half but had difficulties dealing with the quick transitions from their opponent and they were able to capitalize on their goal scoring chances.
Offensively, the Lions had an excellent work rate and were rewarded with a few goals from the counter attack. The Lions were able to keep the pressure on their opponent’s defense with an explosive attack but need to have more patience in ball possession.
Coach Shane was quoted, “I saw some great moment out there today and I thought we did an excellent job competing against a quality opponent. Fitness level in indoor is such a huge factor and I am confident if we can improve our conditioning, it will keep us sharp on defense and more creative in the attack.”
Coach Shane nominated Ema as the player of the game strong defensive effort and also tallied a goal on the offensive end.
Age/Gender: U15 Boys
Location: Wall2Wall (Indoor)
Result: 2-0 W
Players: Kyler, Todd, Aaron, Jonathan H., Terry, Mike, Caden, AJ, Hunter, Caleb, Jonathan C., Cameron, Richard and Stephen.
Player of the game: Jonathan C.
Conceding no goals during a entire game is always positive and the team looked aggressive on the ball and won most defensive duels. As a defensive unit the back line was out of positioning often and this created a full through balls that goalkeepers Kyler and Cameron dealt with well.
On the ball the team started off a bit nervous but it improved as the game moved on. After the goal the team looked more confident and many good combinations where found creating many chances with Jonathan C. scoring a header and a far post tip in and that way was crucial in the first win of the season for the team.
Coach Sid after the game had the following to say, "Like I mentioned last week the main goal of our games here at Wall2Wall is to improve as a team and work on the things that need to be worked on. Doing that with a win makes it even better of course. The boys did what I asked from them today and at moments we looked very good. We need to keep our backline organized and mark tighter in the midfield but I am confident that will happen.", Coach Sid continued, "Our player of the game was Jonathan C. today, not only for the obvious reason of scoring our two goals but also because he tried to implement what was asked from him and he did that successfully."
Age/Gender: U18 Boys
Location: Wall2Wall (Indoor)
Result: 0-1 L
Players: Trent; Scott; Drew; Tony; Trevor; Micah; Matthew; Cody; Makay; Declan; Alex; Micah; Triston; Tanner; Marien; Collin; Wyatt; Britton; Kyler (U15)
Player of the game: Trevor
On defense the team played a good game, organized and compact for the most of the time, the boys reduced the space inside and the time for the opponent to build up their game, keeping themselves composed. Despite a collective positive performance, some individual mistakes, especially when we were under pressure trying to build up our game cost us a goal and a pair of other dangerous situations.
Offensively the team had a better performance when compared to last week, moving the ball around with a good dynamic and speed of play what created some good situations to score. It was possible to see moments of good short combinations, with constant movement, however, these kind of moments need to become more effective and consistent, allowing a better control of the game and all their moments.
After the game coach Bruno had the following to say: "I'm happy for what the boys did here today, some good moments of soccer that need to be more consistent, but we're growing as a team, and I believe game by game we will be even stronger. Winning is always good, of course, but at this moment of the season the main goal is the teams progression and creating a solid foundation to face the Spring season" coach Lopes continued" I've said this many times and once again, I'm not worried about these individual mistakes, those are the easiest to correct, so I truly believe the future of this great group of men will be bright". To conclude " today Trevor was nominated as player of the match, everything he did was with quality, very important on defense, with a great positioning and focus and tremendously involved when the team had the ball possession."