First start since December

Alright, so here’s just a short update of what’s going on in my football life at the moment.

After not one single start since December, this week I played two, 90 minute matches as a winger. Tuesday was a crappy game against some lame U/23 team, but Sunday was something more to talk about when we played against DEM in Beverwijk. We had a few sicknesses and injuries that hit, so finally the coach was forced to start me. Well, long story short, we were 2-1 down in the second half, and about 15 minutes from time I made a determined run to get on the end of a through ball. The defender tried to shield it out for a goal kick, but I slid in, stole the ball and made a crucial pass to our striker to tap in. So I played a good part in salvaging a point for the team as the game ended in a draw. That’s a few decent games in a row now, if the coach doesn’t pick up on this, then all hope is lost on him!

A few days after writing my last post, all players were scheduled to have a sit-down meeting with the coach to discuss their season, their plans, etc. So the first question asked was “How do you feel your season has gone?” I answered “frustrating” and explained my whole issue with needing to improve my intelligence off the ball.  They both completely agreed when I said that issue, and they said it was the only hindrance for me not making an impact on the first team. I pushed to them the fact that the best way to improve play intelligence is by playing more games, and I have lacked game time tremendously. Hopefully they understand that.

That being said, one thing I’m learning now is that you can counter your weaknesses in peoples minds by showing your character. Now I’m building more of a character on the pitch and I’m a player showing more traits of determination and fight. I run more for balls overhead, pressuring defenders and trying to get stuck in as much as possible, and that has come through the extra conditioning classes I’ve been taking. Spinning is beautiful! It’s easy to hate, but I find it one of the best ways to condition your body for speed and stamina. Maintaining better fitness I have found is definitely one of the best ways to build an advantage over the competition.

Also, I said this a few months ago, but I really need to learn more Dutch. Imagine playing games and understanding hardly any of the communication around you! Sometimes I look like a lost puppy and that contributes to unnecessary mistakes. When the playing pace is so quick, you can’t have your teammates use valuable split seconds to translate what they want to say in English! I will make it a new goal in the goals journal to improve my Dutch football language.

 That’s it for now!

P.S: Football Training Workouts for Individuals are now available to use here!

CLICK HERE FOR MY GOALS JOURNAL