Reports

Storm Vs BSL Youths

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:43:00 -0500

Over the past couple of weeks, we've been playing good football but losing. Here we played pretty bad football but managed to win. It wasn't pretty, we tried a new formation and almost paid the price for it, the other team had better chances then us, and on any other day, we would have probably lost. But we didn't. And due to Vic's tenacity, we won by one goal.

Vic didn't give up and toe poked the ball into the net after a bad mistake by the other team's CB. Without that goal though, I couldn't see us scoring at all. Our passing and movement were non existent and even our typically composed players weren't playing up to their standard.

But our effort was there and we never gave up. It was scrappy, it was ugly, and yes, we were lucky, but that's football and a win is a win.

We started off pretty poor and both teams were just knocking the ball back and forth between the two keeper areas without creating any real chances. Tor had one pretty routine save to make all half with most of their shots not finding the target at all.

We created zero chances and forced their keeper to zero saves, all he had to do was catch a ball now and then that was pretty harmless.

They had a couple of fast players but never really put us under any pressure in our half but the same could be said for us in their half.

The second half wasn't much better although we did start to trouble them especially down our left flank. They did have better opportunities then we did, they just didn't take them. We started getting more shots on goal but most of them missed the target, only difference was we were getting closer to the target than the first half.

Nut and Jay did very well in a more withdrawn role. Cuno and Christian proved we can play with wingbacks, but we need to improve our overall game. Positioning, passing and our movement were all very poor.

Vic scored a blue collar goal and June was my Man Of the Match.

It was a scrappy game. No real flow to it, either team could have nicked it, but the game was fair, both teams played hard but clean, and on this day, we were fortunate and we walked away the victors.

We deserved our three points but if we continue to play like we did, we won't be getting many more of them this season.

All due respect to our opponents, but we really must play better than we did.

Celtic is up next and we'll really know where we stand after this weekend.

Storm Vs Iplay (BPL)

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:46:00 -0500

A consecutive game against Iplay and a consecutive loss. We played very well as a team this time around, had the better play overall, better movement and passing but we made some bad mistakes especially at the back and they made us pay.

Credit to Iplay. They've been playing together longer than us and it really showed. They knew how to get out of trouble and they knew who to go to in key situations whereas we're still trying to find our identity as a team and we're still learning how to play as a team.

We have games where we play extremely well and then we have games against Iplay. For whatever reason it is, we can't seem to get it right with them. Now I'm sure the way they play has a lot to do with that. They are a physical team, but a fair one. Playing physical is not cheating, and we were more prepared this time around to deal with that. I'm very glad that we're cutting down on going on about the refs, it's the same ref for both teams, i'm sure our opponents have just as many complaints as we do.

We really should win every time we score three goals. In the case of tonight, we had some terrible lapse's in our defending and Iplay capitalized each time to the tune of three goals. Their fourth goal was on me, and as we've already stated, i shouldn't have played with a fever, but i chose to, and the team suffered for that. again, my apologies.

But unlike the other games, we reacted well to being down. and that's a great step up. usually we tend to mope and feel sorry/frustrated after conceding and it takes us some time to pick ourselves up again. but tonight, even after going two down, from extremely sloppy defending, we kept playing our game. and it payed off. we clawed ourselves back into it and for another five extra minutes, i am positive we would have tied them.

but there was no five extra minutes, and especially in a game like today, we have to applaud our opponents and feel good about our performance.

these last two games have shown us a lot. we know where we have work to do. our injuries are mounting up but we have the squad to cope with it.

we have a better squad than iplay, they play better as a team than us, and they play to their strength whereas we're still trying to learn what our strength is.

we're now two games in. one win and one loss against two good sides. it's a long season and so long as we learn from each game, be it a win or a loss, we'll be fine.

being a part of a match that ends 4-3 is never a bad thing no matter which side of the score line you're on. both sides played a good game today, there was good movement, some great passing, strong challenges and like i said, seven goals and everyone was able to walk off the pitch.

these are the games we all signed up for and if we continue to perform like we did tonight but eliminate our mistakes, we'll find ourselves on the right side of the scoreline more often than not.

hats off to both set of players. can't wait for the rematch.

Storm Vs Iplay

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:08:00 -0500

Casuals had another game this Sunday against Iplay a team we lost to 1-3 in pre-season in what was our first friendly with our current squad. Once again, our preparation was awful. We had players who didn’t show up until fifteen minutes before kick off and we had three no shows. As I mentioned in our match analysis, we cannot have no shows. When a Squad is named and confirmed players have to show up.

