Reflections

Hey guys, thought alot after our game tonight, thought some more when I was typing the statistics below. Just took some time to reflect on the game just now. Well, in truth, we played well, and we should give ourselves some credit for that, unlike in some games where we totally like didn't turn up. It does suck losing, and I feel it sucks even more losing when we didn't play badly. But sometimes shit happens, and I guess today was just one of those 'shitty' days.

Below are just some comments about each and everyone in the team who played today. Well, take it with a pinch of salt if you want, ultimately it is just my opinion, so naturally it'll sound biased, but yup, just some random thoughts about tonight's game.

Syafiq
+ : calm and composed in defense, broke up alot of attacks and defended well in 2-on-1 situations
- : fitness ah, must work on it, haha, come run with me!! and that 1 missed lob, heart attack sia

Edwin
+ : good goal, like finally it went it yar, good covering back in defense
- : stronger with your body in dealing with bouncy balls, especially in our top-d area, play the ball out, kick if u have to

Yu Chong
+ : did what all good captains should do, motivating, encouraging, good shielding and holding the ball in attack
- : today didn't try your simple dribble much, u practised so hard, a bit wasted

Gabriel
+ : did well in your shifts today, good closing down on defenders
- : got to be stronger in your 50-50s, you're big tall and strong, so use your advantage, lean on your defender if you must

Victor
+ : good attacking play behind the goal and great hassling, never shy from a challenge
- : got to shoot a little faster, you are in good positions but sometimes the ball hits your blade and bounces, so got to try and control the ball

Timothy
+ : good shielding of your attackers and playing the ball out in tricky situations, fast release of the ball to start our play ups
- : guilty of ball watching at times, especially when they play it behind goal, trust your teammate and stick to your man, be more commanding in defence

Jirong
+ : firm on the ball, hard man on court, great use of your body and good positioning of your stick to block the pass
- : release the ball quicker, and take faster snap shots, communicate more with your centre

Kwan Aik
+ : decent attempts on goal, good covering in defence
- : got to be stronger in challenges and shield the ball, sometimes opening too much to allow tackles

Teng Yen
+ : good tracking back and defending by the boards, got into alot of good shooting chances
- : sometimes showing too much ball in dribbling, shoot faster instead of doing that 1 more dribble

Zhao Hui
+ : good running and closing down on defenders, cut out a number of board passes
- : utilise the option of bringing the play behind the goal, zoom in to the keeper more to pounce on rebounds

Ravin
+ : good lob passes to put the defense under pressure, strong in defense and good use of the body in shielding
- : be firmer when dealing with high balls, especially against opponents quicker than you

Peter
+ : good shots on goal good control of play in the centre
- : got to learn to communicate more with your backline and stick closer to your man

Hilman
+ : in good scoring positions and often open
- : you have to call for the ball, being open but not getting the ball won't bring you goals

Han Feng
+ : good running and chasing as the point of attack, good snap shots on goal
- : move in to shield the keeper more, take rebounds, reset play when attack is not working

Faizal
+ : good shifts in today, did not lift your stick (which I warned you before the game, good job)
- : sometimes your man beats you to easily, don't commit too fast

Jesper
+ : great hassling down on the defenders, took alot of simple dribble shots
- : got to look up sometimes when you have the ball, maybe a pass to a free teammate could be a more viable option

Khairul
+ : great shot stopping, dependable as always
- : sometimes leaving the top half of your goal open

Louis
Sorry you didn't get to play man, but thanks so so much for coming down and providing back-up.

Well I hope I didn't miss out anyone, and I'll be more critical of myself. Running with the ball up too much (thanks for covering Edwin, and Syafiq and Ravin for dealing superbly with the 2-on-1s), poor decision making at times, horrendous lob passes (luckily they didn't capitalise), sometimes too slow to release the pass to start our play ups, need to be stronger in the D (a few close calls), poor shooting accuracy. (don't hate me or kill me ah guys, just blurting out all my emotions and feelings about the game, like i said, my comments are biased, so relax ah =O) )

No doubt this game was a game we had to win to stay up in this Division. But losing tonight doesn't mean we will definitely be relegated right? It just makes the remaining games more exciting. Soccer enthusiasts should know, last season West Ham came from nowhere to string a great run to beat relegation. The season is 11 games long for us, and we still have 3 more games, so anything is still possible. Honestly I'm trully gutted and bitter about tonight's result, but that doesn't mean that I've lost hope. In fact, this result makes me even more fired up for the remaining games, and looking at the 'relegation battle' run in, we have more than a fighting chance of staying up.

This season, we have proven we can play well together, and in fact individually and as a team, we've all improved, but one thing is, I should say, lacking from all of us, is consistency. I agree we all have our off days, but for the remaining games, lets combined all that we've learned, all our improvements and efforts, and build from there.

Like I said before, I hope to help build Saints into a team that can hold their own in Div 1, and I'm proud and honoured to be playing with you guys this season.

3 games

3 wins

It is not beyond us.