The captain of the Falcons gives us a brief look into the current struggles of the team.
These are dark times for Team Falcons’ Pheww and crew as they continue down their downward slide in the rankings of MPL PH S16. The team is on a five-match losing streak and is in danger of ending the first half with one win.
Team Falcons told the media in a recent interview that their morale is low and it’s affecting their gameplay. But team captain Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel paints a much grimmer picture than anyone realized.
“Before pa mag-start yung season hindi na maganda yung results ng mga scrims namin,” said Team Falcons’ Pheww when we asked him if their recent loss in the IESF qualifiers was the trigger for their current slump.
“Feeling ko mas-maaga pa nung IESF mababa na yung morale o confidence namin dahil sa results ng mga scrims. Mas-nadiin pa nung natalo kami sa IESF tapos yung lose streak namin last week.”
Yet the team was still able to win games even before their losing streak started. It seems they were able to hold it together at the start, so why are they struggling now?
According to Pheww, it’s because the rest of the MPL teams have just gotten better compared to last season, and it seems that despite their efforts, they couldn’t fix all their problems in time.
“Last season nakikita na na shaky kami tapos biglang nago-on sa playoffs,” said Team Falcons’ Pheww. “After nun, trina-try namin ayusin yung mga errors namin pero ngayon nagle-leak na siya sa tournament. Dati kasi kahit talo kami sa scrims, pagdating sa tournament mayos namin maglaro. Ngayon, dahil lose streak kami, dagdag yon sa mindset namin at hirap kami makabawi.”
The Season is Still Not Over
The team may be faltering, but Pheww isn’t leaving himself out of the blame. “Personally, hindi rin maganda yung napapakita ko,” said Team Falcons’ Pheww matter-of-factly. “Wala ako sa best performance ko ngayon kaya kailangan ko talaga mag-double effort.”
Unfortunately, it seems like a chicken-or-egg situation when it comes to the team and players’ low morale. Are they playing worse, hence their low morale? Or is the low morale due to their losses, resulting in them playing worse?
One thing’s for sure: Pheww doesn’t intend to give up, not when there’s still time left in the season.
“Hanggang may chance pa kami maka-qualify for playoffs, hindi kami titigil mag-improve tsaka pagbutihin yung training namin, yung scrims namin. Kasi wala naman kaming ibang aasahan kundi kami lang din. Kailangan hindi namin i-let down yung tiwala namin sa isa’t-isa.”
Banner photo from MPL Philippines.
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