Nevertheless, we had 14 players show up and we did well. Iplay is a strong physical team who’s been playing together for a while now. And it showed. But in that first half, we outplayed them. We passed the ball well and our movement was fantastic. We stuck to the coach’s game plan and it paid off. I was got injured in the first five minutes and Cuno did a great job of stepping in for me having never played keeper for us.

Iplay had no shots on goal against us in that first half. But our problems in this Casuals league continue to haunt us. In our friendlies and in the BPL, our strikers constantly put the ball in the back of the net. But here, for whatever reason it is, we keep missing absolute sitters. One glorious chance was completely fluffed after a great move that sprang Iplay’s offside trap.

Iplay’s keeper was not bad but we never really exploited him when we had plenty of opportunities to do so.

Half time came and we were tied 0-0 and to be honest, I was pleased with our performance. As I said, like Harrow in the BPL, Iplay is a good team. Without our full squad we were doing very well against them, the only difference between Sunday’s match and Wednesday’s was that on Sunday, we weren’t finishing our chances.

In the 2nd half we went up 1-0 nil and promptly started to go away from our game plan. As Kenji has already stated, we started to have a negative mindset and play deeper in our half inviting Iplay to attack us when prior to that, we had control of the game. Soon enough, Iplay equalized and then we really panicked. Our CB’s started bombing forward leaving the middle of our pitch completely exposed, a cardinal sin. Iplay scored a great 2nd goal and we lost the plot completely.

The ref was shocking but he was shocking for both of our teams. We did have an outright penalty, but that’s football and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

We play Iplay again this Thursday, and hopefully because it isn’t Casuals, our strikers will come to play with their shooting boots on and we’ll have our full squad of 15 players present. We’re getting better as a team week by week. Our performance is improving and as long as we learn to stop making the same mistakes and don’t beat ourselves, we’ll be fine.

Credit to Iplay though, they deserved their win, now lets turn it around and beat them this Thursday.

Storm Vs Harrow (BPL)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:09:00 -0500

And finally, our first BPL game, and what a game it was. Our BPL squad benefited from starting a few weeks after the Casual’s squad and with the cancellations we’ve had, we were able to play three more friendlies and it showed in our performance. More than any other time, we played as a team.

Harrow is a good team. They have quick players with very good abilities but they weren’t as organized as we were and it showed. We had a good game plan and it worked. We limited our opponents to zero shot on targets from open play and although we conceded way too many free kicks, we were organized and set up our wall well allowing me to always be in a good position to deal with their numerous free kicks. We had one or two players still new to the team who were playing a bit too much one man football, but overall, we kept our shape well and never chased the ball.

From the onset we attacked and Tun came close on a couple of early occasions and it did appear that sooner rather than later, we’d get our chance. At the same time though, their forwards were very quick but our backline held and after a couple of initial runs, I was confident we’d be okay as long as we remained organized.

My only concern was if one of our back four was caught out of position cause our opponents were more than capable of breaking. Credit to the back four for playing our game for the entire duration of the match. Mid way through the first half, Tun broke the game open.

It was still tight though at half time and truthfully, at that point, I felt the game could go one way or the other. Kenji pointed out that we were conceding too many corners and Free kicks and if they tied the game from one of those, it might be difficult. They did come extremely close about five minutes from time from a free kick just outside our area and I was fortunate to get the tips of my finger on the ball to push it just wide.

Kenji and I decided that we had to put the game away early in the 2nd half. We haven’t been scoring much in our matches but we had new players alongside Tun and in the 2nd half we were able to do exactly what we wanted. Tom was superb as our lead man holding the ball well and finding space to move into, he headed in our second goal and we never looked back from that point on.

I only had to deal with a couple of set piece balls that landed safely in my cradle, but other than that, Harrow once again, had zero chance on target. Everyone did extremely well and it was a great team performance. Tun and Tom split the votes from Vic and I for Man of the Match so they both share those honors. We kept a clean sheet and scored four. You can’t ask for a better performance. All that training and friendlies we played payed off big time. Lets keep the pressure on and I’m pretty sure we’ll be a force to be reckoned with in this league.

Two Squads, One team. The Bangkok Storm.

Bangkok Storm vs Samitivej

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:49:00 -0400

Our third game brought about our second loss and if I’m honest, although unexpected, we deserved it. Winless and having lost their opening game by a big margin, Samtivej played us tough for one half and then destroyed us in the second half. Although there was definitely a major question as to whether all their players were registered or not, we as a team have to play whoever stands before us with whoever stands besides us, and in that respect, we failed.

