Darren mentioned that I saw some positive signs of development in the boys I coached yesterday.
Just to elaborate on what that was-
Too often in games lately we have taken a long time to “switch on” and have been forced to “react” to how the opposition play. This week, in the first game we were by far the more intense and hungry team from the very beginning. This intensity seemed to switch our minds on and the ball movement (and player movement) was of a higher efficiency and quality than most other games. A good lesson there for the boys.
In the second game we were not prepared for the increase in pressure from a stronger (than the other Dandy) team who were systematically pressing. (I was standing right next to their coach who was clearly giving them cues to a press they had worked hard on). We were getting dominated in the first 5 or so minutes and (perhaps) subconsciously we went hiding a little. In past games we would have emotionally found this hard and technically suffered.
This week though, the boys rose to this challenge. Of course there were plenty of mistakes (from both sides) but I can honestly say every player seemed to want the ball and to take responsibility. Because of this we regularly found a way through the press and out of congestion in a way that we were struggling to earlier in the season. I hope we can keep building on this.