Advanced defending for the more accomplished defenders

At football training sometime last month with RMFTA, we did a simple segment, where a single attacker goes one-on-one against a single defender and tries to beat him to score.

I was pitted against my brother, a 120kg behemoth, who is a rock as a centreback, but as an attacker, not someone that'll make me quake in my boots. So here I am, facing up to my bro, tilting my body to show him to my left so I can move in for the steal when he goes for the shot with his masterfoot.

Instead, he did the unexpected and cut the ball to his left, ghosting past me like I wasn't there. If he took an extra touch or two after getting past me, I might have been able to recover and put in a tackle. But he took the right option for an early shot with his first touch after getting past me, smashing an unstoppable left footer into the net that would have made any striker proud. 

Damn that was a rude wake up call!

Probably overconfidence on my part. And some impressive footwork on his part. (There! I said it! You happy now?) But I also realized there's something fundamentally wrong with my defending in one-on-ones situations. 

Came across a Nike Academy training video that really shed some light. Not just on individual defensive skills, but the collective defensive covering and movement as well. Have a look at the video and you'll understand where I'm coming from.

He who Controls the PACE Controls the GAME

Even at the gym, i wear my team tee proudly!

Had another ho hum session at the gym today. Mostly upper body since I almost died last week from the intensive lower body workout.

But this post isn’t about what ho hum things I did at the gym. It is about what I learnt from Coach Ivan at last week’s training. Yes. Coach Ivan returns! I love him. He’s always giving nuggets of advice to us ignoramuses on how to play the beautiful game, something that I find as valuable as the actual training itself, in terms of improving us as players. 

Not everyone is Jon Bonjovi!

Three weeks out due to work, family etc and finally I'm back on the training ground. It feels good to lace up the boots and head to the field where everyone is already all geared up.

As usual, I arrived late coz the 3 little tykes, all decked out in full Arsenal regalia, were busy playing amongst themselves enroute to the car, blissfully unaware that daddy is late for training. 

I hate being late for football. Anyone who knows me can vouch for that. Which also means I have a low tolerance for players who are tardy... But I digress. 

I belong here. On the turf. In my boots.