Talk can stop..

Although it isn't something we have really talked about as a team, all the talk of losing streaks can now stop! However much we strived to look forward and to concentrate on improving our individual and collective performances internally, externally people were obsessed with the fact The Lady Reds had not won since 2008. Thankfully that can now all stop, the losing streak can be put behind us and everyone can now join the players in looking forward and looking to what we can produce in the future!

As much as the girls were relieved at the end of the game, they were also dissapointed! In a sign of how far these girls have come, in the aftermath of the rain soaked game, they were honest enough to say that they were unhappy with the way they had played. The win was welcome of course, but the girls are focussed on improving their performances and against Perth we failed to show that improvement to the extent we wanted.

Too frequently we gave possession away cheaply and too often we rushed our final pass or simply made a wrong decision. Some of this can be put down to the pressure of the occassion and of course in the second half down to the state of the pitch but again the girls expect better of themselves - another real sign of how far they have come in such a short time and a real positive for the future!

The game started in windy conditions with The Lady reds on the front foot immediately, dominating possession and territory but just lacking the final ball to create clear cut scoring chances. Marijana Rajcic and Donna Cockayne went closest early on, the latter forcing a good save from the impressive Mackenzie Arnold in the Perth goal. our own keeper, Sian McLaren showed her value with a bright save at the feet of a Perth striker in a rare attacking moment for the visitors. As the rain fell and thunder clapped around Burton, the breakthrough finally came after some good work from Donna Cockayne, MJ and Leanne Slater provided Ashleigh Gunning with the opportunity to deliver a dangerous cross which found its way to Katherine Ebbs on the far post. Nipping in front of her defender Katherine steered the ball beyond Arnold and gave The Lady Reds the lead in the 33rd minute.

Going in at 1-0 was obviously a positive but the girls felt they should have been further ahead and needed to play with more composure and less 'fear' in the second half. Whilst that was the plan and was certainly the way the half started, the weather intervened.. With torrential rain leaving deep puddles around much of the field, the game became a bit of a lottery. When we got the ball into the attacking half we showed our quality, with Racheal Quigley creating a couple of good chances which were denied either by the woodwork, last ditch tackles or quality saves. During this spell two loud appeals for penalties for Adelaide were waved away, much to the despair of players and crowd alike.

With the weather and pitch conditions worsening, clearing the ball from the Adelaide end was becoming more and more difficult, which Perth tried to exploit by sending the ball forward as quickly as possible every time they regained possession. From one of this occassions Sian McLaren dealt superbly with a dangerous cross and when she was finally beaten, captain Abby Erceg was on hand to slide through the growing puddles to thwart a Perth player as it looked certain she would grab the equaliser.

When the final whistle came the delight on the players faces was evident and they celebrated together and with the fantastic support who braved the horrible weather to cheer on the side. The drums, chants and flags were a constant encouragement for the team and very much appreciated - BIG THANKS TO THE RED TERRACE!!

So the talk of losing streaks can now be left behind us and we can move on and look to the future, a future that is RED.

Busy week..

This week my ‘blog’ is a little delayed and brief due to the fact I have been in Canberra, attending a Football Federation Australia National Technical Network Seminar.

The seminar highlighted the goal of FFA to become a ‘World Leader in the World Game’. FFA, as I do with The Lady Reds, have ambitious goals. I want and expect The Lady Reds to develop into a leading side in The W-League and to challenge for the title over the next 2-3 seasons. Again, in line with FFA, my aim is to achieve this playing a possession based style of football.
To achieve this ambitious goal, the NTC and other youth teams in the FFSA Women’s Elite Pathway will focus their training ‘in the ball’.

Technical skills, Insight (game understanding) Communication and Conditioning will all be developed with the ball. Taking the best practice and knowledge from a range of Sports Science and importantly football experts a thorough and rounded program will be implemented to assist the development of South Australia’s Female Football Players. Through a series of coaching seminars, this program will also be delivered to the FFSA  Women’s Clubs and Coaches and it is hoped that they will buy into the system and use it to develop a broader base of footballing talent across the region.

After another away trip to The Sunshine Coast is it good to be back at Burton this week to face Perth and I am hoping for a healthy crowd and an exciting performance from The Lady Reds.
Last week saw another solid performance from The Lady Reds with some glimpses of the possession work which we have been focussing on more in training over the last few weeks.
Having become more solid out of possession, the change in focus to greater composure in possession and becoming more of an attacking force is a sign of the direction I want to take the side in over the next year and leading into the 2012/13 season.

The future...

This seasons W League still has 4 games to go for Adelaide United but the planning and preparation for next season has already begun.

I am determined to make The Lady Reds a force to be reckoned with and am equally determined to develop exciting, technically gifted South Australian players to do that.

That process is well underway with the implementation of a Female Players Pathway in South Australia. This pathway will see more thorough player identification and top level coaching and training of the girls from U12 - Senior level. Much greater emphasis will be placed on technical development to create players who are comfortable on the ball, can take players on and have that X factor, think  Marta or  Mana Iwabuchi . This whole process is currently underway, with the U13's undertaking final trials and training, the U15's have just been selected and are starting their pre-season development program. The NTC girls underwent a weekend of training and trial games during the bye weekend in the W League and a number of players displayed some real promise!

The players in the Adelaide United W League squad currently have improved considerably over the last couple of months and they have worked hard to do so. We have discussed how we want to develop as a team and how we want to change the way we play, to become a much better 'In Possession' team. This is being worked on now and it will be the focus for the 'off-season' with the NTC / W League players. With the talent already in the W League squad alongside some of the promising youngsters in the NTC, the future looks bright for Women's football in South Australia.

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