With a few players unavailable and a couple of additions still not properly registered, out of a squad of thirty five players, we were able to call up fifteen for the game on Saturday. Two of our players were carrying an injury and during the course of the game, both players got re-injured and couldn’t continue. Rafa could only play half a game and by the end of the game we were down to one sub. On an unusually humid day, that proved to be our downfall. While our opponents rotated four or five players every ten minutes, we couldn’t do the same.

Nevertheless we started the game strong and had some great passing plays that allowed Tun to break free twice only to shoot straight at the keeper once and miss the target completely in the first ten minutes. The first half was all ours. We limited Samitivej to two lame shots on goal and we had at least six clear chances that we failed to take, and it came back and bit us in the end. Samitivej fielded four Thai players, one of which was their keeper and the rest seemed to come out of the African Nations Cup, but still we outplayed them in the first half.

Then half time came and everything changed.

Rafa had to leave and we had to reshuffle our back line. June went into the center and Abi left his post in midfield to cover down our right. And then Cuno got injured and Wayne took up his position down our left. With two emergency full backs and Abi out of the middle of the pitch, we became completely exposed. Samitivej did well to exploit our weakness and with their fresh players, they started running rampant down our wings drawing our center backs to the sides which left our middle vulnerable. A great move down our left with an even better ball into our box led to their first goal. It was an excellent headed goal and we have to applaud them for their play. The second goal was down to our own mistakes. A simple one two released their striker free into our box and he did well to hit a powerful shot which I was only able to get a hand on but it only delayed the ball another half second before ending up in the back of our net. Two down with more than half the period left in the game.

The second goal woke us up a bit, whereas the first goal deflated us, the second one stirred us up. We got back to playing our game for a period and from a corner, Henri became our top goal scorer in the league with a well placed shot into the top left hand corner that left their keeper with no chance. Soon after Henri was either really lucky or unlucky depending on how you look at it. He took an audacious free kick from just inside our opponents half and the ball sailed high and started to come down. Their keeper could only stand and watch as the ball thundered onto the bar. Had it gone in, the game would have certainly changed, the momentum was ours at the time but like the ball that thundered off their post, our momentum was lost with it. About five minutes after that, they scored their third goal. It was a great move forward for them, like much of the half, we found ourselves chasing the ball way too much and in one move, they had three shots on target, two of which were parried away, the third finding it’s target. We can never allow any opponents to have three shots on goal in our box in one sequence, but we did, and as I said, we deserved to lose.

We’ll find out about the players registration later this week but regardless of that outcome, we have only ourselves to blame for this loss. We were unfortunate with our team and the injuries, but that’s soccer and we should have been better prepared. In the second half we were outplayed, out hustled and we completely lost our shape. We rebounded well after our first lost and I expect nothing less from us after this loss. Samitivej is not the same team that started the season, and if all their players are indeed legal, then a few other teams in the division will be in for a surprise when they play them.

Our Man of the Match was Tun who although didn’t take his chances, played very well in attack and offered great support in defense. The next round is on him.

Bangkok Storm vs Bangkok United

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:45:00 -0400

2nd Game 11/10/09 4pm Kick Off

After a one week delay, the STORM finally rolled in and hit Bangkok. About bloody time is all I can say. We played a very good Bangkok United team which is composed mainly if not entirely of Japanese players. They were organized, fit and fast, but we held strong and were unfortunate not to have by a bigger margin. But against a team of that quality, we'll take a 1 - 0 victory every time. More importantly we allowed only one shot on goal, and it was the last kick of the game and it sailed high above the cross bar.

A few key factors contributed to our well earned victory. We were better prepared. Unlike the previous week, we had the whole squad dressed and ready to play with almost an hour to spare before kick off. Kenji was there to manage the game, Ron was on hand to help out and in addition to a couple of new players making their debuts, we welcomed the return of Rafa "the rock".

Keita made his debut and made an impact on our team. It was a close contest though, other contenders for that MOM award were Henri and Rafa which formed an impregnable wall in front of the goal. And a special mention has to go to Nut who was fantastic on the left side of the field. Both of our youngsters came of age today with Jay providing width and creative play out on the right. Gianni also made his debut but it was turned out to be just a sneak peak as he went off injured after ten minutes. But fair play to him, he stuck around and cheered his team on and his attitude and mentality for the team makes him a very welcome addition to our now 32 man squad.

