Adversity is often a word thrown around all too easily as an excuse for things not quite working out. It is easy to say that things got tough and that the problems we faced were just insurmountable. The hardest thing to do is to understand you are going through adversity and continue to fight. We are all capable of succeeding when everything falls into place. The sign of a true competitor is succeeding in the face of all adversity.
As we took to the field against Bryan college the team was in good spirits. The downpours of rain over the previous day meant that with the men playing before us the field was not in ideal shape. But to use this as an excuse would be to take away from all the hard work we had put into the preparations. The field is the same for both teams, and it would be unfair to anybody to use such an excuse for the reason we didn’t get the winning start we wanted on our home field.
As with the game against Montreat we started the game well, maintaining possession and looking very comfortable on the ball. Bryan sat back and allowed us the ball early on, giving us the space and freedom we must take advantage of. After around 15 minutes this changed when Bryan began to apply pressure higher up the field, and all credit to them for realizing our style of play and changing there style to counteract it. Once this pressure was applied we were knocked out of our rhythm slightly and began playing a little too direct, causing few problems for Bryan’s back line. At the same time Bryan began creating some chances, effectively playing the ball long into wide areas and pushing high up the field to get numbers around the ball.
As the first half wore on we began to sit deeper and deeper and allow Bryan to move the ball in the spaces we were leaving. Although many of their attacks never really caused us a problem we failed to get stuck in and break the game up as we needed to. Unfortunately this cost us a goal as we failed to move the ball efficiently out of our defensive third. For the remainder of the first half we battled back but never really moved the ball clinically enough to create and clear cut chances.
The half time team talk was centered around our ability to keep the ball, and the ability we must have to believe in ourselves and one another. It was made clear that our style of play and technical ability is much better than both teams we have played, but we must produce the results to reflect this.
The second half started well and with a high Tempo. We began moving the ball well and applying pressure higher up the field. As we continued to push on we were rewarded with another goal from Ana Derrico. Once this goal had gone in I felt that the flood gates could open and we could go on and win the game comfortably. Unfortunately we never quite showed that killer instinct, and in fairness to Bryan, they came back fighting.
The key to our game style is patience, and the toughest thing about developing this is the ability to be calm under pressure and fully understand the amount of time the game allows. As the game wore on we again became more direct in our play, opting for quick fixes rather than giving ourselves time on the ball to build an attack. Bryan continued there style of play, playing direct, finding wide areas, and were again rewarded with a goal to make the scoreline 2-1 in the closing stages.
This is ultimately how the game ended moving us to 0-2-0 on the season. As a young team it is hard to take when you cannot see the reward for the work that has been put in. I know every player has given their all and will continue to do so. The season is long and I am positive the results will come. As a coach I would rather work towards the long term benefit for the team than short term results. It would be easy to change our style of play to get results in the short term, but then we are not developing as soccer players and coaches, we are just developing our own egos. Once we develop the belief we need in our style of play and can execute it for large periods of the game, we will be exactly where we need and deserve to be.
On a side note, we must remember that soccer is just a game and the health of all our athletes is our number one priority. Over the past 2 weeks we have had several injuries that have kept players out of games, and some that will keep players out of future games. Whilst I know the desire for all my athletes is to play and to win, the most important thing is that we are all healthy and realize how blessed we are to have the opportunity we have.
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