We've continued our hot form. That draw you see in the middle? We got killed on set pieces and went into the half down 0-2. I screamed at the team and it took everything we had just to come back for the draw.
Bojan Tetek has been absolutely incredible in the nets, with all starts so far. We got the short end of the stick in scheduling, with Tipton B getting an extra couple days rest. So we went Defensive in that match, keeping Tetek in, and ground out the 1-0 win. Weirdly, the board expects me to win the trophy with the piddling $750 championship purse, but only wants competitive in the league. *SHRUG*
On the backline, it's been... not great. No one is averaging a 7, which is pretty poor for a dominant team. My board and fans don't really like
Oakley Hangar much. I wouldn't mind a complete turnover there.
Biggest shock of the early season has been
Graham Mercieca taking that captaincy seriously and turning into an amazing player out of the blue. His 7.7 average rating has topped the team and he has 4 goals and 3 assists already to his credit at ML.
Darius Covaci has really stepped it up this season, too, netting a team-high 3 Player of the Match awards.
Cedrick Mpadi has been okay.
We transferred in 19 year old Northern Irish central midfielder
James McCarthy. He's a set piece god for this level (11 Corners, 12 Free Kicks) and with his 9 Crossing, my intention is for him to be an all position midfielder. Right now he's our Advanced Playmaker while Covaci is still our Ball-Winning Midfielder (I mistyped it as defensive MC a couple posts ago). McCarthy is still adjusting to our game, but I have really, really high hopes for him.
Amir Geid continues to be his wonderful self (5 goals, 4 assists) even if he does miss easy ones sometimes. He, Tetek, and
Nathan Dennis have been busting ass in training.
Supat Rungratsamee started off incredibly hot, picking up where he left off from last season. But he's been so cold and subbed out for
Mark Irvine frequently. So I might look for a chance there. Our cool Thai dude did come off the bench to score the game-winner in the Walter C. Parson first round, though.
We're in 1st place in the league right now, 3 points clear of the 2nd place team who we play in a couple matches. Our next game is against the 3rd place squad, so we've a chance to put some real distance between us and everyone else.