But it was our defense that claimed the day. Cuno and June flanked Henri and Rafa and with Teles cleaning up in front of them, we dominated our half of the pitch. More impressive though was the overall team play. We passed, we moved and we supported each other very well. There were maybe some lapses in the midfield in the 2nd half, but those were things we will surely overcome as the season progresses.

Vic wanted us to defend from the front and we did. Brilliantly. We gave constant pressure and still found time to break down the other team time and time again. We didn't create as many chances as we should have, but we weren't helped by two lines man who were so flag happy. How we can be offside when our players is still in his own half, i don't know. But we were flagged for offside at least twenty times. Now, Bangkok United were very organized, but really? They sprung the offside trap on us twenty something times and it worked, every time? Come on now.

Keita broke free and tried to get cute and round the goal keeper, he failed dramatically and we can laugh about it now cause we won, but in truth, the play leading up to that breakaway was very well done and I have no doubt 9 out of 10 times, keita scores with flair. Our keeper also tried his best to ensure we would snatch a draw from the jaws of victory by coming out for a high ball against an on rushing striker. The striker jumped earlier than expected, in a fraction of a second, the keeper decided that the striker would get to the ball first and adjusted for the potential flight of the ball. The striker missed his header and the keeper flapped at the air as the ball sailed over both heads straight to (thankfully) a waiting Henri who cleared the danger brilliantly. I of course can go into this much detail because once again, I was said keeper. sigh.

That was our only mishap though, and with only one real dangerous cross into our box in the entire game, the outcome of the match was never really in any doubt by mid-way through the 2nd half.

We should have maybe finished off the game earlier, but it's only the 2nd game of the season and we improved massively from our first game. And that's really the most important thing.

Manu scored a brilliant goal with the outside of his boot, in the first half, and as it turned out, that was all we needed.

So the storm hit, and the people of Bangkok beware, it's here to stay.

Bangkok Storm vs Pickled Liver

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:41:00 -0400

OUR FIRST MATCH 3/10/09

And on the 3rd day, of the 10th month in the year 2009, The Bangkokstorm played it's first game in the Bangkok Casuals League, and promptly got rolled over 2 - 4. Not quite the start we were looking for, but a start nevertheless.

We played poorly from the get go, mainly to half the team showing up late and we were completely disorganized. We went a goal down through June who brilliantly chipped the goal keeper. Unfortunately June wears an orange number 5 kit, which happens to be our home kit. Own goal, one down.

Amazingly, that goal got us regrouped. We started to play better and for the next five minutes, we controlled the midfield. And completely against the run of play, we were 2 down. A great through pass found an opponent free and clear to the left of our keeper area. A well placed shot into the far corner and the keeper who up to that point had nothing to do save for taking the ball out his net, found himself doing the exact same thing again. At least this time around the scorer wore a yellow jersey.

After that though, we started to play the way we know how to. We passed the ball around well, but our spacing was still bad and our movement was poor. Still more often than not, the yellow shirts were chasing the orange shirts.

And still, a yellow shirt found himself less than 10 yards from goal, ball at his feet with no orange shirts around. The keeper made a reaction save from point blank, the ball still fell to the yellow striker but amazingly he blazed the ball clean over the crossbars from about 5 yards out. A bullet dodged then. Being 3 goals down at that point would have been harsh.

Soon after we were one goal down. Pot came on at right back, Christian was moved to defensive midfield and just like that, the ball landed at Pot's feet after it bounced off a yellow shirt defender. Pot ran into the box with it and hit a well placed shot that found an opening in a sea of legs and ended in the back of the net untouched.

Halftime came too soon for us because the momentum was all ours.

The troops fully rallied, the belief all ours, and so excited were we, we almost played with 12 men to ensure our comeback. As Win trotted off the field, and the whistle blew, we picked up where we left off.

We controlled the game but had nothing to show for it. Save for a couple of wild shots from Christian, a misfire from Win, a few great runs by Tun and Jay, we created zero real chances. Too many of our crosses fell harmlessly. Wait, let me rephrase that, none of our crosses made any impact whatsoever. From the left, Cuno, Nut and Win combined for a couple of great moves but the final ball always went missing.

From our right, Jay, Pot, Wayne B did very well too. Again some nice interplay found us sending in great crosses, but again, it never ended with even an attempt on goal. I guess that's why we have training.

