Tactics was the original goal but since we still struggling on basic skills, I’ve altered to some drills. Franziska was still out, Suh-Young had to study for the mock exams and Mikayla had to go to the dentist.

We practice more ball control, specially changing directions. This will help a lot dribbling. After that, I was the dummy and the girls had to dribble me. That proved to be a little bit challenging. With that done, we practiced again free kick, this time with Hailey and Alva as strikers. It was very productive and gave me a headache (literally).

Last part of our  practice, when started to be very cold and rainy, we took some shots. Bella seems to be 100% which is great news, for sure. On the downside, our glass head still struggling with her pain whenever shooting the ball with her left leg but on the other hand, she got some amazing right-foot shot that caught Bella by surprise. I  would say it was a productive 1 hour and a half. Now, let’s build the hype for this Friday, when we play against the strong team of YCIS at home. A key match if we really want to win the league.

Nice weather, not too cold, pollution at 130-140 AQI and even a warm sun blessing our scrimmage. Alva is sick and Franziska still did not recovered from her self-inflicted knee torsion. On top of that, Tehillah had a make up quiz in Biology.Giovanni came once more to help us out being one of the goalies. It was also great to see Bella back with her full happy energy.

The teams were: Yellow team – Bella, Mikayla and Phoebe defending. Inês center midfield with Kyra on the left and Alice on the right and Hailey as the striker. Red team – Giovanni, Emma and Greta defending. Me as center midfield with Sinead on the left and Suh-Young on the right. I have to say that it was a very well balanced scrimmage with changes for both sides. We played two halves of 40 minutes each and the first half ended 3 x 3, if I am not mistaken.

The second half, age started taking it’s toll. Kyra already left first half with pain on her leg. I was destroyed, barely could breath. Tehillah, in the middle of the second half was gasping for air and asked to be defender instead of striker and by the end even Phoebe asked to defend because her knee was hurting.

I was positively impressed with the girls. Normally we play 70 minutes with constant subbing. This case we played 80 minutes with no subs at all. I need to give two major kudos during this scrimmage. First it’s to Suh-Young. Last year I was always pointing out that Suh-Young sprints and then asks to be subbed but today she played the 80 minutes and still had oxygen to sprint until the end of the match. Very impressive! The other highlight was Wonder Alice. She took a shot from the edge of the box that was a real missile, impossible to Giovanni to defend. He even sent me an email complaining that Alice should be on his team, not against him. I hope Wonder Alice shoots one like that this Friday.

After the scrimmage, we still took some shots, using the inside part of the foot and lastly we had penalty kicks. The best one for me until now is Mikayla but I have a feeling we are well served on this criteria since Kyra, Inês, Hailey, Tehillah, Sinead and etc converted two penalties quickly and were able to leave practice early. Tomorrow, more practice! 🙂

Today was a special practice, off calendar. I wanted to practice only with the attack players of the team, specially focusing on the job of the center midfield. Since it was not in the calendar, it was not mandatory. Showed up today Bella, Sinead, Hailey, Kyra, Mikayla and Inês. Mikayla was there to help the drill by being a defender together with me. Franziska showed up to watch but could not play due to her injury yesterday. She thinks she will be able to play next week, which we all hope.

Before the practice itself, first how to strengthen the pass with the inside part of the foot. We practice against the wall, shooting it really hard but straight and on the ground. After that, it was a simple practice. It was Inês, Sinead, Hailey and Kyra against me, Mikayla and Bella as goalie. Inês had to pass to either of the other 3 players. I think helped her to see the different plays that can be done. We did that for almost 40 minutes.

After that, it was more 10 minutes of free kick where Hailey was the striker. I used one of the small goals as a wall, which is much harder than normal. For last, penalty kicks. Bella defended a bunch but the highlight of the penalties was Mikayla. She was REALLY good! Maybe one of the top three.

When we were finishing penalties, guess what? Suh-Young shows up! We forgot to tell her that we changed the practice time from 11AM to 10AM. 🙁 Some players could stay for more 30-40 minutes so we did the same drill of overlapping from yesterday since Inês and Mikayla were also not there. Then I’ve practiced with her shooting against the wall.

Well, I just hope it was a productive one today. I am definitely trying to be creative. 🙂

Today we had our eternal captain Louise Nielsen visiting us. She was planning on playing with us but unfortunately she did not have cleats of her size. you know, Louise has baby feet, size 36. Emma offered her sister’s (a 6th grader) cleats but it was size 39 so it was a no go.

First half of the practice we had 10 players only. Bella still recovering and Suh-Young had a stomach flu so she went home to rest. Besides that, Inês had extra class of Biology and Mikayla had to film something for her boring Film Making class.

I assigned a drill where in pairs they had to pass to each other. In a triangle formed by the cones, one stands in the top vertex passing while the other has to run to the other two cones and pass without trapping. This is to help speeding up passing so we don’t waste precious time trapping the ball when it’s not needed. Some people have solid passing, others definitely needs to improve. Dominating the passing skill will make our team much stronger and united, not depending of one person in specific.

