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PONTAUMUR v 2nd XI - 13th SEPTEMBER 2009
Pionsat's 2nd XI won the Division 3 championship last season at something of a canter. There were some woeful teams in that division but also a few good ones too and although Pionsat's defence was somewhat shaky against good opposition, their attack had speed, pace and control and looked quite impressive. I wasn't sure just how impressive it would all be against the kind of opposition found at this level.
As for Pontaumur, I'd seen them play against Pionsat's 1st XI in a cup match last season and they had held their own and everyone else's as well to win on penalties. So never mind forebodings - I was having five.
And just like with the 3rd XI against Neuf-Eglise last night, Pontaumur score a goal in the first minute of the game before Pionsat have even warmed up. Mind you, this afternoon I did actually have the camera ready.
It's a free kick that's nicely curled into the area and three Pontaumur players run onto it with not a single Pionsat defender in sight. One-nil is the inevitable result
It's continually going badly for Pionsat who can't seem to find a rhythm at all and don't seem to be able to knock the Pontaumur players out of their stride in these first few minutes.
There's another mistake in the Pionsat defence, who allow a Pontaumur player half an inch to get in a shot. Matthieu is alert and gets down quickly to save it.
And Pionsat still can't get it out of defence. Sébastien who is (surprisingly) playing at central defence when his best position by far is going forward into the attack loses the ball on the edge of the penalty area.
The Pontaumur attack doesn't need too many chances like these and the forward drives it straight in on goal. It's 2-0 already and I don't think that the coffee has had time to go cold.
It's going from bad to worse here. It's 3-0 within seconds and I don't think that Pionsat have been in Pontaumur's half yet. There's yet another mix-up in defence and Matthieu as last man has to sprint out of his goal and kick it away. That was all well and good but it goes straight to a Pontaumur player who simply kicks it back into the empty net.
As I said last night, if a keeper has to run out of his goal to kick away a ball, why oh why oh why doesn't he wallop the ball into the stand or into the street from that kind of position to give himself and his defence time to get back into position?.
You might remember the Arsenal side of the late 1980s and their incredible defensive record. Nike, the sports manufacturer, used the attacker Ian Wright in its publicity with the slogan "Behind every goalkeeper is a ball from Ian Wright!". The Arsenal fans, impressed by Arsenal's defensive record, changed the slogan to "Outside every football stadium is a ball from Tony Adams!", the Arsenal central defender. And quite right too.
It's still all Pontaumur at the moment. They win a corner and the kick is put into the area. One of their players rises unchallenged and has a free header but luckily for Pionsat he puts it just wide of the post.
This all stemmed from a ball that Pionsat lost from just their side of the halfway line and they couldn't get back quickly enough to crowd out the attack.
But notice the Pionsat defender in the centre of the image. If you are putting defenders on the goal line to watch for the ball that sneaks into the corner they need to be right on the post. Two or three yards infield is no good at all as he won't be able to get his body or his head to the ball that goes in off the post and even worse, standing where he is obstructs the goalkeeper from getting to the ball.
In any case, that isn't the position for a defender. It's the quick guys - the wide midfielders or wingers who need to be there. Everyone else should be marking an attacker except for the holding forward who should be upfield. Win the ball in the defence, whack it up to the forward who holds the play up until the rest of the team catch up with him.
The fourth Pontaumur goal came down the middle due to the absent Pionsat central defence. The problem here is that Pionsat are just not clearing the ball adequately. They win the ball but mess around with it on the edge of the penalty area when it should be whacked upfield.
The Pionsat players are small and quick whereas the Pontaumur players are much bigger and stronger. Pionsat try to play football and hang onto the ball but they are just being bullied off it.
Their tactics are totally wrong too. Sébastien is probably Pionsat's best footballer but he's totally out of place at centre half. He's not tall enough for a start, and he isn't strong enough either. Pionsat should be packing the defence with almost everybody and Sébastien should be playing upfield on his own. When Pionsat win the ball in defence they should whack it upfield to him. With his speed to run after it and his control to hold onto it until some other players run up to help him out, they might well make some progess.
One thing about playing forwards in defensive positions is that they often seem to forget that they are defenders. And Sébastien is no exception, although it is hardly fair to single him (or anyone else, for that matter) out for this. I noticed Xavier do exactly the same in a 3rd XI match last season. But I've noticed that when Sébastien does go forward with the ball and loses possession, instead of dashing back like hell to get into position, sometimes he's gently sauntering back like any good centre-forward might.
Then again, the only player I could ever think of who could make a seamless transition from centre-forward to centre-half was Dion Dublin and I would be totally astonished if I ever saw anyone do it at this level.
Pionsat at last manage to launch a meaningful attempt on goal. The ball goes out for a throw-in and the Pionsat number 3 is quite good at these. He puts in a long throw-in, not quite as impressive as Dave Challinor's or Andy Legg's (which have been known to win matches on their own) but impressive at this level nevertheless.
One of the Pionsat players goes almost full-length with a good diving header and has the keeper at full-stretch. The keeper can't quite get to it but the ball goes just wide of the post.
But have another look at this photo. Where are the Pionsat players? Where is the quick forward running on in case the keeper gets to the ball and drops it?
Pionsat have had a good spell this last few minutes though and have had the Pontaumur defence under some pressure. But it can't stop Pontaumur scoring a fifth goal.
Pontaumur breakaway down the left wing and the winger puts in a high punt into the Pionsat area. There is only Matthieu going for the ball against three of their forwards and he doesn't stand much of a chance on his own. The ball is rolled back across the goal to an unmarked player who pokes it home.
