TeamCuzz Needs You!!!!!!!!!!!

A sudden blip in form has been a cause for concern, in particular back-to-back-to-back-to-back defeats in the league. But if you think about it, there has always been a win smacked in between these defeats, although it was never reflected - DYNAMOic backout, BLUE OYSTERS scared of the rain, Tiger in the Woods playing golf. Nevertheless, it can't be denied that morale is at it's all time low. The lack of interaction in this very blog is one big testament to that. It is during these times that true characters show. Cowards hide, heroes prevail. It is time EACH of you stand up and make a difference. A call has been posed to you TeamCuzz. What you gonna do? What you gonna do? (rips off yellow singlet)

The Call:
ZA7: We're going through a bad patch. The only way out is the SEMANGAT!!! Let's begin with some encouraging words within us and a spirited display this SAT. "TeamCuzz needs you!!!!!!!!"

GZ25: My view is that as we march on in the latter stages of the season, we have lost focus of our core strength that has brought us all together - our bond as Cuzz. This bond was up in the air for all to see during pre-season, and especially during the mauling in the first game of the season. Why is it all lost you may ask? I can answer in 2 simple words - 1) Camaraderie, 2) Depth. On all occasions that we win, we are always the first team on the pitch, warming up together and perhaps getting comfortable with each other before kickoff. Settling down early and getting the psychological edge is key as seen in some of our past games. Also, we always had sufficient strength in depth, with at least 4 players waiting in the wings and raring to enter play to make a difference.

Apart from that, things aren't so bleak though. People are trying their hearts out to chase after every ball, playing their lungs out when they are sick, and stepping up when their knees tell them not to. All this shows commitment, and this will go a long way in helping the team see out the remainder of the season. But individual effort is never enough. Our collective effort as a team is the one that matters in the end.

My suggestion is - come early, have warm-up together, drop the negative comments and replace it with unending support, and let everyone have a taste of first-team action. That way, we'll get back the numbers and teamwork that has made us all successful in the past. & more importantly, re-establish our bond, for as my bro puts it, the bond will bring us the results that we want, we need.

SK09: Lets put aside our ego... on the contrary, the only way is UP .. Lets do it TOGETHER.

SS13: Yes, what was stated by GZ25 is definitely true. Mainly our camaraderie was nowhere to be found lately. The bond we had as cousins were the main ingredients and strengths in our team. We have to regroup and rebuild on this. I've recently had some conversations with one of us and we discussed on some issues we are facing:-

Players - If you guys can remember, before the league started, plenty of friendly matches were played and just look at the attendance then. At least more than 14players, and there were times when myself, Faizul and Imran had to reduce some of the players as there were too many. But recently, we only have either 11 or 12 players for each game. What happened? I remembered Imran asking all the players whether they can commit to the team before he registered our team for the league. Everyone's response was positive. With more players, let say about 15 players per game, everybody will play to impress. Everybody will give their best to stay in the field. In addition, our manager, Bro Kamal will have more players to work with and will be able to put in some fresh legs often. However with only 11 or 12 players available recently, he's having some difficult time settling the formation. Further on, players tend to get physically and mentally tired faster thus we are not playing to win, but just playing to kill the time. In conclusion, we need to get all the cousins to come back and win the remaining games together. We need everyone's support on this. If Bro Zulkhairi and Bro Fazlon who are married with children can commit every single game, why cant we? Maybe there are times when we have urgent or important stuff to attend to but 3 to 4 saturdays in a row???? Worst come to worst, playing in one half before a game is more than good enough.

Formation - Forgive me on this as I have not much say in it, but this is just my opinion. There were times when our famous 4-3-3 formation wasn't working out but we still stuck to it. So I think its time for a change. When the score is against us, maybe we can try something new or revert back to our old 4-5-1. With 4-5-1, there will be someone playing in the defensive midfield role, his main purpose is to destroy the opponent's attack and nothing else. With that, the defenders will have some support to cover them. With 4-3-3, the player in the midfield centre role will be having a torrid time to defend as well as attack. Therefore he can only help bit of defending and attacking. So with 4-5-1, we have 1 player protecting the backline, and 2 players supporting the main striker. We have been doing it long before the league even started so why not try it again??

Positions - Everybody have their specific positions to play in, but we need to be responsible on this. (This is from my point of view as a defender.) From where I can see, everytime when we defend, only some of the midfielders will backtrack to defend too. We need cooperation from all 11 playing. We need to defend together. We need to start defending from the attackers. That is the way to do it. We have to be commited and help each other out. Yes attackers might complain that they are tired, but so are the defenders. Point to note, its more fun running with the ball attacking than chasing an attacker with the ball!!

That is all. This is just my 2 cents worth. =)