After that, we did the overlapping drill, where the center midfield alternates passes with one of the wings and has to sprint passing the defender. That one was very productive, I think. Now we need to transport those drills to the match.

After those two drills, we had a one-hour scrimmage. Yellow team was Mikayla as goalie, Phoebe and Tehillah as defenders, Inês center midfield, Alice on the right and Kyra on the left. Franziska as striker. The red team was Juni (thanks for the help! ) as goalie, Greta and Emma as defenders, me as center midfield, Hailey as striker, Alva on the right and Sinead on the left. What made me very happy was to see that both teams were very balanced. First half ended 3 x 3 with both teams playing well but still not fully applying what we actually had in the drills.

The second half was a bit disastrous. Franziska alone slipped and, at the same time, twisted her ankle and knee. I bet it was very painful since normally she is not a complainer. Me and her stepped out of the match and Greta kindly went to the nurse and got ice for Franziska.

I am happy this week we will finally have decent time to practice. We have four more matches to go and two of those against traditionally strong teams (YCIS and German School). Tomorrow I have a special practice of one hour to fine tune our attack. I hope it works as planned.

In four years coaching the girls I never had to wait so long for a first match. Yes. SAS cancelled.  The argument was that they had puddles on their field. I did not check their field so I cannot say anything about it. What I know is that the girls were ready. I remember ACAMIS Dalian when it was pouring down, field full of puddles and we still played.

Anyway, with the match cancelled, we had a light practice. Kyra is out of combat at least until next week, Suh-Young and Tehillah bailed out so we invited two boys from varsity team to help us out; Shingo (mini-Tacuma) and Eiji (mini-Rintaro). They are extremely good so besides asking them not to dribble but pass, I had them on my team. Domo Arigatô, guys!

Before the scrimmage we practiced trapping a high ball. I would kick it really high and the girls had to trap it really close to their bodies. Sinead was really good in it as Alva, a couple of times.

The scrimmage was only 50 minutes but it was nicely played. It was Mikayla, Phoebe and Bella, Alva on the right, Inês center, Alice left and Franziska as a striker. My team had me as goalie, Emma and Greta defending, Sinead left midfield, Shingo center and Eiji right. Hailey was the striker. One thing that we could learn from this practice, Mikayla was not in a good day. I blame Bella’s gloves. I never saw her conceding such easy goals. On the other side, Franziska was alternating amazing sprints and ball control with shots that went to the other compound. But practice it’s like this. It’s where we can make all the mistakes. Alice once more was very strong on ball control, Greta and Phoebe were solid defending and at the end was a tie between yellow and red team. We are definitely getting into shape and I have a feeling our midfield with Inês being the brain will get better and better. We are passing better than last year. I want those girls to play like Barcelona does, with a lot of Tiki Taka.

Let’s hope that finally this Thursday we can play. I can’t wait to start the season. At least I had the chance of cutting my hair before the first match. Yes, as a good Brazilian I have my … traditions before matches. Once we start the season (official matches) I cannot cut my hair and for every match I wear the same white, yellow and green shirt. Well, if does not help, at least does not harm. 🙂

Yes. I cannot believe in it either. BISS cancelled the match because the pollution levels were above 200. Well, it was between 200-210 and sincerely this was brought up at the AD (Athletic Director) meeting of all schools. The regulation that was agreed upon was that if the pollution levels where between 200-300, we would play a modified game, where we play 4 quarters of 15 minutes and when we have the break, we would go inside. Me and the team were extremely upset by that. We wanted to play. We invited colleagues and parents to watch but the match was cancelled 1:30PM. Ironically at 4:15, the time of the match, the pollution level was 195. Anyway, we decided to have a scrimmage between our own team. And I can say it was extremely productive.

I divided the teams: one was Bella, Greta and Phoebe, Alice, Inês and Kyra with Franziska as striker. The other was Mikayla, Tehillah, Emma, Suh-Young, Alva, Sinead, and Hailey as striker. With some minor modifications, we played the modified format (4 quarters of 15 minutes) and I can say that both teams played really well. Inês played wonderfully well as center midfield, distributing well the game whenever her team was attacking. Franziska more and more is tuning her “killer” instinct in the box, scoring nice goals. Praises also to Greta and Phoebe, that worked really well defending. Alice showed once more stamina and good ball control. Unfortunately it was not her day. Her knees were hurting a little so she left the field for a while to rest and then by the end of practice a ball hit her jaw. Oh boy, it was painful.

I did a rotation on center midfield to test different players. Suh-Young, Sinead and Alva played on that position but I still not sure who would be the best there. For now, Inês and Franziska are solid on that spot but I prefer Franziska as striker. She imposes respect from the defenders of the other team. As a matter of a fact Tehillah did an amazing job tagging along with Franziska, reducing as much as possible her space. Sinead still shows an unbelievable stamina, running for the 60 minutes and also kudos for her trapping. There were two high balls that she trapped like a ninja master. Now she needs to practice the dribbling part. Lastly, goalies we are extremely well served with Bella and Mikayla. Both are really good but I’ve noticed that Bella was not still fully recovered from last Tuesday. I am sure next week she will be 100%. I would also like to thank Elliot for his help whenever a player had to leave the field. Merci, mon ami! Also, Bienvenue Emma! Joining the squad and helping us a lot!

