TeamGeist

Winner of the Dunman High All Stars Honorary (summa cum
laude or on wenjie’s face) Award announced! Visit http://www.friendster.com/3376391

Thanks Sijie! =)

Time for a quick update (while we have a 2 week hiatus). It’s been a while since I last posted, updating this blog requires more discipline than I thought..especially when we are not thrashing our opponents..but that’s not to say we are runaway leaders either.

If this was a report book, we deserve a B. Not as good as we expected (at start of season) but considering the number of players we have been missing the past few games (gabriel, qihui, eddie, ziquan, cheney, keehuat, shengda, kueychee), I say  we are okie. There was also that spell in mid-season where we kept losing our lead, and of cos, the current spell where we keep losing our head (has it been 3 games in a row we got someone sent off??)… Some thoughts on how the season has panned out:

1. Attendance: For me, I want to win, but really it’s as much about having an excuse to meet up regularly with old friends (dhs or otherwise) of 14 years +-. Who else you know meets up like what, 40-50 times a year??  I’ve been playing regularly with 2 old teams (average 40+ years old), and I see how much they treasure this opportunity. We will be like that too, but I hope not when we are 40ish, but soon.

2.  Tactics: I think it’s time to show our appreciation for the gaffer. Not just in terms of him playing regularly despite nursing bad knee injuries, but for the willingness to take charge. It is never easy to lead a bunch of opinionated guys. I was reading an old post

"And yes Gabe, please speak up more. Im at a loss during matches sometimes also so i need input and help from everyone. I don’t know how i ended up being the gaffa presently but since i’m here i’ll try my best, but doesnt mean my decisions are always on the right track. For example, if you think i should be off during the last 25 min of the game for Eddie, please tell me. Because in the match i was quite heated up, and didnt make a decision to sub myself off when there wasn’t anyone advising so… no need to be too subtle, just tell me straight in the face…!"

Another line,

"Probably you will disagree with my changes but I really would wanna experiment around . I think the first season we should just experiment around with players formations? Please feedback - the 5 -2 -3? To end the mail, i really think today was just bad luck and a pair of bad boots. So let’s just win the next and prove to ourselves we still got something left in us. Remember - ‘Ntg aint gonna be too big for us.’"

As an afterthought, we could have done more to experiment and tried out the gaffer’s ideas. Of course, sometimes it’s easy to point fingers at tactics and too many substitutions when things don’t go well but the key takeaway here is that we should remember that this is a season for experimentation.

3. Next season: Will there be a next season? Should we trim the squad? Does anyone else care? I hope to keep this team alive, but it is a difficult period now, with so many players injured and others a bit less dedicated due to work or other personal reasons. But I read other football blogs (eg. Tusser) and I realise this is a common problem. I think it is easier to form a team of good players that focuses on winning than a team of good friends that wins together. But nobody wins forever (don’t say arsenal..) and it will be the team of friends that take tough times better and emerge stronger.

meanwhile, let’s end the season on a high with 2 out of 2!

Wenjie: "As promised(to gab), I shall start off this week’s match report with the headlines: If only…

For those that weren’t present at the match, pls dun be mistaken that it was a game of missed chances..rather this headline was inspired by the constant nagging that I suffered from gabriel (my excellent def central partner) throughout the whole course of the game.. I keep on hearing comments such as: Wah, if I was in that position I would have just lobbed the keeper…if only I was playing as a striker, we wld be more than 2 goals up now..etc.

Never have I heard my Def C partner Kao-beying so much abt him being played in tht position.

Jokes aside, I dun think we played particularly well. However, in that kind of weather and the fact that we were lacking in players, I think it is a great result. Kudos to everyone who turned up(incl Kaiqi!) even though Jueh din play, he still helped to motivate the team. Ninghao must be oso mentioned for praise. W/o gloves and playing 1st match as a GK in such bad
weather and oso suffering from a back strain, he put up a credible performance, stopping a couple of shots.

Pang yew and ernest did well upfront, playeed very well in holding up the ball for others to join the
attack. great awareness from them as well, in scoring the goals. Lianshu did well as well, scored a kio sai goal but nonetheless ran his heart out for the team.

He also" fought" vv hard for the team…and I mean this literally…raining punches but miss…

Steven and Nic did well, containing the opponents wingers and stopped crosses from coming in. Nic had a slow start but after a while managed to settle in v well and cleared a number of through balls and stopped their burly striker on numerous occassions.

Cheney’s corners were superb, vv accurate and created havoc in the opponent’s pen box but still abit soft leh. anyway "Gaucho " plays like tht…i can
understand.

Ok Kah yong and Calvin ran and closed down their midfield well..especially Calvin. Personally I wld
think this match MOM goes to Calvin. He hassled the opponents until alot of them became vv du lan with him.

