Swine Flu Messes Up Tournament

07 November 2009

Hey,

Got back from Bucharest today and after one day of the three scheduled playing days, we got sent back home. It turns out that there were three cases of swine flu reported from the school and so the Romain government had to shut down the school and our torny. At least we got to take an all-expenses paid one-hour flight back home instead of a 15 hour train ride we did getting there.

If feeling my whole body aching now, after playing 3×60 minute matches on Thursday.
1st game against Istanbul: Won 2-1
2nd game against Warsaw: Lost 2-0
3rd game against Bucharest: Lost 4-0

Going back on the goals I set for myself. [reviewing goals]
Did I Give 100%?
I don’t think I gave absolutely everything, I still had some energy left but other than that I did work pretty hard.
Concentration? I guess so, there weren’t really any moments where I wasn’t concentrating.
Did I Score 7 Goals? No, I scored none our of the two goals ! I’m really pissed at myself about this, I had a couple of great chances but almost all of them were blocked by defenders.
All Tournament Team? Cancelled tornumanet so don’t know..
MVP? Don’t know yet, have a feeling I have a good chance.

The Good things I did:

  • I was really pacey on and off the ball (except in the Warsaw game who had an exceptionally quick sweeper).
  • Ball control was good, hardly lost the ball.
  • Gave some nice through balls and long passes.
  • Determination was high to get back in positions and work to get the ball.
  • Leadership, I really wanted to win games so I screamed at players to mark up, gave feedback to what players could do better, etc.

The things I will improve on:

  • 50/50 Balls, especially in the air. I think it’s because I’m scared of clashing heads, I’m a high jumper and a good header but it’s this mental thing about hurting my head with another player. Tackles I always seem to lose.
  • First touch, this was my biggest downside as my touch dictated how it would lead up to the next shot, pass, etc.
  • Urgency, I always relax way too much on the ball which is why my shots are blocked and I missed an open goal and a couple of nice opportunities which looked on target after I shot them.
  • Confidence with left foot, I’m scared of taking touches with my left foot and shots. Need to practice more on it.

Will post this weeks training schedule by Monday.

As for then, come on Chelsea!! who play man u this wkend!

 

reviewing goals, goal setting

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In 2009, I was an average soccer player with a dream. I started this blog to document my journey from local underdog to getting offered over $100,000 in soccer scholarships, a contract to play professionally and the experience of playing in Europe.
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