Emptying the Quotebook
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| Photo Credit: Tormenta FC |
One of the challenges of writing game stories for the Statesboro Herald is that I can't always get everything in the story that I want to. Yes, it's writing on the web and there's no space limit, but the audience isn't there for 2,500 words on a Tormenta game. So sometimes we just have a backlog in the quotebook and here's as good a place as any to post those.
Let's get to some of the quotes from Ian Cameron, Gabrial Cabral and Aaron Walker that struck me as interesting during their post game press availability.
(Editor: Post game press availability? Isn't it usually just you and the Tormenta Media Relations person? Why the erudite language?
Me: Ummm, you just used 'erudite', so we're going to call this one on even)
On the team gelling together:
"I think tonight was an inflection point. We could have and should have still won the game, probably (against Charleston), but there's things that we've seen in training, there's things we've talked about that we know the group's got that just hasn't translated into matches. I'd say between the Naples game and tonight you're seeing more of it transpire on the field. So there's positive trends with intention behind it. There's not luck, there's intentional stuff that's happening from the players. That's getting better and when it's intentional, then it gives you more confidence." Ian Cameron
"I think guys are getting a little bit more on the same page and unfortunately it's taken longer than we wanted it to. We're still not anywhere we want to be and we could have our dips again throughout the season. It's still somewhat early so we just have to know what our foundation is, and our foundation is 'can we be a group of guys that fight and grind until the end' and you see what can happen when you do. So when we face adversity, it's not time to go down, it's time to rise up and it's amazing when you do." Aaron Walker
This is the type of performance (against Charleston) that we need every single game. We played if not the best team in the whole of the USL, then one of the best teams and we were better than they were for the majority of the game. That just shows the character and that just shows the potential that we have in this group to do something really special. There's a couple of things we need to clean up, but today we showed a lot of people that we can do big things this season." Gabriel Cabral
"It's a group of amazing people that we have here and I think some of the results that we've had didn't really reflect the game. Having a win in the middle of the week (against Naples)was helpful to light that fire again back in us that we can do something special this year. Sometimes it takes a minute, right? Coaches ay a lot of times that you need a couple of months and a lot of games to get that bond. I think we're getting there. I think we're getting there. It takes some games but today we just showed against one of the best sides in the whole of the USL that we can be better than they are." Gabriel Cabral
As the old saying goes, Roam by the B-52s wasn't written in a day. With so many new faces coming in to Tormenta this season, we knew it was going to take time for the team to come together. The implicit understanding seems to be that Tormenta needs to steal a few wins early in the season as that process takes place and when it does, hopefully they're not too far behind to be able to make a run later in the season. Currently Tormenta is five points outside the playoff line with Richmond and Greenville both sitting at 16 and Tormenta at 11. Those two teams have also played two more games than Tormenta.
On Niall Reid-Stephen playing more centrally
"He's an attacker that most defenders won't want to play against because the separation pace and the way he moves and his mechanics are really, really strong. We just tried to change his environment a wee bit by changing where he is. I think, sometimes, central you can get inside of teams a wee bit more than if he's always 1v1 wide and he gets double dup on. So he's embraced that but the part that was good for Niall is, the attack from inside is easier there, but to then go and defend a team like Charleston in that position without having played there often, that's tougher. We really enjoyed that side of it.
(Saturday) I thought the first half we had to suffer a wee bit, but that was good. Look, he missed chances (Saturday) and he knows that, but I think it's a sign of our trust in him that we kept him on. We made four changes in the 60th minute but we didn't change him because we just felt that he still had one in him and he showed it at the end. I'm really happy for him because he's a great kid, a really nice lad and when you have really good people and they get to see the fruits of their labor, that's fun from a coaching side." Ian Cameron
I am no soccer strategist or analyst, so take this with the largest grain of salt you can find, but I like seeing Reid-Stephen, Jonathan Nyandjo and Taylor Gray on the field at the same time together. When healthy, I think that trio can cause problems for defenses.
Takeaways from last week
"That's something we spoke about after the game. We were unhappy that we hit the post four times or whatever it was or hit the crossbar. We had a few unfortunate moments but the fact that we're creating is such a good sign and that's something you can really, take in to every week going forward. We're seeing it and when you haven't seen it yet it's hard to believe. But now we're seeing it so I'm really happy with that. Really pleased with that. We created a ton and that's something we've really struggled with." Aaron Walker.
"I think if you quizzed our fans, sometimes they would say we're a boxer who throws a bunch of little punches but doesn't through enough haymakers, doesn't throw enough big jabs. Tonight, if you watched us, we threw some pretty big jabs. I think we created six or seven big chances against, outside of the MLS, arguably the best soccer team in this country with the best soccer staff in this country outside of the MLS. So I think there's a lot to take from it. I think we're disappointed in the goals we gave up and in the chances we missed but you still want to be a boxer who's got a knockout punch in them and I felt like tonight we showed we've got some knockout punches in us and that bodes well for the future." Ian Cameron
"The response is massive. Once you get in the latter part of the year, you want to have had a record of going up in a game and then maintaining that lead and then you want to have a memory bank of being down in a game and having that fighting dog about you to come back in it. And if you've got both of those things, when you to the cutting edge of a season, the group's just got more resilience to draw back on, more experiences they can draw upon in the locker room when you're talking about these kinds of situations later on in the season." Ian Cameron
"We have to look at this game and be proud of what we did because we literally played better than one of the best teams in the whole of the USL. We have to fix the things that we need to fix in term of the two boxes and we can do something really special. But first I think we should be proud of the effort because equalizing a game against one of the best sides in the whole of the USL when you're two goals down, it needs character and it needs a lot of people that want to do something special. It's something that we can be proud of, but we also need to fix the things we need to fix." Gabrial Cabral
My oldest and I were talking about this on the way home from the Charleston game. Even though it ended in a draw and a penalty shootout loss, the game was fun. It was frustrating, of course, with the failure to capitalize on many of the chances created, but it was a fun night at Tormenta Stadium and while any night outside watching soccer is a good night, they aren't all fun. Saturday was fun.
Tormenta's Identity at the Moment
"The forward momentum we've made in terms of chances created, the forward momentum we've made in playing a bit more direct and in being a bit more dynamic in our play, if we take one step back, we're dead. All of us have to really take stock in this and say 'this is our identity' and if you don't, you can lose an identity in five minutes. It takes a long time to crate one, so we've got to keep on chipping on our identity and make sure we're not taking any backward steps. As soon as we get back to work (on Monday) it's 'Who are we? Who do we want to be?' and make sure when we go away from home and play a hard Portland team that dynamic is there." Ian Cameron
I'm realizing now that by emptying the quotebook I may be in trouble for content next week, but we'll worry about that then. Enjoy the game and enjoy your weekend everyone.
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