Tats Mercado is the best goalkeeper in the league, but the worst diplomat
If there is a need for a Military attaché in a foreign diplomatic post, please remove Tats Mercado from the short-list. His statements about foreign-born players painted a little tarnish on his overall exemplary performance during the UFL Cup finals. Sad if you think about it. There is clearly some animosity from where those words were coming from. I will venture a guess and assume that it has something to do with National Team selection process.
His saves were nothing short of phenomenal. He was at the right place at the right time, which makes him seemingly the luckiest guy on that pitch – but it was more educated than anything else. He also was able to use his backline effectively. You have to admit that there was an element of the Loyola strike force having a bad day.. Yep! Every single member of said strike team chose last Saturday to have a bad day. But really, Mercado made sure that their bad day kept.
I agree that there is a bit of truth to the statement that Mercado made. However, there was a much better way to be more ‘diplomatic’ about delivering the same message, driving the point across minus the backlash.
If you think about it though, how many times has he been interviewed on live television, and statements quoted and published. It is probably something he can learn from the more exposed members of the team. With the stature of a professional athlete, every statement made will be read, mis-read, interpreted, mis-interpreted, mis-quoted, and scrutinized. It is the responsibility of the athlete to thread lightly in front of the mic.
Putting myself in Mercado’s shoes, I would have said something along the lines of “Our boys were not intimidated by the top quality Meralco players. We respected them but made sure that we did not give them too much respect. We played hard and it showed in the game. We proved to everyone that not having foreign bred and trained players is not a factor as long as we played as a team…” But that’s just me. I didn’t sign a piece of paper saying I’d offer my life in service of my country, so I might be coming from a different perspective.
The Meralco top players should become more adaptable in their style of play
The Younghusband and Hartmann brothers were clearly having a bad day. The Airforce style of play did not help them one bit. Foreign born/trained players are more accustomed to fluid attractive style of play. It’s great to watch, even impressive. There are times though when these players should learn to mix it up with rougher players. It seemed that they would lose the quality of their play when body checked, etc. This is probably the reason why it is important for these players to work on their upper body strength to ward of defenders or be able to take those shoulder checks.
Yanti Barsales can possibly be the Ryan Giggs of the UFL
I promise that this is one of the rare occasion that I will make a reference to a foreign league. The fact is the longevity and talismanic aura that Barsales shows all points to the legendary Ryan Giggs. The parallels are uncanny. This can only mean great things for our league. It is quite exciting how Barsales will contribute to the growth of local football and what role he will play.
A taken cared of pitch makes a world of difference on the quality of football played
Put in a different way, because Rizal was rested for a bit to prepare for the Galaxy game, the pitch quality was quite good. Organizers need to realize that as soon as we open more pitches, we should stop using Rizal for regular games and just reserve it for ‘big’ games. That will ensure that the pitch will be conducive to the exciting style of play that will naturally draw more fans to the games.
It was alarming to see how easily everyone were able to go to the pitch after the game. Kids kicking the ball around. Security should have been a bit tighter to make sure that the pitch is not subjected to this kind of ‘abuse’.
It is not impossible to fill a stadium for a UFL game
There is nothing better to do on a weekend than go to the stadium to watch a football match. Nothing. I believe strongly that every single person in Rizal last Saturday will not hesitate to watch a live match again. They’ll probably fancy a rematch between the two clubs too. Loyola fans for payback, Ariforce fans to prove a point. But the fact is, what a wonderful atmosphere Rizal had during the final game. There were probably 2,000 people in the grandstand, easily (I’m guessing). And that just made the game all the more exciting.
As an organizer, it would probably have been a good idea to charge a 20-30 peso gate fee. Just to recoup some of the costs of staging the game, and to maintain the pitch. I would have gladly paid (even more) to watch the game.
But here’s the bad news (it's more good news, really) UFL, my expectations are now sky-high. That is the kind of game that I will be expecting once the league starts in February 14.
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