by Valletta and Hibernians will conclude the Assikura Women’s League matches for the weekend at the Charles Abela Stadium at 19:00, with the match shifted by one hour. The two coaches reflected on the international break and the gameplan for this evening.
International Selections & The Break
The two teams will conclude the Assikura Women’s League return to action this weekend following the international break.
The window challenged the Maltese international setup with squashed fixtures for the U19 and U17 teams that were playing friendlies within 48 hours of each other. The senior team had a slightly wider window, but all coaches were pushed on their handling of player condition in view of the 135 minutes rule and the general approach to cater for a player’s ability to handling loading.
The comments from national team coaches were wide-ranging from those attributing the international context to being completely different than the club context, to those suggesting that some clubs’ approach in handling player condition is still primitive and so inapplicable, to comments which praised clubs’ development of players.
Similarly to all other coaches, Anton Cremona and Martina Borg were probed on their thoughts of seeing their players perform at international level, as well for their reaction in regards to comments on development.
Valletta’s Anton Cremona underscored the lack of opportunity given to Valletta’s players, “None of my players were selected. It’s the decision of the national team coaches and I must respect it. However, I think there were at least one or two of my players who deserved at least a chance to prove themselves.”
As to the work done in the background having had some time away from competitive matches, given the key injuries in the team, Anton Cremona replied, “It was certainly a needed break for us. However, we still have the same issues in terms of squad depth, since we still need two more players to help the team. We’ve recovered our injuries and hopefully we’ll be strong in the match.”
It was an opposite story for Martina Borg, with a long list of selections at senior and youth level. The Hibernians coach reflected, “We haven’t played a match since the sixteenth of October and we had six players with the U19s and five with the senior team, so we had quite a few players away from us during the break and right now there is still the U17 competition ongoing and we’re still missing some players. However, we still had around fifteen players available for training so we managed to have good sessions at the club.”
Martina Borg echoed the sentiment of other coaches on the pride in seeing players called up, “It’s a very positive thing to see players going on international duty. Having formed part of the national team myself I know that it is a unique opportunity, the intensity is different because you’re playing with teammates who are strong and against strong opposition as well.”
As to the utility of the break at club level, the coach of Hibernians continued, “It’s a positive because gives me the opportunity to focus more on individual technique and similar development. During the season it is not something that is so easy to plan for when you have competitive matches, so the break is useful in this regard.”
She added, “It also allowed us to give some time for players to recover some injuries, while also pushing others a bit more physically who maybe haven’t had that much opportunity or time to push in this regard.”
Match Expectations Amid Fixture Changes
The match time changed once more on short notice, with the match set to be played at 19:00 instead of at 18:00. This as the Malta Football Association continues to firefight its own short-sighted plans for competition schedules, with an extra competition to handle in the Jubilee Cup, to the detriment of the game itself.
The impact of such a change is unclear on the teams, with the short notice being so late that the comments from coaches about the match were obtained prior to the change being effected.
However, given that those involved are available for the coaches to have the same squad availabilities and given that the coaches themselves can attend the match, it is expected to be one where Valletta will aim to frustrate Hibernians.
Anton Cremona hailed the strength of his opposition, “They are no doubt strong and I prepare accordingly. Every episode in the match will affect the match. We must contain our mistakes to avoid conceding.”
Martina Borg acknowledged the efforts by Valletta to frustrate, “We prepare for it like any other game, but yes we are expecting a team that is going to try to be compact and disciplined. Even though they may be coming into the game from a tough defeat, I believe that Valletta can be frustrating to score against when on their game.”
In effort to counteract, Martina Borg reflected on the preparation for the team to find a way through while underscoring the relevance of football philosophy, “So, in this regard we’ve worked on finding creative solutions to open up space, while of course still respecting our playing principles. Against Birkirkara we achieved a good win by 4 – 1, but I was not happy in terms of a performance because there were moments were we weren’t playing according to our principles. So, while the win is important for the table, I want to also make sure that we are getting them by adopting our principles for our long-term goals. I hope against Valletta we can do that.”
The two teams will take to the pitch at 19:00 at the Charles Abela Stadium. The other match will pit Swieqi United against Birkirkara at the Centenary Stadium at 16:30.
Lead Image: Francesca Vella
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