Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Fletch says best team won
ASSISTANT boss Steve Fletcher felt FC Saarbrucken's advanced pre-season schedule had been a telling factor in Cherries' defeat in the final of the EC Group Cup.[LNB] The German third-flight outfit, whose preparations are a couple of weeks ahead of Cherries, eased to a 2-0 victory to lift the trophy and bank £80,000 in prize money.[LNB] Fletcher said: I think it showed that they had been back in training longer because they were a bit sharper. Our ball players are sharp but their lads were just as sharp.[LNB] We have only trained for four or five days and most of the lads had played two lots of 45 minutes. If the competition had been later, we could have been judged better.[LNB] But that's what pre-season is all about and, sometimes, you can get just as much out of a defeat as you can from a win. The objective is not to win every game 10-0.[LNB] What happened at Poole when we drew 4-4 on Thursday was probably good for us because it put things into perspective and showed we can never take our foot off the gas.[LNB] Fletcher, who started against Saarbrucken, added: It was a good exercise for everybody and the prize money gave it an added edge. It was competitive and Saarbrucken probably deserved to win.[LNB] We haven't got two players for every position so couldn't field what could possibly be our strongest team in both games. You need to balance things out and it gives people opportunities. We had a few players playing out of position and a few trialists involved.[LNB] I thought we did okay. I know we could have been a lot sharper but that will come during pre-season.[LNB] Overall, it was a good tournament and everyone who helped put it on deserves a pat on the back.[LNB]
