Exams Break

Hall 5 (3)-(2) Hall 7

Ok guys, this is how i feel about our overall performance so far, you might not agree with me, but I still have to say this. It is going to be a very long post, but i hope everyone will read every single word i said here.

First of all, I am not angry, or have given up on the team or anyone, I am just disappointed with the attitude of our team towards the match. I have to say that if we continue to perform like that, we are just wasting our own time, money and our poor coach's time and energy of travelling up and down. Please, even if you dont think for the team, think about our coach, he don't even need to train us in the first place, and he is doing us a big favour by coming down every week just to train us. So, please dont ever take him for granted.

Next, it really saddens me when I see the performance today. Everything just went back to square one. I am not happy NOT because we lost, or we cannot score or play beautiful football, but rather at our own players' attitude. When you are selected to represent the team to play, you hold certain responsibilities. Responsibility in terms of helping your teammate by SHOUTING for the ball, supporting him when he have the ball. Responsibility in terms of making a GOOD, FIRM pass to your teammate. Responsbility in terms of helping your teammate by SHOUTING "MAN ON" or "TURN". ALL these are the responsibilities when you are selected to play for the team, nobody can help you and only YOU yourself can be responsible for that.

Why is it fair when I see kai jie bravely use his HEAD to challenge for the ball against the opponents' boots? Why is he defending so hard for the team while i can see others waiting for the ball to land on their feet, or even walking back when we got counter-attacked? I need all of you to understand this responsibility that you must perform when you play.

What i meant by playing hard is not asking you to be a gangster by pushing the opponent from behind, or back-sliding tackle him, or punching him. What i want is you to put pressure on the opponent with the ball. I dont expect you to get the ball from him everytime, but at least RUN in front of him, delay him from advancing forward, and force him to make a lousy pass. THATS ALL. Til now, i can still see our own players ball WATCHING when the opponent is pushing the ball forward unchallenged.

One more thing Im very concerned is the lack of confidence in everyone. I can really see that most of you are afraid to ASK for the ball from your teammate, because you are afraid to make mistake and lose the ball. And once you have the ball, you would want to quickly pass it away so that the responsibility of making the mistake will not be yours anymore. Honestly, i can tell you most of us (including me) have this problem. But, only you can overcome this yourself, NOBODY can help you. So i really challenge all of you to show some character and prove to me that you can overcome this confidence crisis.

Also, if anyone of you are feeling too pressured during trgs/matches and cant cope with the intensity and feel like quitting, pls let me know. I truly understand, and i will encourage you to quit. Dont let all these kill off your passion for soccer. I always believe that you must enjoy playing, dont make this the reason for you to give up on soccer.

Lastly, I know when a team constantly loses, frustrations tend to come in, morale will be low. BUT, the last thing i want to see is our own teammates fighting with each other. This is one thing i CANNOT accept. No matter how frustrated or angry you are, it gives you NO RIGHT to punch/push your own teammates. So please, remember what i have said in the first trg, harmony in the team comes FIRST.

We will stop for exams, think it will be a good time for us to all take a break and think about this. So please study hard for the exams, ultimately, you are here to study and are responsible to get good grades. After the exams, we will start trg immediately, and those who wish to continue playing, be prepared to DIE during trgs.

All in all, I really wish to see character building in the team, everyone performing their responsibilities. Dont SAY it to me that you will improve/or buck up/work harder, SHOW it.

Have a good break. Thats all for me. Anyone got anything to say can add it into the comments section below this post.

The journey will never be easy.

KT
(The captain that never quits on his team)