The Naxxar Victorians squad has seen various changes throughout 2021, and now also at the start of 2022. With the team fighting for a spot in the upper half of the MAFA Division Two standings, www.naxxarvictorians.com spoke to team captain Christopher Cutajar about what he thinks of the season so far…
Cutajar, 27, has appeared in every match of the season so far and has seen the team go from consecutive losses in the opening three matches to three wins and one loss in the next four games.
Asked about the season so far, Cutajar said the level of play has improved for the majority of teams across the league but there was a great change from last season’s Special League.
“In terms of MAFA, we can see that the level has improved for yet another season, especially due to it becoming three divisions,” Cutajar said, “the only thing which I think has not improved is the officiating.
“We had a lot of players who for personal reasons, had to stop training during the Special League. After a year without any training and a team that was not yet at 100%, we struggled both physically and also with the type of football we were playing.
“It was a tough start, but we’ve improved a lot and everybody is focused on working and improving.”
Changes
This season’s squad has seen changes both in players and coaching staff, with Kyle Debono taking over and no less than eight new players joining the club.
“We’ve seen a lot of changes both in terms of coaching, as well as the players’ rotation,” Cutajar said.
“The further we got into the season, the more stable we became, and we started to get used to each other. Today we’ve got an amazing culture and atmosphere. We’ve gotten used to each other and this is starting to show the football that we are playing.
“(Our target is to) Work as hard as we can to take every three points possible from the remaining matches.”