[DataKing]

Season 3 – Qualification Week – Training Match

NE Oklahoma Sidekicks vs. Screamin’ Seamen

Date: July 16th, 2003
Venue: Sidekick Stadium (Oklahoma)
Attendance: 947 (31,000)
Weather: Overcast

We’ve arranged for a friendly match with vexroid’s NE Oklahoma Sidekicks for this week, and have agreed to travel to Oklahoma for the match. Our supporters have been none too pleased with us as of late (although winning our qualification match on Sunday helped), so we thought it best to get out of Chi-Town for a couple of days.

Frankly, we expect to get smoked today. The Sidekicks had no qualification match on Sunday, so we should be facing their starters today. This match is for training purposes only, as far as I am concerned, and there is nothing at stake whatsoever.

Formation: 5-4-1

Starters

Keeper: #13 Darryl Read

Right Wingback: #24 Christian Kvam
Central Defender: #20 Keith Stubbs
Central Defender: #21 Zarpas Lerma
Central Defender: #18 Cameron McDonald
Left Wingback: #17 Mattias Leier

Right Winger: #10 Olav Mauffret
Inner Midfielder: #19 Jerry Smith
Inner Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere
Left Winger: #25 Paul Peralta

Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias

Team Captain: #7 Lucian Tere
Set Pieces: #13 Darryl Read

Substitutes
-Keeper: #1 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan
-Defender: #22 Tyler Willard
-Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin
-Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson
-Winger: #3 Ben McMahon

We’ve got our typical reserves on the pitch today, but will be reverting back to a box-standard 5-4-1 formation. The reason for this is two-fold. First off, we want to get an idea of how our players will perform with the new rules in place. We want to use today’s match as a base-line, particularly to help determine whether Keith Stubbs or Cameron McDonald will be our new starting sweeper (more on that in a later post).

The second reason is that this is the first match for our new head coach (more on him later as well). He is the new “neither attack nor defense minded” coach, so I want to see what sort of ratings we can expect with him at the helm.

Match Report

PRE-GAME

947 spectators had come to Sidekick Stadium this cloudy day. Sidekicks had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation.

The following players had been chosen: Podboj - Johnson, Alonso, Thompson - Needham, Andersson, Stensson, Anduaga, Issjö - Tuvin, Perez.

Screamin' started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Read - Kvam , Lerma, Stubbs, Mcdonald, Leier - Mauffret , Tere, Smith, Peralta - Tobias.

FIRST HALF

After a fine move down the middle Patrik Tuvin nearly gave the home side one up in the 2nd minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though.

Göran Andersson received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 3rd minute and almost caused an opponent to score.

After a fine move down the middle Keith Perez nearly gave the home side one up in the 20:th minute. The finishing shot went just wide, though.

After 33 minutes of play, the free-spirited Ola Issjö decided to aim straight for the goal as he struck a free kick from the corner of the pitch. The ball deflected off a defender and went out of bounds.

After 35 minutes Sidekicks´s Admir Podboj contracted a slight foot injury, but could finish the game.

Sidekicks had a good opportunity to take the lead as Patrik Tuvin came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of Darryl Read.

39 minutes into the game Olav Mauffret had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Ben Mcmahon.

In the games 41st minute Screamin'´s Cameron Mcdonald fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Cameron Mcdonald for taking a dive.

The teams went for a half-time break at 0 - 0. Sidekicks held the ball, with a clear 78 percent possession rate.

SECOND HALF

Sidekickss Alanzo Anduaga gave, after 60 minutes, the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right.

In the 64:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Byron Johnson dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Sidekicks.

Cameron Mcdonald made several blunders at the end of the game, causing a good deal of unrest in the defensive line4.

Sidekicks, bringing the final ball possession rate to 78 percent, dominated the battle.

POST-GAME

The most dominating Sidekicks player was without a doubt Göran Andersson. Ola Issjö on the other hand, had a terrible day.

Screamin'´s best player was Keith Stubbs. Jerry Smith on the other hand, had a terrible day.

Final Score: NE Oklahoma Sidekicks 2, Screamin’ Seamen 0

Goals

None

Cards

McDonald – yellow

Player Ratings

Read: **~

Kvam: ***
Stubbs: ***~
Lerma: ***
McDonald: ***
Leier: ***~

Mauffret: *~ (injured)
McMahon: **~ (replaced Olav Mauffret)
Smith: *~
Tere: **~
Peralta: **~

Tobias: **~

Team Ratings

Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Poor (3)
-Right Defense: World-Class (13)
-Central Defense: Supernatural (14)
-Left Defense: Brilliant (11)
-Right Attack: Weak (4)
-Central Attack: Poor (3)
-Left Attack: Weak (4)
-Experience: Wretched (2)
-NSI: 58

NE Oklahoma Sidekicks
-Midfield: Excellent (8)
-Right Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Central Defense: Inadequate (5)
-Left Defense: Passable (6)
-Right Attack: Formidable (9)
-Central Attack: Excellent (8)
-Left Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Experience: Wretched (2)
-NSI: 62

Comments

Our defense did a good job of keeping the Sidekicks off the board in the first half, but it was only a matter of time before they found their way through, especially with the massive possession advantage that they enjoyed. I look forward to trying out the “counter-attack” tactic once it comes out with the 5-4-1 formation, as well as perhaps the “play destruction” tactic.

Our defensive ratings were impressive, to say the least. To be honest, I always felt that the defensive ratings provided by the 5-4-1 formation were rather “cheap,” for lack of a better term, but it appears that it has been tweaked some. Five defenders plus a keeper should form a considerably defensive wall, and that is certainly what we enjoyed today.

We have solved our dilemma regarding Keith Stubbs and Cameron McDonald, at least for the time being. It is obvious from today’s match that Keith is better-prepared to step in for Chuck Scales than Cameron McDonald is. After the match, we announced to the club that Keith would be our new starting sweeper, until I say otherwise.

Up Next: Results from this week’s training. Stay tuned!