Barnesalona Cup
Lokomotiv Londres FC 0 v Groovers 4
Loko Lose Without a Fight....!
A non-descript performace from Loko who never really got into the game and struggled to create an sort of fluidity as a team after numerous changes once again from the week before.
It was a pretty even first half in respect to possession and territory without ever creating any chances or testing the keeper at all, with the most to show from the half been a little chip through from Andrea that Dale volleyed over the bar.
Groovers goal came from a ball in behind PJ and Eirik, and with the Loko defenders appealling for off-side the striker carried on had a shot which Ismail (pictured above) parried onto the post and it bounced out to be flicked home by another Groover who was on the floor after colliding with Ismail. It was poor to see the defenders not playing to the whistle as if they had got back, they may have been able to clear off the line.
The referee was not having the best of games and was really pissing Dale off completely for being inconsistent and one sided in the majority of his decisions.
Half-Time Loko 0 v Groovers 1
Stefan came on for Gareth in his first league start of the season, and the second half never really happened at all.
The second Groovers goal came from a cross from the left and unfortunately six foot four inches Eirik was beaten to a header by his five foot three inches opponent, but to be fair to Eirik, he was our strongest player on the day making plenty of tackles, keeping his head up and continually working well.
Their third came down our left when Stephen failed to track his man back, a ball over the top was latched onto down the wing and he put in a great ball for the striker who was somehow unmarked in the middle of the penalty area with no one within ten yards of him and he slid it under Ismail.
Loko created a couple of chances late on when the keeper was stranded Dale tried a lob which he pulled wide, and some nice interplay between Stefan, Dale, Stephen and Roger sent Roger away and he hit his shot from distance over the bar. Roger had another strike late on which the defender managed to block for a corner.
With the possession Groovers had, at times making Loko look silly and pretty embarrassing, they soon added a fourth, when a through ball looked to be Ismail's, he tried to kick the ball when he should have used his hands and flattened the striker, the ball rebounded off the defender and trickled home.
All in all, a shocking day at the office.
Final Score Loko 0 v Groovers 4
Manager Dale Mellor's comments:
"First off an apology from me for getting pissed off with the referee early on and nearly getting sent off, it didn't help anything, and put me in one hell of a mood for the rest of the game. Even though the referee was a toss pot.
I don't know where to start with that one, no one seemed at all bothered, heads went down while we were still level and people were looking for arguments all over the pitch. I heard numerous people slagging off each other for misplaced balls and poor control, and I heard pretty much no encouragement from anyone.
It continues to be only one and two people that say a word on the pitch, and if we are to get any better then that has to change. I don't know how many more times I can repeat this before it sinks in. You can't organise defensive set pieces and organise the defence and midfield without talking to each other, but this seems lost on a lot of players and that's why we concede so many easy goals, because we aren't organised, because nobody has taken control. When people do say something, it has to be as positive as possible and people need to take more responsibility for their own performance and stop blaming others.
I know it doesn't help that we can't for the life of us get a consistent team, and I don't know why that has changed from last season, some players turn up one week then don't bother the next, I appreciate that people have things arranged from time to time, but maybe I will need to look at recruiting more players and that may mean players not being guaranteed a start on their return, because we need players that will be consistent for the club. To have six players by Friday morning is ridiculus.
At the moment I go from fifteen players one week to nine the next and people don't tell me until the Friday afternoon which gives little time to get decent players in. If you know you can't make it, let me know as early as possible, it's difficult replacing lots of people and the more time the better.
Let's see what happens in future, and see if these words have had any effect on the mindset of our team. I look forward to hearing eleven voices on the pitch next Sunday......!?!!
Team Line Up
1. Ismail
2. Vincent
3. Eirik
4. Steve
5. PJ
6. Adrian
7. Gareth
8. Andrea
9. Roger (c)
10. Dale
11. Stephen
12. Stefan (Replaced Gareth 45th Minute)
Man of the Match
A well deserved man of the match for Eirik who worked overtime at the back, put in a very solid and disciplined performance, and barring one missed header would have had a perfect game.
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