Hi All,
Can we begin by thanking you parents for getting all boys who were playing in the first match to OE's bang on time, this warm up period is so important. It provides them with the chance to get their bodies moving and also very importantly the chance to get them focused on the match. Please can we keep this going throughout the season.
Match 1
Again another confident start to the match, we looked assured on the ball and moved it round the pitch well. Similar to last week we showed a great physical presence on the pitch which WSS were struggling to deal with. Last week, we spoke about great approach play but lacking a clinical finish or a final ball. Not this week our approach play again was excellent and some of our goals were top notch. If we had been shown on Match of the day, Hansen and Shearer would of purred about the boys. Nathan Fernandes finished off an excellent four man move, with a sweet first time left foot strike. Adam Morris who scored an excellent hat trick, scored a fantastic volley following a great bit of work down the right from the energetic, tough tackling Bentley.Overall we controlled this game very well, although to be fair WSS did have a period of 6-7 mins when they created a number of opportunities and Lucas was at his best again to keep a clean sheet. Love it !!
Moment of the match
I have seen hundreds of free kicks scored by Azzurri boys over the past four years, however the one scored by Jamie (who scored 2 goals, his first wasn't bad either !!) this week is the best I've seen by a mile. He curled it over the wall and into the top corner...... absolute precision. This capped a great performance by Jamie.
Match 2
This week, it only took us 5 mins to get going so great progress from last week. We moved a number of boys and took them out of their comfort zone by changing their positions. Once we settled down we began to pull WSS all over the pitch and some of the vision shown by the boys and weight of pass was exceptional., at times we cut through them like butter !! Although to be honest we didn't have it all our own way and WSS also created some chances. I feel at this moment a special mention must go to Kevin, who is maturing into a leader amongst the boys, his organisation, communication and encouragement was excellent. Communication is an area we will be really looking to develop with the boys over the coming months. A mention for Joe Fryer who we played on the left of midfield. The mark of an intelligent well rounded young player is when they show they can adapt to different challenges placed on them, Joe done this brilliantly and showed that he is more than just a big powerful centre half.
Moment of the match
Kane or 'one hit Kano' as he's known to his COD mates. When we think of Kane we tend to think of a little wing wizard skipping past players and delivering great balls in with his left foot. Not on Saturday, we placed him in centre mid and asked him if he could run the match from their. He capped a MOM performance with a bit of skill reminiscent of Maradona 86' then had the quality to produce an inch perfect pass for Lawrence to slot away tidily.Great stuff.
Overall
Two pleasing performances, we played with a lot more width and with a better cutting edge this week. We can see the confidence growing in the boys and the enjoyment they are getting from the football they are playing. However we need to make sure we keep our focus for the whole game and don't switch off for periods and let teams back in to the game.
At the end of the game a supporter came up to me and compared our performance to Arsenal in the way we keep the ball and our movement. This is a compliment, in the way the boys entertain. However.... we win things !!
This coming Saturday we face Panathanikos, this will bring different challenges than the first two games, we will need to be physically very strong and use the ball even more intelligently and most of all, we will be looking for all players to show a calm head.
Keepers don't forget Almunia is coming down on Thursday to put you through your paces.
We hope you parents are enjoying the football, thanks for all your help and support, your making our job easier.
See you tomorrow.
Nick & Rodney
Barnet Azzurri U11s
