A typical 2013 week

On Tuesday I was invited to play in a friendly match with JOS. It was a combination of reserve and u/18 players vs trialists who were being looked at for the team next season. I played for 80-90 minutes a right back and there’s not much to talk about really, the others were just not that great to play against (I mean come on they were trialing..) and we dominated.

On Saturday I was in the reserves again for a game against the Saturday 1’s of JOS who I think are the best pub team in the club.. they were okay to play against, but many of them were pretty old, so their pace was lacking and so was their fitness. I started as a right wing because one of our guys was injured. I played a nice 10-15 metre through ball with the outside of my right foot to set up our first goal and I banged in a rocket with my right foot from 10 metres out to score our 4th or 5th of the match in the second half. We won 5-3 or 6-3.. not sure. So that full 90 minutes gave me a chance to analyze where I was at with my game. No problems defending. Going forward was good, 1 on 1’s still a little shaky and receiving with my back to ball is still a bit shaky too. Other than that, all was good, but I really want to get on the ball more too. Actually, these are all things I mentioned last year and although I’ve improved on them alot..I still don’t feel fully confident.

So the three things I can take from this point and improve my confidence in is:

• 1-on-1’s
• Receiving with back to ball
• Looking for ways to get on the ball more

All the other days were a combination of gym workouts, personal sessions and training at Damsko and today I spent my day chilling in the city centre and at the park.

improve my confidence on:

• 1-on-1’s
• Receiving with back to ball
  & become a more valuable player by..
• Looking for more ways I can get on the ball

1. be more explosive
I think this is done. Each gym workout that I do, I try and make it so I’m doing as many explosive exercises as possible. It’s part of my attitude towards gym workouts now so therefore I think this goal has been achieved!

General comment: Really focusing my workout exercises on more dynamic, explosive ones. Focus less on the arms now.

Have to focus on this.

General comment: Not scanning enough and not making a real habit when I could really shine out of tight positions.

The small, little intricate things you do make the difference.
Exhibit a. Chamberlain has back to goal, he shows a bit of the ball to Baines and then quickly puts his body in front of the ball to win the foul. The ox knew what he was doing to win that foul!

Exhibit b. Real Madrid vs Galatasary 1st leg. Ronaldo uses his strength to muscle out defender as he anticipates the cross coming in. Once the cross comes in, all Ronaldo has to do is just put his whip his foot on the ball with no pressure. Smart!

These little things can make all the difference to do those little extra things to become great, and not just good.

4. Defend better