Our match against BISS Puxi was rescheduled to next Thursday (27). Spread the word and let’s play with the same spirit we showed today!

Once more training under a horrible weather. Drizzling, cold, windy. Still, most of the girls were there. I got really scared with the news that our Swedish Black Spider, Bella, had an asthma attack while swimming and ended up at the hospital. I had news from her later and she is all right (but we got super scared and worried!). Besides Bella, nobody else was missing. It was nice to see Suh-Young happy and practicing again with us.

We first went through tactics drills, like throw-ins. We were organising ourselves with the right positioning. After that, time to practice corner kicks. We practice first with Kyra and then with Inês.

After that we had a little scrimmage where Giovanni, goalie from the boys varsity team, came to help. We have a looooooooong road to improve, which actually is not that bad because if we were perfect now, were would be on our top at the beginning of the season which is not what I want. I want us to reach the peak of our game at ACAMIS.

I like to praise the newcomers to the team. Mikayla is a solid goalie and defender. Even feeling sick she wanted to stay around and I had to literally push her off the field so she could go home and feel healthy for the match this Thursday. Alva with her uplifting spirit gives a refine touch on the midfield. Tehillah played as defender and she was not at all intimidated with our German Panzer Franziska. Our mini-swedish speeder Alice has an incredible speed and ball control. Greta was rock solid as a defender and the best part is that since she is leftie, she connects super well with Kyra on the left wing.

I hope that we will be focused enough for this match on Thursday. We do have a good chance of winning. We at least have a good track record; In four years we never lost a first match. I hope that this year will not be the first time.

See you all on Thursday, 4:30! BELLATORUM INVICTUM!

A beautiful Swedish Summer day. Low pollution level, sunny but cold! Still, we worked very hard. We first met in my classroom to talk about tactics, specially the one that we played today, the well-known Frikadeller. I am starting thinking who would start against BISS, next Thursday. I am not 100% sure who will be the center midfield, the brain of the team, organizing plays and at the same time coming back to help the defenders. It can be Franziska, Inês and Kyra. Since we were missing Suh-Young and Maddie, I’ve invited Emma Bonhomme and Julia to help us out. I also invited Giovanni, that is trying out to be a goalie for the boys team. The yellow team started with Bella as a goalie, Mikayla and Inês defending, Alva on the right wing, Franziska center midfield and Kyra on the left, with Hailey as a striker. The red team had Phoebe and Greta defending, Alice on the right wing, Julia started as center midfield, Sinead on the left and Tehillah as striker.

This was the first time we actually played a full match and there was an ok positioning. I’ve also subbed people that were getting tired and Emma played as defender and wing too. Positive things that I’ve noticed; Greta was very solid defending, as for Mikayla and Phoebe. Alice is fast and does not seems to get tired easy. Alva has good ball control and Franziska was a great striker, scoring an amazing goal on Giovanni through a free kick. What we need to improve: We need to talk more to each other. We need to talk more and we need to improve defensively. Julia scored two goals in the first half. This cannot happen during the championship. Also Alva needs to practice penalty kicks. 🙂

We still have one practice to work on those things. Also Sinead kind of twisted her ankle so it’s one more worry for us. I hope it’s nothing serious.

Today was a different physical training. Ms. von Wahl was kind enough to give a 90 minutes intensive yoga class. If you think it was an easy physical practice, you couldn’t be further from the truth. I had players complaining that they were feeling extremely sore, more than a regular football practice. It’s a great practice to improve stretching and flexibility. I was glad to see almost everybody there, just missing Suh-Young.

Can someone explains to me why whenever we practice the weather is to bad? The guys had a better weather yesterday and we had 2 degrees and windy today. Seems that Tomorrow will be 4c and Friday, our practice, 2c. Not fair.

We were down to 10 players today. Maddie was not there, Suh-Young, Alva, Phoebe were sick. The good news was Greta, trying out for the first time (still more two to go). We had also the help from Julia (8th grade) and Emma “Petit-Pois”.

We started again this practice with ball control. First practicing passing from one foot to the other and then “combing” the ball. We need to master ball control. After that we had some practice with passing and shooting. Once more it was proven that we need to improve passing. The last drill today was Attackers Vs Defenders. It was a disaster. Attackers only scored two goals out of a million chances. It’s not acceptable considering attackers had one more player always. Oh my, lots to fix.

On a happier note, we took our pictures for the roster. As soon as I get all the players photographed, I will update our site. This Friday, 3:30PM at the LS Dance Room, we will have an amazing YOGA class with Ms. Regina von Wahl. Come on girls, how many teams in the league has this diverse training schedule? 😉 See you all there!