All in all, hope we can keep this winning run..looking forward to the next match..for those who din turn up, pls turn up and fight for ur places!! Have a good week ahead."

Gabriel: "notice wenjie used the words ‘jokes aside’.
the entire team was playing well enough to allow wenjie n myself to talk a lot of cock during the game. 
so dun misunderstand! I’m happy to play where the team wants me to.."

Lianshu: "EH .. din fight very hard la…
much as i wish to but my loose shoulders stopped me doing so …
damn, i missed the punch, next time i’ll hit on target i am sure, then again
it’ll not happen la. ha ha …"

Cheney: "ok..i promise to improve my technique and my leg power, kicking
distance and most impt, my stamina…skills wise…im static…haiz…gaucho"

Here’s something the opponents wrote about the match.

Visit Cheesie, she’s cute! ;>

Match Report (Match
Day 1)

Final Score: 5-3

Man of the Match: Kim

Opponent: The Hornets

Venue: Eastview Secondary

Starting line-up

1. Ziquan
        (GK)
2. Pangz/Wenjie/Kah
        (RB)
3. Ninghao
        (LB)
4. Jinjie/Steven
        (CB)
5. Wenjie/Kah
        (CB)
6. Ban
        Hock/Eddie(MR)
7. Justin
        (aka Xian) (ML)
8. Steven/Kah
        (DM)
9. Eddie
        (MC)
10. Lianshu/Pangz
         (AM)
11. Kim (ST)

The team fell behind after 15mins after we lost possession
in midfield and the opponent shot from outside the box. The ball bounce in
front of the keeper and went over the keeper’s shoulder into the goal. Although
a soft goal, it once again showed the team’s inability to settle down into
formation in the opening minutes of the match.

The team stabilized after conceding the first goal but
failed to dominate the midfield as the opponent chose to play long ball
tactics. Their tactic seemed simple, pump the ball into midfield where their
No. 10 will win the ball and lob it to their wingers with his first touch.
Though not technically superior, No. 10, beat us in terms of his physique, both
vertically and horizontally.

Failure to win the high ball in the midfield subsequently
forced the DCs to push forward to help win aerial battles but this left gap at
the back for the opponent’s wingers to exploit. Only poor finishing and heroics
from Ziquan prevented more goals being conceded.

Dunman’s first goal came courtesy of striker, Kim. The
skipper capitalized on the opponent’s inability to clear the corner out of the
box and half volleyed the ball through a crowd of players and a fortunate
deflection.

Dunman’s second goal came once again from striker, Kim. This
time it was a superbly placed lob which floated into the top left hard corner
of the keeper’s goal. 2-1.

Opponents drew level after miscommunication between DC,
Jinjie and GK, Ziquan. Hesitation to collect a long ball (as usual) allowed the
opponent’s striker to sneak in between them and head the ball over Ziquan.

In the second half, a late tackle by Steven on No. 10
resulted in a penalty being awarded. Even though No. 10 made a meal of the
tackle, it was a foul nevertheless. At 2-2, Dunman could not afford to be
behind again as signs of exhaustion was showing and players were finding it
hard to cope with the opponent’s rolling substitution. But Ziquan once again
stepped up and save the penalty which in all fairness wasn’t that well taken
anyway.

Not long after Dunman was himself awarded a penalty, however
it had a greater impact on us as it resulted in the double shoulder dislocation
of veteran AM, Lianshu. Much to the dismay of Eddie, he had to go onto the
pitch again to replace the injured Lianshu.

Kim shouldered (no pun intended) the responsibility of the
penalty and slotted it calmly to the right of the keeper who guessed wrongly
and dived to his left. Hat-trick. 3-2.

Dunman needed a 4^th goal to ensure victory and it
couldn’t have been a more spectacular goal. Running down the right flank, Right
winger, Ban Hock took a shot from the wing and found the back of the net. As he
ran shouting and cheering back into position, no one could deny the class of
the goal, except maybe Adrian who
would demand for the goal committee to check whether it was an intended goal or
a shot on goal.

At 2 points during the game, Eddie showed his worth to the
team by instigating 2 yellow cards for the opponents. Midfield maestro,
Kahyongo, also showed great inspiration when he took the ball from midfield and
dribbled past 6 players. Although it did not lead to a goal, it served to
motivate the other players in the team.

Dunman players played with heart but their legs were tired
and their lungs were burning. With no one left on the substitute bench, the
team began to lose its shape. As wingers pushed up to attack, they were quite
often found too far and too tired to track back and help out in defense when
possession of the ball was lost. Personally I feel it’s more of a tactical
mistake than individual lack of discipline. When leading the game with 2 goals,
and no players for substitution, there simply wasn’t a 2^nd more
defensive tactic to contain the opponent and hold on to our lead. Instead,
attackers continue to attack with gusto only to be left winded and leaving the back
4 to stop the fresher legs of the opponents.

