Menace Minute:  May 12, 2008

Here we go, the season is upon us and the summer seems to fly by from this point on.  With two games under our belt, we are able to get a sense of what we have to work with and what we have to build on.  I was disappointed in the result of the St. Louis match, but proud of the way the boys responded in Kansas City.  I thought for the St. Louis match we had things according to plan most of the way through the first half and then we got a bit sloppy and gave up the goal just before half time that changed our plan the rest of the way.  We knew going into a game like St. Louis, that possession was going to be tough, we wanted to be conservative defensively and not make a lot of mistakes.  We got the early goal but couldnt make it stick.  I was proud of the boys effort and was impressed with their determination for having seen each other for the first time Friday afternoon.  The first few games in the season are so difficult, I saw players coming in for the first time ever and then tried to put them together in a lineup that would work the next day.   When you don't know exactly how players will respond to each other and how each players qualities will work in the group you have, the first games will look a lot like Saturdays.  Many of these guys we recruit through video tapes, phone conversations and references, but you don't actually see them face to face until days and hours before the kickoff.  So, I was disappointed in a loss on Saturday, but more focused on how the group would respond to adversity and changes for Sunday.