Substitutes

I've always said that subs make all the difference in adult soccer leagues. Yesterday proved me correct again. We had six (6) subs and the final score was 4-1 in our favor. The other team had no subs, but even with them would have struggled against us. We looked great despite missing our best player and at least one of our better players. Three of our players yesterday were brand new additions that we may pick up to replace the no-shows we’ve had so far. I’m thankful for all of them. I was also glad to see some other players that have been missing due to vacations.

This week is critical. We have a scrimmage scheduled for Tuesday night and hopefully another for Sunday (I’m still working on that one). Any players that haven’t been out to a game yet, and don’t make at least one scrimmage, I think we’ll have to drop. It doesn’t matter how good a player is if they don’t come to games. We also found the right line-up for our players, I think. We were trying to make a 3-5-2 work because we had so many mid-field players. We switched to a 4-4-2 to give us a more solid defense and it seems to have worked better. We also pushed our outside mid-fielders out wide and that created a couple of great opportunities. I think we’re going to stick with the 4-4-2. We started it out as a flat back four, but for the second half we pushed a little and played a stopper/sweeper. That seemed to have really made the difference as we really started opening up opportunities and occupying the middle of the field.

I had one good left-footed shot in the second half, but couldn’t get quite enough pace on the ball for a goal. I placed it well and the keeper had to dive for it, but it just needed a little more strength to find the net. I felt good in the mid-field, but I need to hold the ball and distribute better. As I continue to get back in shape I’ll be able to run up and down the field more readily as well. By the end of the season I should be able to run the center mid with Franz and be very effective.