The opponent continued to threaten with long balls and a
free kick in to the box wasn’t cleared by Dunman’s LB (who shall not be
mentioned) allowing the opponent to be let through on goal and score. 4-3.

Dunman continued to attack without realizing that changes in
players and positions had left the team with no holding midfielder. Dunman was
fortunate to escape unpunished for the rest of the match for this tactical hind
sight and was even gifted with a goal when a poor clearance fell to AM, Pang
Yew to slot calmly pass the keeper. 5-3.

A fortunate victory for Dunman which also further exposed
Dunman’s weakness in handling long balls. Hopefully, the return of players for
the next match would give the team a boost both in tactical options as well as
physical freshness during the match.

Physically the team had performed well although there is
still a lot of room for improvement. Against a younger team, Dunman players
proved to be stronger and faster than them. Stamina wise, to be able to cope
with a team with rolling sub is no small feat.

Though edging out the opponent technically, it must be
pointed out that Dunman All Star us unlikely to be the most technically gifted
team in the league. Therefore there is a dire need for players to play as a
team.

This leaves us with the tactical aspects of the match. I
have no doubt that tactics would be our greatest strength and individually we
are all intelligent enough to adapt to changing tactics. Therefore we should utilize
our smartness and contain the opponent’s strengths and exploit their weakness
during matches. I don’t encourage the wholesale changing of tactics during the
match (except during half time) because we are not pro enough and this will
only serve to create chaos between role definitions. Instead, key figures in
each department, defense, midfield and attack, should recognize tactical
inadequacies and control their department. For example, when the opponent’s
striker today has a tendency to drift to the wings so defense must be alert
enough to pick up the extra man in the wing. Since the opponent’s tend to pump
long balls and their lob it over our defense, then the midfield have to provide
support to the MC trying to win the ball so that DCs do not have to push
forward leaving space for opponents to run into.

In conclusion, it was a good effort by everyone but a need
to be tactically more adaptable. We must be prepared to make changes to gain
control of the game and not expect all our opponents to play the same way.

Mark your calendars: 13 June 2006

After a 1 year hiatus, team skipper Gabradinho is returning to beef up the squad.

A strong player who is comfortable in all positions across the midfield, Gabradinho was a cornerstone of the all-conquering Dunman All Boys team of the 1990s. He was also vice-captain of the not-too-bad VJC team of 1999 that made it to the A division Finals. His mesmerising dribbles are expected to provide the cutting edge to the team’s offence and team-mates are rubbing their hands in glee. 

Meanwhile, opponents are trembling on news of his comeback as his "fuck lah followed by scary stare"s are legendary. If all goes to plan, Gabradinho is expected fly in on the 13th, report for training on the 14th and should be able to start warming the bench for the game against Sunday Football Club on the 18th.

                          the one on the right

Contributed by freelance writer Zifu

Hey guys. Some basics when our side takes goal kicks.

1) Full backs try to go to the sides of the penalty box to receive the
ball if not under any pressure.

2) If an outfield player is taking the goal kick, the back line must
fall back slightly deeper.

3) Keep eyes on the flight of the ball.

Contributed by freelance writer Zifu

Guys

just some basic rules and tips on throw-ins.

Rules
1) Both feet must be on the ground when the ball leaves your hands.
Doen’t have to be in line, can have one behind the other but MUST be
on the ground.

2) Position of the hands(with ball) should start behind the head.

3) At the point of releasing the ball, hands must fall below the eye
level.

4) Ball shold be released with one swift motion by swinging the arms
from behind the head and releasing the ball at 45 degrees (optimal)
from your forehead. Do NOT throw the ball by flicking your wrists. It
is also considered a foul throw. Just lock your wrists.(This actually
helps to generate power in your throw)

Tips
1) Try to throw down the line (towards the opposition goal) or within
a 90 degrees arc (from sideline to a line perpendicular to the
sideline). This adds pressure to teh opponent. Throwing back towards
our goal is highly unadvisable unless there is absolutely no opponent
and the receiving player has a good touch. If not, might result in
opponents stealling the ball and counter-attacking.

2) We are not professionals like Gary Neville. Receiving Players must
either run into space to receive the ball, have excellent technique
to control the ball with the marker behind you, flick the ball on,
return the ball to the thrower or act as a decoy. Many possible
variations. Let’s practise on this.

3) There is no offsides in throw-ins!!! Capitalise on this.

This is all I have to contribute for now. You can check out the
official FIFA ruling on this but its its gonna be hard to make sense
of the technical mumbo jumbo.

Let’s make sure we do not make any more unavoidable mistakes (not
juzt throw-ins) in the next match.

Zifu