Now That's How We Play...

What a difference a week (and perhaps some sleep...???) makes...!

It was like watching a different team today, compared to last week. Maybe the change of formation helped, but what was clear was the effort and drive from every player was huge. And the smiles were big too...

Hook delighted the away supporters with some fantastic football, drawing some great praise from the opposition's manager, that served to keep Fleet on the back foot for the majority of the game. Two wonderful goals were scored from moves exactly delivered in the manner the coach was asking for immediately prior to the game: the first a great combination of quick passes, placed in front of the intended player; the second quick passing from the back, through the midfield, from the left, switching to the right, and an early cross for one of the forwards to chase in. Job done!

All that said, Fleet were a resilient team, played some good, strong football themselves, and had a number of devastatingly impressive corners delivered - any one of which needed just a slight touch in the right direction. It was great to see Hook challenging for the clearances, and quickly too...

There was a slight concern, particularly early in the second half, where the midfield pressed forward a lot and tended to leave huge gaps behind them, with only 2 defenders to cover. The positional discipline MUST be worked on, as it was for this reason the first friendly was lost in the last 3 minutes.

Communication could still be better across the team, but there was some good talking between individuals - the defensive pair, the central midfield pair, and the front pair.

Across the pitch, there were some really good performances, and much improved by a number from last week. However, for a sterling effort in the centre of midfield, winning countless headers, quick wide distribution (as asked for by the coach), and generally running his legs off, Man of the Match goes to L B.