Falcons AP.Bren head coach Francis “Duckey” Glindro is not about to press the panic button after losing to Liquid ECHO via sweep in the grand finals of the MPL Philippines Season 13 Playoffs.
Instead, he believes the loss just showed the team what to work on as they prepare for the MLBB Mid-Season Cup in July in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Personally, I learned a lot of things in that ECHO match. Things that we can definitely integrate into our training so we can overcome some glaring weaknesses that I saw with our match versus ECHO,” Duckey said.
He added that more than Liquid ECHO’s dominant performance, it was his players’ subpar performance that surprised him the most.
“Walang surprising sa kanila (TLPH players). Medyo na-surprise ako dun sa mga bata (FCAP players) kasi they weren’t their usual selves. Medyo nakakapanibago panoorin yung ganun na game namin,” he explained.
Mukhang malaking factor yung mga games namin against RSG. Additional thing is medyo exhausted na rin yung players. It reflected in the game na hindi na sila nakakapag-isip nang tama. So we take the loss to heart and hopefully we can come back stronger and learn a lot of things.”
Duckey believes losing is always part of growth, whether in traditional sports or esports.
“Losses really play a really big factor in teams, not just in electronic sports but in traditional sports as well. This is where you actually see those glaring issues that you really need to fix, and without those losses, you wouldn’t really see na mali na pala yung nangyayari. Kasi if you win, you think you’re doing it right,” Duckey added further expounding on why this loss will help them become a better team come the MSC.
FCAP is no stranger to losses before big tournaments. In May last year, they fell to 4th place in the MPL Philippines Season 11 Playoffs despite finishing as the regular season top seed.
A few weeks later, they went on to win the 32nd SEA Games gold medal in MLBB.
Right after winning the MPL Philippines Season 12 championship, they once again crashed after losing to ECHO and RSG Philippines in the upper bracket finals and lower bracket finals, respectively, of the MPL Invitational 2023, settling for a third-place finish.
But a month later, they won their second M-series world championship title on home soil.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Falcons AP.Bren pulls off another similar feat in the MSC 2024.