We nearly had a sixth goal from Pontaumur almost straight from the kick-off. The Pontaumur defence punts a high ball forward from its own half and the Pionsat no3 dithers and dallies on the ball and doesn't get it clear.
A Pontaumur player gets in behind him and takes the ball. He surges forward and gets in a really good shot. Matthieu earns his corn here by getting in a really good stop to block an almost certain goal.
I was going to make some light-hearted comment about Matthieu's nice orange goalkeeping shirt. It you read my reports from last season you'll recall that I was fed up of Pionsat's keepers being anonymous in their black or grey shirts and no-one being able to see them in the dark. In the close season I went out and bought a couple of luminous orange and luminous lime green shirts for them. However, today is not the place for light-hearted comments.
There is a sixth goal for Pontaumur just before half-time. Pionsat's defence once again play around with the ball in defence instead of whacking it up to the other end of the field. it's no surprise that they end up losing tha ball and once more it finishes with a one-on-one between Matthieu and a Pontaumur attacker. You might have been able to see it better had Bernard, who is running the line, not stuck his head in the way just at the vital moment.
It's hard to see what else Matthieu can be doing here. He's been hung out to dry by his defence in this match.
At half-time I have to say that I have yet to see a bunch of footballers looking so disconsolate as did Pionsat's 2nd XI. Matthieu looked positively distraught, and who can blame him in this game? He can't do anything more than he's doing. Pionsat are playing what is known as the "Lego" defence - they've totally gone to pieces in the box.
Nevertheless Pionsat begin the 2nd half with much more organisation and with a bit more purpose. Pontaumur look like they have gone off the boil somewhat and Pionsat manage to peg tham back for ages. But there is a seventh goal for Pontaumur, although it is a long time in coming.
Another high ball down the centre and it seems to me from where I was standing that the no3 lets it go over his head. A Pontaumur player nips in and slots it comfortably past Matthieu who was once more on his todd. A shame this - they were doing quite well up to here and having one or two ideas of their own.
Almost straight from the kick-off we have another major scare in the Pionsat defence. A high ball is crossed from the wing into the Pionsat area right in front of goal and a Pontaumur player rises unchallenged to meet it. With the more-or-less open goal glaring at him, he ... err ... puts it wide.
I don't think that my heart will stand much more of this.
But don't write Pionsat off quite yet. There was a break down the right wing and a Pionsat winger puts in a cross right into the centre of the Pontaumur defence. Not a Pionsat forward in sight, mind you, and not a hint of any pressure from anyone in the Pionsat attack yet for no explicable reason the keeper drops it. And by the time he manages to get it under control one of the Pionsat players is only half an inch or so away from getting his toe to it.
Pionsat deserved a bit of luck here - they've been playing much better this half. Let's hope that this will encourage them.
Pionsat concede a penalty late into the game. Sébastien is defending just inside the penalty area and puts in what looked like a "shoulder-to-shoulder" on the Pontaumur attacker. At least that's how it looked to me. It's the kind of thing that wouldn't even be noticed on the halfway line. Then again, I'm not refereeing the match and the referee sees it differently.
The kick isn't struck all that hard but it sends Matthieu the wrong way. When your luck is out it's well and truly out and Pionsat have now conceded 8 goals.
Matthieu hasn't finished yet. There's a Pontaumur throw-in into the area that leads to a game of head-tennis with Pionsat still unable to get the ball away upfield.
One of the Pontaumur attackers takes control and puts in a good shot at goal. Matthieu just about manages to get his foot to the ball and push it round the post. It doesn't matter how you keep them out as long as you keep them out.
Much to my surprise the referee awards a goal kick. Fancy that!
And neither has Sébastien finished yet. At one moment from a long kick upfield from the Pontaumur keeper, he's on his own against three Pontaumur forwards. He manages to get the ball under control and bring it upfield otherwise we could have had quite a nasty moment here. All on his own against three players! Nevertheless, I would have been much happier seeing him whack the ball upfield rather than play around with it at moments like this.
At long long last Pionsat manage to do it - to bring warmth to the dozen or so supporters (yours truly included) who have made the long trek down here. We finally have a good whallop upfield out of defence and the no10, all on his own, manages to control the uneven bounce right through the middle of the defence and drive it in past the keeper. Pionsat deserved that for their second-half performance.
I don't actually think all that much of this keeper but Pionsat just haven't done anything at all to put him under any pressure.
Reading my comments of the match a few days later, I can see that I was getting quite emotional during this match. And I wasn't the only one either. We did have a dispute between a couple of the Pionsat club officials which resulted in one of the aforementioned throwing teddy out of the pram and stomping off.
But back to my comments. It's not fair for anyone to interpret any of my comments as being any kind of criticism of anyone on the field. The first thing that you have to be aware of is this horrific injury crisis that Pionsat has. I reckon that there's about a dozen players - and some of their finest too - who are injured right now. I ought to be grateful for anyone who made it onto the field.
Nevertheless, I still think that Pionsat got the tactics totally wrong in this game. Sébastien should have been upfield on his own with everyone else packing the defence - that would have been the right way to play this game. I'm sure that they would have got much more out of it. And there are still several basic errors being committed by the team - their inability to clear their lines being one of them and their naivete at set pieces being another. I can see that as well as being a referee I'm going to have to be a football coach. But round here, that probably means that they will take my teeth out and put seats in.
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