Milo
Well-Known Member
Quarterly Report 2: 2023/24
Results
Table
Recap
Before this quarter, I would have taken the 4-2-1 league record, but this set of nine games left me frustrated by a number missed opportunities. Late goals were a consistent occurrence and the decisive ones trended against me. Of the nine games played(two cup), seven of the games included goals scored after 80 minutes. While we were fortunate to score a late winner against Ann Arbor(Grella 83), two stoppage time equalizers by Reading and Nashua turned a potential cushion against promotion rivals into disappointing draws. Because of those draws, we are only one point clear at the top.
The Nashua draw was particularly unpleasant. We scored early(Muller, 2nd minute) and proceeded to dominate the game, but failed to put it away. Then this happened in the 94th minute:
Even the U.S. Open Cup games proved difficult. We drew Madison(AL), an amateur team in the first round, and I decided to play an almost fully rotated squad. Madison was up to the challenge and actually was the better team for most of the game. It took three subs early in the second half(Muller, Sparks, Grella) to swing the game back in our favor. Muller would score the winner.
Torrance was also a relatively favorable draw. They are in our tier, but our performances in the league gave me optimism. We even scored early, but proceeded to fall apart on defense. At one point, we were down 3-1. We battled back to 3-3 only to give up a penalty shortly after that decided the game. We are now down to our last cup competition, the New England Cup(starts in February.)
All in all, though, it could have been much worse. There was no significant drop off from our fast start out of the gates. We lead the league, albeit tenuously. We beat Danbury, far and away strongest team in our league last season, 2-0, hammered fellow Massachusetts team Brockton 5-1, and went to Naperville, a promotion contender, and left with a 4-2 win.
Muller has been phenomenal. He scored in seven out of our nine games. Overall, he has sixteen goals and six assists in seventeen appearances(two as a substitute), already passing last year's mark(and Springfield's record) and we are only halfway through the season.
No slouch either, Grella has eleven goals in fourteen appearances. While Muller seems to be the more consistent scorer, Grella has a bit of flair for the dramatic. Of his seven goals in this quarter, five have come after the 60th minute.
Other standouts have been Eddie Sparks and Matthew Murphy. Sparks, our box-to-box midfielder, leads the team in assists(10) but has yet to score. Murphy's consistently strong performances at the back have gone a long way to alleviate my worry over our central defense not being good enough for this level.
Some personnel news, I'm weighing a transfer confirmation for Muhammad Wrali. While I've been able to extend some deals(including Corona), Matthew Murphy's demands are out our range right now, especially with the uncertainty of our league status next season. Because of this, I went out and signed a centerback. My scouts love him(more than Corona and Murphy), he can play both centerback and rightback, is on decent contract(about $4k less than the minimum Murphy is demanding), and has a squad status that does not demand a ton of minutes. The latter is not necessarily important for this season, I play to work him into the team(we'll likely start rotating centerbacks based on our opponents), but it's more important for next season if we are promoted.
Because of this, Wrali, the calf-less wonder, may be on the move to balance our salary budget. He has made two starts this season(and eight off the bench.) However, he's a bit redundant with Chris Griffin in the squad and in a pinch I could move our u-18 DM Jaydin Serrano up. It'll pain me to "sell"(he's going on a free transfer), but it's a move that makes sense.
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Fourteen league games and the New England Cup remain.
Results
Table
Recap
Before this quarter, I would have taken the 4-2-1 league record, but this set of nine games left me frustrated by a number missed opportunities. Late goals were a consistent occurrence and the decisive ones trended against me. Of the nine games played(two cup), seven of the games included goals scored after 80 minutes. While we were fortunate to score a late winner against Ann Arbor(Grella 83), two stoppage time equalizers by Reading and Nashua turned a potential cushion against promotion rivals into disappointing draws. Because of those draws, we are only one point clear at the top.
The Nashua draw was particularly unpleasant. We scored early(Muller, 2nd minute) and proceeded to dominate the game, but failed to put it away. Then this happened in the 94th minute:
Even the U.S. Open Cup games proved difficult. We drew Madison(AL), an amateur team in the first round, and I decided to play an almost fully rotated squad. Madison was up to the challenge and actually was the better team for most of the game. It took three subs early in the second half(Muller, Sparks, Grella) to swing the game back in our favor. Muller would score the winner.
Torrance was also a relatively favorable draw. They are in our tier, but our performances in the league gave me optimism. We even scored early, but proceeded to fall apart on defense. At one point, we were down 3-1. We battled back to 3-3 only to give up a penalty shortly after that decided the game. We are now down to our last cup competition, the New England Cup(starts in February.)
All in all, though, it could have been much worse. There was no significant drop off from our fast start out of the gates. We lead the league, albeit tenuously. We beat Danbury, far and away strongest team in our league last season, 2-0, hammered fellow Massachusetts team Brockton 5-1, and went to Naperville, a promotion contender, and left with a 4-2 win.
Muller has been phenomenal. He scored in seven out of our nine games. Overall, he has sixteen goals and six assists in seventeen appearances(two as a substitute), already passing last year's mark(and Springfield's record) and we are only halfway through the season.
No slouch either, Grella has eleven goals in fourteen appearances. While Muller seems to be the more consistent scorer, Grella has a bit of flair for the dramatic. Of his seven goals in this quarter, five have come after the 60th minute.
Other standouts have been Eddie Sparks and Matthew Murphy. Sparks, our box-to-box midfielder, leads the team in assists(10) but has yet to score. Murphy's consistently strong performances at the back have gone a long way to alleviate my worry over our central defense not being good enough for this level.
Some personnel news, I'm weighing a transfer confirmation for Muhammad Wrali. While I've been able to extend some deals(including Corona), Matthew Murphy's demands are out our range right now, especially with the uncertainty of our league status next season. Because of this, I went out and signed a centerback. My scouts love him(more than Corona and Murphy), he can play both centerback and rightback, is on decent contract(about $4k less than the minimum Murphy is demanding), and has a squad status that does not demand a ton of minutes. The latter is not necessarily important for this season, I play to work him into the team(we'll likely start rotating centerbacks based on our opponents), but it's more important for next season if we are promoted.
Because of this, Wrali, the calf-less wonder, may be on the move to balance our salary budget. He has made two starts this season(and eight off the bench.) However, he's a bit redundant with Chris Griffin in the squad and in a pinch I could move our u-18 DM Jaydin Serrano up. It'll pain me to "sell"(he's going on a free transfer), but it's a move that makes sense.
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Fourteen league games and the New England Cup remain.
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