A Friendly in the Park

Quick Introductions: I’ve blogged a lot in my life. It’s embarrassing to look back at what I’ve written before[adoloscent angst]. My thoughts here will be strictly soccer coaching related. They might be short or lengthy if need be, but it will be easier than tweeting it all.
I might do a bigger introduction on what I expect this medium to do/be in the future.
The field was a lot more nicer than I initially expected, but it was a welcomed sight. I got the text Thursday but with a free weekend in hand I agreed to a friendly scrimmage with another local club. Two 30 minutes half was perfect for the nice sunny & brisk Philadelphia evening.
I initially thought I would be unable to field a starting XI plus substitutes, thankfully they loaned me a few players each half. The reinforcements were talented and kind kids. Those scenarios can always be awkward for young teenagers.
Included in my squad were two boys who never played competitive XI vs XI soccer, one of them just joined our team two weeks ago & had never played on a soccer team. As well, two eighth graders, one freshman, and four sophomores.
Maybe I was being brash or naïve, but I played the first half in a 3-4-3 & the second half in a 3–5–2. If I’m being honest, I didn’t have any true defenders on my team. It was a carousel of kids playing centre-backs. Although, they were hardly tested they covered up counter-attacks and did not allow big switches or crosses to isolate any defender.
My decision to play three in the back was aided in part by the plethora of battle tested midfielders I had. Although my kids have a petulance to attempt dribbling past three defenders [and at times completing that task], they did bunker down and complete a lot more give & go’s that I asked of them.
The wingbacks often found themselves with amble space. They got into wide spaces often and I can recall about 5 good crosses to their teammates. Defensively, it was a task to yell at them to track back & sometimes they drifted into the middle of pitch and became a quasi striker [lmao].
The first half of a front three was fun to watch as several attempts/foot races ensued to get the ball down the wide offensive channels to my team. The switch to two strikers didn’t make the offensive any noticeably better or worse.
If anything, picking certain players as the CAM in the second half gave my team so much more bite. We caused hell in the middle of the pitch[wingbacks did help in creating space as a whole I would say]. My midfield has technique but there were some tough kids in there too.
The kid who never just joined our team performed well when needed. Offensively, it was hard for him to get involved in build up nor did he get chances to chase a pass. However, on defense he showed incredible composure in two different occasions as pressure on him to pass the ball was imminent. The lad had played American football before, it aided him tremendously as centre-back.
Overall a 4–1 victory for my kids. However, nothing was on the line & it was just a friendly so CTFO bro.
