One on one

Another day, another training session. After the warm up rondos, we started doing one on one drills by assigning numbers the guys in each team and having them fight for the ball when their number was called. While we have done this before, the variation here was that the ball had to be dribbled into a set of markers only upon a given instruction. Other variations was to initiate a long pass upon instruction (where another set of guys would take the ball and send a cross in and score). Because of the nature of the drills, i was bushed! Even had to play against J as we were given different coloured bibs, and i think it was a close fight because of his speed, but my close control was slightly better so i got the better of him a few times. As a result of being tired, the full pitch match was done at walking pace for me, although i did have a few good passes and link up play. Quite a few new faces so it was interesting trying to play with them, but the overall idea was conveyed and we had bouts of beautiful football.

Running

Another day another soccer training session, and because a group of guys came to train together, we invariably got lumped together with the rest of the guys in the other team, which had a mixed bag of technically skilled guys, the unfit, the unskilled and uncoordinated and groot. Yes, we have a groot, the big tall awkward guy who cannot seem to do anything right, whether it is running into space, trapping the ball, passing or shooting. Groot can be a different person in another training but the traits are the same and they are always tall, gangly, and don't communicate much. I had a terrible first 15 minutes with stray passes and loose possession, but managed to tighten up purely because i dropped back to defend and we were defending alot.

Having lazy teammates doesn't help and this is where the difference in mindset comes into play. Their rightwing was young, fit, and fast so our leftback was kinda overwhelmed, especially when he gets caught out of position. Even so, he stopped tracking the run after a few meters and as i covered, i asked why he stopped and his answer? "He's too fast" I'm not fast either but i still chase and track, it may be fruitless in the sense that i'm unlikely to get the ball, but it is sure better than letting the guy have a free roam with the ball. The coach actually noticed and said it was good that i was making those tracking runs, the runs that no one wants to make. =) J had a blinder of a half as centreback, reenacting the flash (with his red top) and cutting across to clear what seemed to be a golden through on goal chance. 

Even with my defensive duties, i still managed to make some forays into the attack (together with J) and we combined well, until the ball reached our striker who seemed hell bent on making the wrong decisions, but the one that got my goat was when he encountered two defenders and passed to me at the top of the penalty box, after passing I saw that he ran into the box so i returned the pass to him diagonally into his path, only that he had stopped running after a few steps. *facepalm* The pass and go is one of the most basic passing techniques and if he had run on to that, the shot would have taken place near the penalty box.

the company we keep

I suppose it is natural that we have different friends at different stages of life, as social as human beings are, the hustle and bustle of life, its expectations, and demands mean that most of the time, we lose touch with friends by a natural decay in contact time. There are friends where despite being apart for ages, you get together and it is as if they never left. Then there are those who seem to require constant reassurance in order to "keep in touch", and it was just recent that I lost such a contact, rather brutally i might add, although i still wish him all the best for the future and with his new bride. Kind of reminds me of an ex-girlfriend, i guess that was why we broke up. LOL Still one cannot help but feel sad at the loss.

Positions

Due to the lack of pace, i've been stuck playing in defence for the past couple of sessions (together with J who seems to be relishing this new role). The coach mentioned that we may not have the stamina, but at least we have pace and playing from the back allows us to see more and take our time on the ball which negates our slower reaction times.

Last night was an exception though, while J played in central defence, i moved forward to midfield and had the usual frustration of playing with teammates who did not understand the concept of possession football. I did manage a shot from a short corner that was heading towards the top corner but the goalie palmed it away. Wet pitch and a humid night meant that long passes tended to go astray and short passes whizzed fast on the slick ground, ideal to just take potshots. =) What happened from the resultant corner? The same two guys who worked the short corner did the same thing and tried the same pass to me again and the result was me being bumped off the ball since everyone saw it coming. Sigh.

Interesting factoid from the coach: in terms of statistics, 30% of goals come from mistakes made by the conceding team, 30% from set pieces or tactical play, and 30% from counter attacks (where conceding team players are out of position). The last 10% of goals comes from good strategic build up where the conceding team is in position but the scoring team managed to pass their way through, or through sheer individual brilliance. Moral of the story, if you're a defender, get that ball away from you. We actually conceded a silly goal thanks to our left back making a pass between the goalie and our central defender (he did that all night) and pass went to a striker who said thank you very much and thumped it in. *facepalm*