Eddies can’t afford another slow start when the Strikers come to town By Steven Sandor Posted on April 16, 2015 4 0 802 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Mallan Roberts FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller knows that he doesn’t have to repeat the same messages. He doesn’t have to get angry during training. After all, his players are professionals; they fully understand just how sluggish they’ve been at the start of their first two games of the NASL campaign. In week one, at Jacksonville the Eddies gave up a goal 12 seconds in and three in total in the first half. In last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Carolina, the Eddies gave up three golden scoring chances in the first 15 minutes, only to be bailed out by the heroics of keeper Matt Van Oekel. “We need to start brighter,” Miller said after FCE’s morning training session at Clarke Stadium Thursday. “We can’t hammer on it, though, or else players will be uptight.” The Eddies host the new-look Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Sunday. And, with just one point out of their first two games in the spring season, one could argue that the match against the Strikers is a must win. After all, once the game against the Strikers is done, there will only be seven left in the spring schedule. The winner of the 10-game spring session and 20-game fall session will be guaranteed the top two seeds in the NASL postseason, with the next best two overall teams getting the three and four seeds. But Miller doesn’t see a need to panic. He sees the NASL slate as a full schedule, and wants the Eddies to be near or at the top of the overall standings come November. “I see it as there are 28 games left to go. However they want to dress it [spring/fall season split], it means nothing to me.” Eddies’ central defender Mallan Roberts is expecting the Strikers to come out and press right off the opening kickoff. “It’s always important that we start off well. But, I am sure the Strikers have done their job, and they’ve looked at how to press us. They’ll want to see how we react right off the bat.” But why are the Eddies off to such sluggish starts? “It’s football,” said Roberts. “In games, often one team starts off on the front foot, the other not so much. Just look at the Champions League game from yesterday. Look at the way Bayern Munich started [in a 3-1 loss to Porto]; you would not have expected that to happen, but it did.” But Roberts understands that there could be consequences if the team continues to have sluggish starts. “If we don’t do our job, then the gaffer will do his job, and that’s to make changes.”