Our midfield was very strong. Abi led the charge supported by Vic, Sebastian, William and Tun. We all tried our best but we all played our individual game too much. We didn't combine well with our teammates and we never had a sustained passage of play where we kept the ball and moved it around. It's a testament to our players that we hardly gave the other a chance. However, it is also a testament to how we played that not too long after, they had their first shot at goal, and scored.

Again a yellow shirt broke through into our box untouched and unchallenged and scored with another well placed shot into the back corner.

That was a killer blow. After playing so well but not creating any chances, again completely against the run of play, we were 2 down.

Sebastian got injured in a rough tackle and will be out for possibly two weeks. Too many times we were busy yelling at the refs about how rough the other team was playing, too many times we were bitching about a supposed foul throw or injustice. It's football people, both teams are playing with the same ref in the same conditions. If we can ignore the ref, ignore the other team and concentrate on our own game, on our own team, we should be playing where it doesn't matter who we face or who's blowing the whistle.

And then we were 3 down. A soft free kick resulted in an extremely soft goal. I blame the keeper who isn't exactly six feet tall and should have known better than to be caught completely out of position. Unfortunately I'm the keeper so let me rewrite that.

The yellow shirts got a clear free kick on the left side of goal facing out. The kicker did a fantastic imitation of Ronaldo and curled a bullet into the top far post. The crowd jumped to it's feet and held it's breath as time slowed down and the keeper dove brilliantly and just missed the ball by mere mili-meters. A great goal that not even Peter Cech would have gotten to. :)

3 down but still we didn't give up and we were rewarded with a consolation goal keeping the score respectable at 2 - 4.

In truth we didn't deserve to win and fair play to Pickled Liver, they broke through first, albeit from our mistake and they kept us at bay. Even when they were being outplayed, they didn't allow us time on the ball nor did they give us a single clear chance.

We beat them in pre-season and maybe that was a false dawn. We're a new team, but we know we can play better and had we prepared properly prior to the game, we may have given a better account of ourselves then we did.

It's a long season. We have some really good new players that are still integrating with our team. Kenji and Vic will prepare us better for our next match. As long as we show up for training and commit ourselves better, we will improve.

Pot and Henri scored our two goals. Well done to them. The team didn't give up, well done to us. And Pickled Liver won a game they deserved to win, a hearty congratulations to our opponents who recovered well from their first week loss.

My man of the Match award goes to Pot who didn't put a foot wrong and scored our first goal. This is completely subjective, no voting procedure had been done of any kind, but since I'm the one writing this, I'm just going to go ahead and make the pick. Pot, you get a free beer after our next training. But if you don't show up for training, you forfeit the beer and I'm sure someone else will claim it for you instead.

Our first game done men, we lost, but every team will lose this season, the objective is to lose fewer times than the other teams.

My weather forecast says that for the next few months, there's a storm cloud gathering over the skies of Bangkok, whether the storm dissipates or unleashes hell, remains to be seen.

The BangkokStorm.

iPlay vs Bangkok Storm

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:01:00 -0400

More to Come!!!!

Pickled Liver vs Storm

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:19:00 -0400

Friendly game vs Pickled Liver at Patana School. Sat Sept 26, 4 PM

Game began with Storm started nervously for the first 10 minutes. As the game went on, Storm started to dominate and attacking the Pickled Liver half. However, Pickled Liver managed to keep the Storm attacking force at bay.

Towards the end of the half, defensive mistakes by one of the storm midfielders led to Pickled Liver counter attack and they scored from a header. That is the only shot on target all game for Pickled Liver and it went in.1-0 to Pickled Liver going into half time.

Some words of encouragement from the manager and the captain.

Storm began 2nd half brightly, controlling the play from back to front. Superb defending and posession by the storm players increase the pressure on the pickled liver backline. Finally, in the 65th minute, great combination from the midfielders led to Christian to one on one with a GK which he is never going to miss. 1-1 to Storm. After the restart, Storm regain possession and a defensive error from the Pickled Liver defenders, Manu with the ball at his feet slotted neatly into the left hand side of the goal. 2-1 to Storm.

With only 15 minutes to go, Storm kept the pressure on the Pickled Liver players, Jay scored a brilliant goal chipping it from the right side of the field.

Final Score Bangkok Storm 3-1 Pickled Liver ( Christian, Manu, Jay)

Good result for the last pre season friendly.

Indian All Stars vs Storm

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:38:00 -0400

Storm (2) vs Indian All Stars (6)

[Vic, Ukit]

Indian All stars dominated the game and hence the score.

Comments by coach - Practice! Practice! Practice!