Wet and not wild

Training was nearly cancelled due to lightning but the weather cleared up in time for us to play, although it still rained (not drizzle!) during the last ten minutes of our match before stopping to let us warm down lol.

Warm up drills were a little different with a lot of dribbling and passing with the ball, and we played a possession drill with 3 teams in 3 sectors, the middle team contributing 3 against the 7 for possession, 5 passes and switch to the team on the far side. Coach K's trap and control is just superb.

Match was a wet affair and it was easy for me defence because our midfield was pressing effectively and winning the ball, so the opposition was reduced to sending long balls (down the wing and diagonally) which invariably bounced out due to the slick pitch. I did have a few intrepid right wingers try to make a foray down my flank, but my motto was "not today amigo", and they were eventually forced to make the pass, sometimes a little wonky thanks to a double team (my centreback was energetic!). We did win courtesy of 2 good goals and these were the result of a successful press and turnover rather than a good build up. After all these sessions, some people still don't understand football: to show good movement to enable a pass, to cherish possession, use the ball intelligently, rinse and repeat, so our movements tended to break down after the 3rd pass, which is not bad since the opposition only managed 2 on average.

Warm down was tiring because coach K decided we needed more planks (3 sets!) and push ups (also 3 sets!). Bushed!

Further updates on my new boots, i'm getting used to them and notice that the stud pattern and weight of the shoe somehow makes it easier to cover the ground that i need to.

New boots old body

In celebration of my coming of eldershield age, my buddies banded together and got me a top of the range soccer boot, the Adidas Pure Chaos.

We had a training session last week when i first used it, but nothing really interesting happened (and i was too lazy to write about it), aside from the teething problems of trying to shoot with a new pair of boots.

This week was better, although the sole of my feet (especially the outer edges) still hurt. I guess taking the time to warm up before, passing the ball and taking some shots did help (although the latter was all bad lol).

After warm up rondos, we had circuit training and that was tiring as heck with 6 stations and 40 seconds each station with 20 seconds rest. The shin didn't feel too good when landing, i guess i put on weight. I did have a good goal during the practice drills next, as i managed to play a one-on-one with the coach, who sent the ball to another who then crossed for me to cushion with an instep and volley on the go. It was nice.

The match itself was more chaotic as our team was quite disjointed, and we had new guys who didn't communicate, didn't run and didn't defend. Even when we had the ball, options were not always made available, so i ended up dribbling quite often, even managing a nutmeg of their defender but the final pass was poor. All in all quite enjoyable, although i really have to get fitter.