As writing challenges go, waxing positive about a 1- 4 home defeat for a team at the bottom of the lowest division must rank up there with the best. Yet somehow I’m undaunted by it.
This game started amidst confusion for me. Eka strolled out in a green kit with a mysterious new sponsor. My first conclusion was that we’d been involved in a minor corporate takeover probably involving a change of name and a colour appropriate to whatever product our owners were flogging. This has happened for many teams but it transpires that today (as you’ll hear announced on the clip below) was simply a case of the new kits not being ready in time so we’d borrowed from another team. Any neutrals watching this game could be forgiven for their confusion though, Kasestart’s fans were decked exclusively in green but cheered every goal against the team on the pitch wearing green.......
Eka have obviously strained to make improvements during the mid-season break. The new coach took just minutes to show he’s more dedicated than our previous stalwart and was on the touchline communicating with the players almost from kick off.
The lads on the turf showed equal renewed vigor, several new faces - whose names I have yet to learn - made an impact. Number 25 appears to be the archetype target man for this level that I’ve stressed the need for many times: not especially fast but tall, heavy built and willing to barge his way through the box. Creative midfielders with a good first touch created so many chances in the opening half that it actually felt a bit like a throwback to last season and the days when we had a whole lot of possession but could not bury our chances. So despite going in 0-2 down at half time thanks to some good attacking by the visitors, I was not down-heartened.
The second half was, sadly, a backwards step. The players began to tire and Kesetstart showed why they made the play-offs last season with a forward line often made up of four players that took their chances well. The final score was 1-4 and by the last few minutes, the players looked resigned to another loss.
However, there were positives to be taken from this game. The new players looked carefully chosen - though there are still no foreigners in the squad - rather than more random signings and it seems that someone has had the good sense to take a look at what is wrong and what can realistically be done to fix it. As mentioned, we have acquired some height and muscle in the front line to match our style of play, we’ve employed a bit more pace in the midfield and the vital presence of former Thai international Janewit in the back line is a blessing.
That said, there are still issues to work on and time is running out. The pitch itself has never been very good this season thanks to the floods of last year (of course there was nothing we could do about that) but it is now looking barely playable, I guess our cost-cuts prevent us treating it. On the tactical side, we still need to work on attacking crosses when our wide players have the ball and I do wish we’d whip in some low crosses instead of playing every cross at a height goalkeepers feel safe with. It’s a matter of percentages - enough low crosses will net us more goals simply due to deflections and chance alone, let alone what our new forwards can scramble in. Finally, the fitness levels looked lacking slightly in this game, probably due to the new lads bedding in and the mid-season break.
It’s very important to remember that Kesetart are a good side who won the division last season. They are very effective going forward and their right-winger in particular looks capable of playing at a higher level. Losing to this bunch is not equal to the depressing surrender to mediocre teams like Globex and for the first half we matched them in terms of possession and chances. We’ve obviously done what we can to reedy our problems and it’s now a race against time, we need to break free of the losing mentality and pick up enough points against fellow strugglers to avoid the anxious wait for the TFA to “decide” what will happen to teams in relegation spots in D2 Bangkok this season.
This game started amidst confusion for me. Eka strolled out in a green kit with a mysterious new sponsor. My first conclusion was that we’d been involved in a minor corporate takeover probably involving a change of name and a colour appropriate to whatever product our owners were flogging. This has happened for many teams but it transpires that today (as you’ll hear announced on the clip below) was simply a case of the new kits not being ready in time so we’d borrowed from another team. Any neutrals watching this game could be forgiven for their confusion though, Kasestart’s fans were decked exclusively in green but cheered every goal against the team on the pitch wearing green.......
Eka have obviously strained to make improvements during the mid-season break. The new coach took just minutes to show he’s more dedicated than our previous stalwart and was on the touchline communicating with the players almost from kick off.
The lads on the turf showed equal renewed vigor, several new faces - whose names I have yet to learn - made an impact. Number 25 appears to be the archetype target man for this level that I’ve stressed the need for many times: not especially fast but tall, heavy built and willing to barge his way through the box. Creative midfielders with a good first touch created so many chances in the opening half that it actually felt a bit like a throwback to last season and the days when we had a whole lot of possession but could not bury our chances. So despite going in 0-2 down at half time thanks to some good attacking by the visitors, I was not down-heartened.
The second half was, sadly, a backwards step. The players began to tire and Kesetstart showed why they made the play-offs last season with a forward line often made up of four players that took their chances well. The final score was 1-4 and by the last few minutes, the players looked resigned to another loss.
However, there were positives to be taken from this game. The new players looked carefully chosen - though there are still no foreigners in the squad - rather than more random signings and it seems that someone has had the good sense to take a look at what is wrong and what can realistically be done to fix it. As mentioned, we have acquired some height and muscle in the front line to match our style of play, we’ve employed a bit more pace in the midfield and the vital presence of former Thai international Janewit in the back line is a blessing.
That said, there are still issues to work on and time is running out. The pitch itself has never been very good this season thanks to the floods of last year (of course there was nothing we could do about that) but it is now looking barely playable, I guess our cost-cuts prevent us treating it. On the tactical side, we still need to work on attacking crosses when our wide players have the ball and I do wish we’d whip in some low crosses instead of playing every cross at a height goalkeepers feel safe with. It’s a matter of percentages - enough low crosses will net us more goals simply due to deflections and chance alone, let alone what our new forwards can scramble in. Finally, the fitness levels looked lacking slightly in this game, probably due to the new lads bedding in and the mid-season break.
It’s very important to remember that Kesetart are a good side who won the division last season. They are very effective going forward and their right-winger in particular looks capable of playing at a higher level. Losing to this bunch is not equal to the depressing surrender to mediocre teams like Globex and for the first half we matched them in terms of possession and chances. We’ve obviously done what we can to reedy our problems and it’s now a race against time, we need to break free of the losing mentality and pick up enough points against fellow strugglers to avoid the anxious wait for the TFA to “decide” what will happen to teams in relegation spots in D2 Bangkok this season.
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