48 feet entered the pitch today: for those struggling with Maths it translated into a 12 v 12 match. A full house but no confusion whatsoever as the tactical discipline players gave themselves made it look like a fluent, seamless game where even hectic, rushed moves seem to possess an harmony not often seen in football.
The new mandatory, weekly session on tactics-only, has paid off handsomely. To the point that Cesc Fabregas, one of the finest tacticians who led Italian team Como from Serie B to Champions League football, was caught attending such sessions disguised as Chetan, whom he shares a striking similarity with. Not even the face recognition system could tell them apart with the Spaniard taking advantage of the fact that Chetan was playing cricket on the day, as he does every day…It was a risky move though as now the ex Arsenal and Chelsea star stand accused of possessing superior knowledge acquired in a fraudulent way. Stay tuned.
Cesc and Chetan: separated at birth.
Cesc Fabregas stopped at nothing to be able to steal FDs tactics. Before he stole lookalike Chetan identity though he would have fallen short in a football skills test,
had Chetan be there and not on a cricket ground.
On today’s match there were few notable comebacks: after spending the summer training with David Raya (the money the Arsenal keeper paid is not disclosed), Tony was back defending his goal with his usual authoritative style. In fact today it was not so much about the saves but the sense of safety he instilled in every teammate. One of them said that he felt like locking the door of his own house in the knowledge that it will find it exactly like he left it: unviolated.
With Tony L, of course there was the Neymar in the making, that is the not- so little Arman who has been growing in stature and confidence, requiring man marking and at times double up. We hope he can grace FDs games more often.
Edoardo was also back after few months absence and with Marco the Italian pair took control of the left alley: their physical presence was enough to persuade opponents to choose a less direct route for their trades.
All the others were more recurring familiar faces: yet again the J boys (Drexel, Lee, Rao) were in full display and this time in the same team. With the impactful addition of Joshua. A substantial premium was paid for their services: as it turned out it was money very well spent.
The JONATHANS: from left Lee (JL), Drexel (JD), Rao (JR). They produced a memorable collective performance for Colours with JD grabbing MOTM award!
With Alessandro in goal, Massimo and Bijan in defence, protected by Gregorio in front of them Orange felt like moving on the offensive right from the start. Who wouldn’t?
It fell to Kaan to open the score for the Orange with a shot which evaded Tony’s reach also due to a slight deflection.
Colours were far from dispirited though : leveraging from the tactics’ lessons they advanced the position of both JD on the right side from full back to winger and Joshua from a central defender to attacking midfield: they were both handed licence to score.
And score they did: big time. Before Orange knew Joshua landed a sucker punch that drew the game: before they had time to react another was in store to put Colours in the front seat: 2-1. Hardly any tactical move has been so productive in such a short space.
Nobody was prepared for what happened: even less so for what was going to happen.
If you knew that a hat trick was going to be scored next, most likely your money would have been on the usual suspect, certainly not on the unsung hero who did it, almost effortlessly.
Jonathan Drexel (JD) made the most from his advanced right-wing position converting 100% of the three goal opportunities he had with clinical precision and coolness. Wunderbar! The performance brought a straightforward upgrade of his status: from unsung hero to proper Hero.
We suspect that JD will permanently fill the new role going forward: the genius tactical move was double edged as the back space left void by his more forward position was covered admirably by Andrea M. He looked throughout the game every bit like Beckenbauer: head hight, ball glued to the feet, early anticipation and faultless distribution. All this facilitated by the collective performance of his surrounding partners Hannes, Julien and Johannes who made sure traffic was directed according to their instructions.
The goals gap was mildly reduced by Morteza scoring in back to back games only for Giancarlo on the opposite front to fix the score at 6-2 for Colours: Marco chested down a flying ball to serve JL. The latter often scored from such position, outside the box with back to the goal. Selfishly he put it on a plate for the incoming Giancarlo who hit the ball at full force. Alessandro did a half miracle to deflect the shot but not the full one to prevent it to end in the far corner.
At this point the golden goal represented for Orange both a dream and a nightmare depending on its outcome.
Each of them knew full well that it was the very last chance to regain dignity in front of the fans, increasingly faced with the reality of a grim weekend. The heavy defeat would stay for longer but the golden goal would allow them to still feel part of the community without been ashamed of it.
Orange hopes were raised by the early exit of Julien who had to endure an injury. As been the fulcrum of Colours’ midfield and the type of soldier who goes ‘à la guerre comme à la guerre’ the French was often targeted by the enemy. He nevertheless made sure to leave the pitch when victory was not in doubt.
Orange had still quality in spade: all they had to do was to dig deep into their residual energy to create chances for their forward: it was again Morteza who raised to the the challenge to score the golden goal in back to back games to give the 6-3 final score a more respectful dimension. He is a player who has regained confidence and is back being lethal in front of goal. Was it perhaps due to the scarf he was wearing? We might never know!
The almost unpredictable Man of the Match before the match became the most predicted soon after the match, just before the votes were casted electronically.
JD grabbed the trophy with both hands impressing voters for his tactical versatility and his clinical, ruthless finishing. Are we witnessing a Gareth Bale in the making? Probably not because Real Madrid does not stand a chance to snatch it away from FDs…
Finally, the writer wants to provide a first-hand example of how FDs differ from the pack. Recently it made global noise that professional Japanese footballer Kazuyoshi Miura, who also played in Italy, scored an official goal (on a penalty) at 59 years of age. Well, the likes of Hannes, Francesco, Giancarlo etc at the age of 60+ score every week without penalties.
Why does nobody make any noise about it, apart from the commentator?
Quite simply, it all boils down to the perception: ordinary players doing extraordinary things gets noticed. FDs doing extraordinary things is just par for the course...
It’s a funny world this one we’re living in!
COLOURS-ORANGE 6-3
GOALS
COLOURS: Jonathan D (3), Joshua (2), Giancarlo
ORANGE: Kaan, Morteza (2)
TEAMS
COLOURS: Tony L, Andrea M, Edoardo, Hannes, Jonathan D (JD), Julien, Jonathan R (JR), Johannes, Joshua, Jonathan L (JL), Giancarlo, Marco
ORANGE: Alessandro, Massimo, Bijian, Gregorio, Al, Kaan, Davide, Dario, Eren, Francesco, Morteza, Arman