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Asunto: [U21] MarcL
MarcL [del] para
Schalla
Guys, this season has not been pretty. I've missed a lot of matches in the last couple of weeks. Just to clarify, the reason for that is that I've been waiting for Telkom to install ADSL at my new home since 5 May. I've recently got 3G to use in the meantime, so I'll be able to do my duties as u21 coach if necessary.
Besides that, my own tactical deficiencies aside, our team has been weak, weaker even than usual considering our low active user base. I believe one reason for that is because I haven't been training defenders for the last couple of seasons and we've ended up woefully short in that department. My focus has been on training Wade Zulu for the senior team, and he's mostly getting midfield skills worked on. That will continue for a while yet as well. When he's too old, I do have a plan that will focus specifically on the very young players that we produce. More on that when I get there.
In the meantime, I'd like to discuss the future of the team. I've always felt that we should be treating our u21's as a platform to produce senior team players. I still believe that to be the case (we're never going to have a strong u21 team while our numbers remain low) but now now I want to take it a step further.
My plan is to give more young players a chance. I propose that 21 year old players will only have a place in my squad if they are clear first team starting quality. Those that are not will not make the squad, even if they are better than the younger players. The same applies to the 20 year olds. If they're not likely to be definite first team players when they're 21, they will not have a place in my squad.
The places that are then available will likely go to the youngest players that I can find that look to have potential. We desperately need 16 and 17 year old players to be trained properly, that is they must get a full 90 minutes every week. If they're in the u21 squad, it may encourage their managers to work on them, especially if I'm able to give them a game or two and if I keep in touch with those managers.
Obviously, this plan will not help our results at all as we'll likely be fielding less than our strongest eleven for many matches. This is a season for friendlies though, so I'll try to find us opponents that won't slaughter us, though there aren't many of those around. If you're happy with that compromise and like my idea, please go ahead and cast your vote for me.
(editado)
Besides that, my own tactical deficiencies aside, our team has been weak, weaker even than usual considering our low active user base. I believe one reason for that is because I haven't been training defenders for the last couple of seasons and we've ended up woefully short in that department. My focus has been on training Wade Zulu for the senior team, and he's mostly getting midfield skills worked on. That will continue for a while yet as well. When he's too old, I do have a plan that will focus specifically on the very young players that we produce. More on that when I get there.
In the meantime, I'd like to discuss the future of the team. I've always felt that we should be treating our u21's as a platform to produce senior team players. I still believe that to be the case (we're never going to have a strong u21 team while our numbers remain low) but now now I want to take it a step further.
My plan is to give more young players a chance. I propose that 21 year old players will only have a place in my squad if they are clear first team starting quality. Those that are not will not make the squad, even if they are better than the younger players. The same applies to the 20 year olds. If they're not likely to be definite first team players when they're 21, they will not have a place in my squad.
The places that are then available will likely go to the youngest players that I can find that look to have potential. We desperately need 16 and 17 year old players to be trained properly, that is they must get a full 90 minutes every week. If they're in the u21 squad, it may encourage their managers to work on them, especially if I'm able to give them a game or two and if I keep in touch with those managers.
Obviously, this plan will not help our results at all as we'll likely be fielding less than our strongest eleven for many matches. This is a season for friendlies though, so I'll try to find us opponents that won't slaughter us, though there aren't many of those around. If you're happy with that compromise and like my idea, please go ahead and cast your vote for me.
(editado)
MarcL [del] para
MarcL [del]
As expected, results this last season have not been pretty. Wins and draws have been hard to come by, both this season and last, much harder than it was in the previous 7 seasons since the start of u21 matches.
Our current squad has an average age of only 18.9, so I'm hopeful that they will be more competitive next season but our weaknesses are many.
We don't have a decent goalkeeper. Manyathi was useful but hasn't been trained. He's been surpassed by Profs, but Profs is no star.
We don't have anyone training defenders.
Theunis has struggled to find any trainees and is left with only Das Neves to spearhead our attack with nothing coming through to replace him.
In general, we have too few players that are being reliably trained, let alone talented ones with high abilities.
Despite these weak points, I will do my best to continue with promoting the youngsters and hopefully get them to feed through to the senior team. I believe that using that strategy this season has encouraged some managers to put more effort into some of the young players. This is a long, slow rebuilding process, that will hopefully pay off eventually. I'm mentioned elsewhere that I will be weakening my club side, probably at the end of next season, in order to train as many youngsters as possible. Hopefully that will also help in time to come.
My Plus subscription runs until the end of the year, so I'm in a good position to continue in the role of u21 coach for another season. This is world cup qualifying time. Groups haven't been drawn yet but, with our ranking of 74 we're likely to be facing a stiff task whoever we're up against. If one of you guys wants to jump in and try your hand at managing the u21's, I'll gladly stand aside and focus on administering the database. If not, please head over to the booth and cast your vote for me.
Our current squad has an average age of only 18.9, so I'm hopeful that they will be more competitive next season but our weaknesses are many.
We don't have a decent goalkeeper. Manyathi was useful but hasn't been trained. He's been surpassed by Profs, but Profs is no star.
We don't have anyone training defenders.
Theunis has struggled to find any trainees and is left with only Das Neves to spearhead our attack with nothing coming through to replace him.
In general, we have too few players that are being reliably trained, let alone talented ones with high abilities.
Despite these weak points, I will do my best to continue with promoting the youngsters and hopefully get them to feed through to the senior team. I believe that using that strategy this season has encouraged some managers to put more effort into some of the young players. This is a long, slow rebuilding process, that will hopefully pay off eventually. I'm mentioned elsewhere that I will be weakening my club side, probably at the end of next season, in order to train as many youngsters as possible. Hopefully that will also help in time to come.
My Plus subscription runs until the end of the year, so I'm in a good position to continue in the role of u21 coach for another season. This is world cup qualifying time. Groups haven't been drawn yet but, with our ranking of 74 we're likely to be facing a stiff task whoever we're up against. If one of you guys wants to jump in and try your hand at managing the u21's, I'll gladly stand aside and focus on administering the database. If not, please head over to the booth and cast your vote for me.