/sci/ 2015 Winter Cup Recap v.1

Let's get this started by saying I'm not overly displeased with the team's performance this cup. Sure a 5 point group stage finish and a 3-0 loss in the first knockout round isn't normally considered a rousing success, but this isn't so bad. Going into Winter we really didn't have an idea what to really change from our Autumn setup, but we had to change something. I noticed our fairly high 7 Goals Against from the last cup and thought "what if we just put a 2nd DMF in there." Aitor readily agreed and the setup was finalized.

The draw was not the best for us. Being drafted into Group D meant that /sci/ played mostly on Fridays and Sundays, days that cut into my swim practice schedule. Still I somehow found the time to test against the Autumn setups of /ic/ and /s/ in preparation for the games ahead. After about 10-20 tests against /ic/ we found a well-rounded setup and prayed that we wouldn't lose the first Elite Cup match. I couldn't manage, Aitor had classes, so we just did our respective duties and hoped for the best. In the end, it was a weird, glitchy, 0-0 draw that left us near the bottom of the table on the first day.

Next up was /s/, another team that 10-pointed their Autumn group. I knew their manager was a smart lad and I was ready to test all night to try and beat them. I was actually around to manage for that one. I accidentally left one of the team's weaker defenders in who failed to clear the ball adequately: leading to a 2-2 draw. This landed us 3rd in the table and in danger of becoming relegated.

So it was all up to the match vs. /diy/ to see who would go through. If /sci/ lose it's immediate relegation. If it's a draw, /ic/ had to win in order for /sci/ to advance. If /sci/ win it's an automatic promotion. I at least tried to come up with something, and ended up deciding on using a hyper-offensive formation with a pretty cool set of sliders. I was unable to manage that day due to Swimming Finals, so I told Aitor he had to manage the deciding game of an Elite Cup Group Stage. Needless to say he was a bit frightened at the idea, but I told him to just follow the gameplan and we'll be fine.

The game didn't start out too great. 2 goals from /diy/ in the first 25 minutes put us in a deep hole, and Aitor put in the PANIC sliders i prepared at around the 18th minute. What happened next was the greatest comeback of all time. A goal from a 77 CB not told to join the attack started the comeback, then goals from Feynman and Tesla firmly cemented our hold on the match. A goal from the same CB made the win 4-2, putting us in 2nd place in the group and onto the knockout round.

This was /sci/'s first elite cup knockout round EVER. For me myself as a long-time fan to be behind such a thing is pretty astounding. To lose 3-0 in the first round isn't but eh, not everything is perfect.

I'll see you all in Summer.
-Ordinate

(also I'm looking for a co-manager.)