Victory home against Sirius 1-0

A victory today during this 18th game of the season at home, with 1-0 against Sirius. Unfortunately not so very satisfactory.

The game started well and the first goal came rather quickly at the 7th minute. Osiako gets the ball at the entrance of the surface and some room, shoots hard just below the bar, Sirius' keeper has to push it out into a corner kick, that Robin shoots well, re-entering, and Robledo heads it in with at the 1st pole just in front of Sirius' keeper. 1-0.
After that MAIF continue to push, but what was most obvious was the disorganization at the midfield: Sasa was playing very high and centre, leaving the right wing empty. But that was Skoog's place, so they kept tripping on each other. So we were playing some sort of 4-3-3 leaning on the left. If their was someone on the right, it was Ivanoski. In the defensive phases, it was often Osiako or Danne who were defending on the right. Luckily Sirius did not use their left channel so much.

Fortunately in the second half Thomas did put some order and get the players to their place, so their were fewer holes. Sirius were also more lively and created quite many occasions, but really wasted them all. MAIF was pushing as well, but did not manage to create clear cut occasions, except Berner's acceleration in the end that Sirius' keeper saved, or wasted them as well. So the number of shots on the goal is quite equal to both team, but it was more like the number of shots "within 10m of the goal"....

Very good game by Asper again, saved many balls. What a confidence back there.
Ivanovski very offensive, especially in the first when there was noone ahead of him so he had to push the ball all the way.
Good defense by Robin and Robledo, despite a couple of misses, but none that Asper could not cover.
Very good game by Wille, who intercepted many balls and started many offensive actions.
Svensson did not do much, or at least not so much that became something.
Enormous game by Danne, he's run a marathon today. Offensive, defensive, everywhere.
Good game by Osiako, good distribution. When he was not doing other people's job that is.
Very average game by Sasa. He played half of the game not at his place without making sure he had a coverage, while he was up he was inexistant in defensive phases, and he didn't come to anything dangerous. It seems everybody likes him, but I'm sorry I don't see what he brings.
Same comment for Skoog, he definitely can control balls with very few touches, but he's too static, he was playing too low instead of supporting Eken, he's calling many balls but usually lost them shortly after. Not convincing.
Eken still has difficulties at the top, he had more space today but did not create so many dangerous situations. It's been a while since he scored. Caught too many times off-side.

The replacers were Tobbe, Berner and Löfqvist who did ok for the little time they had.

The pajas was ok.

Coach Thomas was not very inspired in his choice of players. Svensson is not in his top condition, leave him on the bench until he is. As I said above I am not a big fan of Sasa, or at least use it in the centre as it's his natural position. Skoog is not very well integrated in the team and could use some physical and mobility training.
We have so many replacers for the midfield, I really don't understand why most never get a chance except a stupid tactical change in the last minute.
If they both want to play center, put Skoog and Sasa there, last time I checked Eken was quite an excellent right winger.
But please use the players in a place that suits them, not wherever there is a hole, just to have them on the pitch. And give a chance to the youngsters, especially when we play against the bottom teams.

So in the end, another game where we were lucky that the opponents lacked the skills or realism to transform all their opportunities into a couple of goals. And where Asper saved our a**es in more than one occasion. But the opponents are at the bottom of the table, we cannot continue with such playing with the top teams, we'll get crushed.

Anyway 18 games played, 5th of the league with 31 points, we are still in contact with the 4 teams above, but there must be some order in the positions and play style if we intend to climb or even keep that position.