The Tail End of the Season
Under 16s League Champions
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The Recap
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written about my day to day coaching here in London and what a few weeks it has been. This article will detail the last four weeks with the Under 16s group as we became league champions in my first season with the club. A massive achievement that I’m hugely proud of and my first ‘title’ as a coach.
In Short
The league consisted of 12 teams and had come down to three teams: Chatham Town Academy, Soccer Elite FC & us, Welling United.
Following two unnecessary draws against weaker opponents I thought the league was out of reach for us. Going into the last four games of the season we were third and still needed to play Soccer Elite twice and Chatham away - the two teams above us also competing for the league. We needed to win the last four games of the season, taking points off our direct rivals and finishing with a game against the team coming last.
Technically speaking, everything was in our hands, however despite only losing one game to date, I wasn’t sure if the boys had the commitment and mentality to push on and win the league. I’ve detailed in various other articles about the lack of commitment to training and even games from some players and thus it made me question if we would be strong enough for the end of the season.
Fortunately, I was very wrong!
Soccer Elite (Away)
This was the game where it all finally clicked and we truly become a team rather than a collective of individuals. We were away at one of our title rivals and a team who was above us.
This was the first game back with the team after being away for two weeks in Spain and we had only one training session to prepare. We had reached a point where our system and style of play was ingrained and therefore I focused my pre game energy and talk on trying to emphasise the importance of the game and how this was a great chance for us to step up individually and collectively.
We lined up in our usual 1-3-4-1-2, focused on overloading the middle of the field to progress and forcing our opponent into wide areas for our WBs to win the ball back.
We started the game superbly and missed three really good chances to go ahead. Unfortunately - as had become common - we weren’t able to score. Defensively we were very good and denied the opponent any clear chances, although we weren’t able to disrupt their build up as much as I would have liked. Fortunately our back line was strong and dealt with any opponent attacks.
A goal in the first half, followed by another just before the end gave us a solid 2-0 win. That day, it truly felt like the boys begun to believe in themselves and - more importantly - in their teammates.
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Soccer Elite (Home)
We had the reverse fixture against Soccer Elite two weeks later (after the Easter Break). This was by far our best and most complete performance of the season. It was pure domination (which is going to sound strange once you read the result), as we completely imposed our playing style on the opponent.
We lined up with five natural midfielders who dominated the ball and created numerical superiorities all over the field. The system was the same, 1-3-4-1-2 with a versatile midfielder playing as left wing back and one of our 10s playing as one of the strikers.
Our left WB would roll inside when he felt he could in behind their midfield line, while the 2nd striker had freedom to roam into any area.
And so after completely dominating the game in both attack and defence we contrived to miss numerous chances and then conceded with the first shot against. 1-0 down. Football ah. Fortunately, our LCB went on a mazy run, taking on 5 of their players and scoring the equaliser just before half time. 1-1 at the break.
There wasn’t too much to say at half time. We were playing superbly but needed to be clinical and maintain our tempo and intensity. We went 3-1 up in 2nd half only to concede another two goals from set pieces just inside our half (a serious issue throughout the season which we never worked on).
The boys showed great character to continue playing our football and we continued to create plenty of chances. We scored the fourth to deservedly win the game 4-3 and probably could and should have had another couple.
A top performance. BELIEVE INSTILLED!
Chatham Town (Away)
And so the penultimate game of the season. The game that would more or less decide who would be champions. First (Chatham) vs second (Welling). The equation was simple: Chatham Town on 26 points with only this game left to play. Welling United on 22 points with two games left to play. Anything but a win to us would mean the league would be Chatham’s. If we won, we would be in pole position to win the title by beating the team at the bottom of the league a few days later.
It was a very intense and physical match. Our opponents understood the assignment and pressured us constantly high up the field. We were unable to deal with this except when we played direct. They pressed us in a 1-4-4-2 high block which the team really struggled with.
Our build up is very much oriented towards our left side, with our CB and LCB being a lot better in possession than our RCB. Our RCB can often be a little nervous on the ball and won’t provide an option for the team to build through him. This means that often, once were start our build up down the left side, we need to find solutions down this same side to play through, around or over.
Chatham forced us to play into the middle and then constantly jumped and pressed out two pivots. Our free man would have been the 10 but our pivots were unable to move and manipulate their direct opponents to open up the passing lanes into him.
As mentioned, our main way out was to play direct into one of our strikers. This was clear but we didn't do it enough throughout the first half.
Their playing style was focused on winning the ball and playing forward at speed, always looking for early passes in behind our defence. We were playing into their press, so this worked well for them in the first half and they had two really good chances to score. We had some half chances but nothing clear.
We changed to a 1-4-2-3-1 in the second half and this completely swung the game. It pushed their wide players a little deeper and reduced the pressure on our backline and pivots. We had to win and were probably wasting a player in possession by having three CBs. Of course the danger was that we would now only have two CBs to control the transition, however they are both good 1v1 defenders and have speed.
It continued to be a very even match but one in which we had much more control, playing the majority of the second half inside the opponent’s half. However, we just couldn’t create any good chances. The game was screaming out for some individual brilliance - and we have 2-3 players that can definitely offer this.
And just as it looked like we weren’t going to find that elusive goal, our most talented player received the ball on the turn inside their half after a superb defensive action from one of our CBs. He drives at the defence and one of our strikers makes a run which drags their central defender out. Enough room for our player on the ballcto get a sight of goal (this player has one of, if not the best left foot I’ve coached). Bottom right corner from outside the box, a last minute goal to win 1-0 and win the league!!!!
WE HAD DONE IT!!!
Final Thoughts
We proceeded to officially win the league four days later with a comfortable and mature 4-0 win against the bottom placed team.
It was a very proud moment for me as a coach (perhaps the best of my career so far), winning the league with this group of young men. Not simply because we won - which is a great achievement - but because of the process and journey to get here.
My very first job in London as a Head Coach. New country, new culture, new club, new team. I joined the club two weeks into the season and took over a newly assembled team. The boys had never played together before and they didn’t know me. They probably wondered who this guy from Australia was.
It’s probably been the most challenging role I’ve had, yet the most rewarding. We worked hard to build a team of individuals into a collective. To help these young men become better footballers.
I remember the first game of the season. It was last September against the exact same opponent we played to win the league - Chatham Town Academy. A 3-1 loss and the realisation of the job ahead. Week by week, bit by bit, setback by setback we got better and stronger. We developed an identity and playing style and became a TEAM.
Proud!
FELICITACIONES JULI!... UN GRAN LOGRO!