Much better overall today.
The talk before the game was about fighting for the right to play and staying calm composed and positive regardless. We have a few temperamental.players in the group who let the game affect their mindset.
Sometimes this is about worrying about making mistakes.
Errors and mistakes are never an issue. It's the fear of making a mistake or hiding (as a way off avoiding the opportunity to either do well or make a mistake) that is the real problem.
Once players rise to the challenge of potentially stuffing up and see the fear inside their head as the enemy (not the mistake nor the opposition) then this will help a players mindset enormously. If players can cultivate a clarity of mind that focuses on the process , and nothing else then again this will help.
Blaming others or looking for excuses is another issue in the group. This does not work as a developmental process. When players act positively towards each other and focus on their process and getting the big picture process right next time (if it breaks down this time), again will help the team enormously.
At an individual level the process is : Think throughout, receive (solve problems) , create (angles), release (improve the position of ball), support. It is that simple.
At a team level. It is play away from congestion ( pressure) and towards space. Again really simple stuff.
Today we did this very well at times. At times the movement of the ball and the combination play was excellent. Possibly some of the best we have played.
The final part of the team process is to fight for the right to play and fight for the right to win (not that we have covered this in a collective way yet....but we will).
Playing Man City type football ( which is always my long term aim) is extremely difficult physically. The fact it looks so easy is misleading. Good young players sometimes think that because they are good they can work less, when in fact, if they want to play in a man city type team and style, then the opposite is true. The desire to win the ball back needs to be ridiculous. The desire to mental destroy the opposition, both in and out of possession, needs to be ridiculous. This comes about from the desire to fight for the right to enforce the process.
I felt in the last quarter today there was a period where we did this. We were one nil down, but we smothered them with our process. They couldn't get out and we implemented the individual and team process well. The combination of fight and the process of play was really enjoyable to watch.
The challenge for the boys at training last week and today, was to work together and for each other, and i think they did this for large parts of today. Perhaps only dropping in the second quarter and third but picked themselves after this.
Yes, we cant defend set pieces, crosses or shots......which comes back to the fight thing. If players don't fight in and around the goal, we will gift teams goals that they don't deserve and not score goals we could have.
This is not something i will coach yet.
If the boys want to win games then they must take care of the fight.....if they don't want to fight for the win, then that is their choice.
I only care about the process of play and development of players at this stage. The players need to take care of the winning. They need to own their own desire to achieve this. It can not be external.