GU12 vs Salisbury

All

First a few dates to note - there is training this Saturday 9 till 10 - it will be adult and child training so parents welcome to participate

Next game is Sunday 10th at home to Southampton (top of league they are I believe) - push back 10am be there for 09.30 sharp please. On 17th of November we have a friendly at 10am against Havant in Havant and on 24th of November we play Havant for league - time tbc (again in Havant). I will confirm all this nearer the time.

Some learning points from today at the bottom of the email - please talk about these with your children. And a big thank you to all the parents for their support and making the trip to Salisbury today.

Back to today. We were not joking having to play 2 teams - Salisbury had 19 players but no GK - we had 12 but Salisbury overall was the better team. I think we panicked and had no composure on the ball - that is something coaches need to work on with the team. But none of the girls gave up and they played their hearts out (even with injuries sustained during the game - Maja and Eva). I have to say some fantastic goalkeeping by Sophie with an amazing stick save in the top right corner. Our goal came from Lotte but unfortunately we could not get the ball forward to often and we hardly got to the D. Tried to move Isobel and Eve around in last 20 minutes to confuse Salisbury but this did not help either. So overall this meant the defense was under pressure most of the time. But good game to learn from so let's see if we can do one better again and get back to winning ways.

So couple of things to work on:
- Do not panic on the ball - if not sure always go sideways (to the sideline) or put it on opponent foot!
- Never hit the ball on purpose over your own byline - that is penalty corner for the other team. Again go to the sideline.
- You cannot wait for the ball - if the ball comes your way go to it - this is called posting up. We will train on this
- Play to the whistle. Just because the ball hits your foot – do not stop playing (today it hit our foot in our D, we stopped but Salisbury scored)
- Take a touch - control the ball - and then score. Do not act rash. Take your time and control the ball.
- If you ask for the ball, you need to be free. Too often we are asking for the ball when there are 4 people from opposition in the way (we cannot get the ball to you)
- Your role on the pitch - coach to explain in more detail what is required (e.g. from a leftback or midfield players and a forward) - this will allow us to keep more width

See you all at next training