2007-08 Season Preview: Men With Principles
Some of you may have noticed that for Logica's 2007/08 campaign the registration fees are slightly higher than in previous years. It's with this increased funding that and unveil their new Tier One approach to Sunday League football management. The Supremi pair chartered a 46 foot cruise ship and set-off on a pre-season holiday to unwind before the long season ahead. In the heart of middle-England, we pen this pre-season review for you, the Logical FC faithful.
On this beer and sambuca fuelled bank holiday weekend we have discussed anything that can help bring success to the club from increased capacity at the Stade d'Ilea, to matching fixing and bungs. After many lengthy discussions we finally agreed we should all live and die by three footballing rules passed down one from senior club member. will be enforcing the following principles to be known simply as PTY:
The approach here is one that, if followed, should bring many years of glory to the club. One problem last year was that the team spent long periods of play chasing the ball. If we can instead make this the opposition's problem by retaining possession for long periods of play, we should then be able to utilise our superior fitness levels, therefore creating more chances and ultimately scoring more goals.
In too many games last season we resorted to a long ball over the top. Instead, this season we should aim for a slower passing approach. The starts at the back where defenders should expect to receive the ball and the midfield shouldn't hesitate to move the ball backwards if there is no obvious forward pass.
We've also spent a lot of time discussing formations from 's clean-sheet-guaranteed-flat-back-ten, to 's more adventurous attacking line-ups utilised by and in the Algarve. What we've settled on (for now) is a diamond formation. It was felt that a holding player in front of the back four was necessary, and this formation should give us the balance we need. Obviously formations and tactics will be flexible dependent on many factors including resources and performance. The diamond formation will require flexibility within the squad and players may be called on to play in positions they are not accustomed to.
The friendly against Lansdown earlier this week showed signs that we had it in us to get the ball on the deck, and help each other out making it as easy as possible for our team mate on the ball.
We cannot kid ourselves that we are going to be the fittest team in Division 2 [perhaps not even in Division 8!] so using the ball sensibly, and with simplicity, is key. If we see consistent long balls during a game from the midfield onwards, we will [well, perhaps not ] go mental! Let's have confidence in ourselves to pick out a pass. I have seen it in training and we can all do it. I am guessing you know who's writing this part of the preview!!
Also talking, shouting, loudness, LETTING THEM KNOW YOU ARE THERE!!!! We want to see this happen in every game. We play Sunday morning football: we are not librarians, and there was a time at Riverside Lands last season where the bloke planting his spuds in the allotments behind the pitch and urging them to grow was making more bloody noise!!
If we consistently hear 's monotonous Zippy-from-Rainbow-esque tones in every game, if he is the only person shouting "MAN ON!" and shouting it again, you will all feel the wrath.
Talking / shouting not only helps us out and makes it easier for us, it also shows the oppo that we mean business, that we take it seriously, and that we are turning up for a game of football and not a game of bowls. DO IT, NO EXCUSES!!
The teams we will play this season will go after every ball, every decision and every tackle – let's make sure we do the same.
Our first game is against Shoots and Leaves who were unbeaten last year, clocking up 21 wins and a draw as they ran away with the Division Five title. And they don't appear to be out of their depth after a jump of three divisions, as they got off to a winning start yesterday by beating Parklife 6-3 to top the nascent Division Two table. So this certainly won't be an easy game, and we need to make sure we have a strong squad available to hit the ground running. We then have a game every week until the Christmas break which should allow us to be more consistent than last year. We're both excited about the challenge ahead and look forward to seeing you all soon.