Soccer Futsal @ Waltham Y, Thursday Feb 21
We played from about 810-1000 PM. We used Paul's heavy Futsal ball. When I first showed up, I talked with Stefan. Stefan said to me regarding the 81' goal I scored the week before: "it was burned into my mind". There was confusion at first. I was on the sideline for three straight games while my team was playing, because first they put me on the gray team, then the red team, then the orange team. About five players who had not paid to participate in the league signed up, they wanted to let them play but all on one team, so there was this confusion. The goals used were6 feet wide and 4 feet high.
The situation with regards to wind-power type endurance was not good today, neither was the situation with regards to the pain I've been experiencing in my calves and in the soles of my feet. There are various possible reasons for this. The weather outdoors has prohibited outdoors conditioning work. There has been little open gym time at the Y (the gym has been occupied by basketball, volleyball, children's activities; the Group Exercise studio at the Oak Sq Y has been almost always in use for yoga etc.; the Waltham Y is not allowing persons who are not registered for specific groups that use their group exercise studio to use it). I did not exercise yesterday. I consumed my 'nutrients cocktail' today 14 hours before the game started instead of the usual 2 hours before the game started. I had only about one minute to warm up with the ball before the games started. I was not able to sleep well before the games, in part because my sleep was disturbed due to a very long, dramatic, seemingly supernaturally-inspired dream I had. I woke up only about 2.5 hours before the games started.
Notable events during the games:
Game 1: 1) I stopped the ball and then chipped it, the chip was short. 2) I made a good fast 1-touch right footed pass forwards 50' to team-mate, sending the ball back in the direction from which it came up the middle. 3) a left-footed inwards roller pass I made as short. 4) approx 6 times I blocked a shot or intercepted a pass or disrupted a dribble.
Game 2: I took a hard, in-swerving left-footed shot from 47 feet; the ball would have entered the upper corner of the goal to the goalie's right, but Jose, the no-hands goalie, stretched his right foot out and up and blocked the shot, this despite him being stocky and short. 2) I made a good 30' chip pass into the middle. 3) I got the ball on the left-wing, turned to face the defender, looked around to see where my team-mates are, made a short hesitant dribble, the defender stole the ball from me (seemed the simult combination of assessing the whereabouts of my team-mates and attempting to dribble by a defender was too much for me). 4) a right-footed clearance kick I made, travelled 50' and then hit the chest of an opponent player. 5) about 4 times, I blocked a shot, intercepted a pass, or disrupted an opponent dribble.
Game 3: I got the ball on the left wing, dribbled forwards at very fast speed, and took a very hard 31' shot while moving very fast; the ball missed diagonally outside the goalie's upper right corner by 2' (shot would have been a goal if we had been using standard size 10' x 7' Futsal goals, even Capt Stephen complimented me for this shot) . 2) I stopped the ball, dribbled it, and took a very long, but very hard left-footed 80' shot that hit the wall behind the goal hard; the ball missed diagonally outside the upper corner to the goalie's right by 6 feet (this shot would have been a goal if we had been using standard size outdoors 24'x8' goals). 3) I cut inwards on a dribble with the inside of my left foot and then accurately passed off up the middle to a team-mate. 4) on the left wing, I stopped the ball and made a good pass up the middle.
Game 4: 1) I made a good accurate 40'-distance chip into the middle on a corner kick. 2) I stopped the ball with my back to a peppy defender, cut inwards with my right-foot on a dribble, and passed accurately up the middle using my right-foot. 3) I stopped a ball with the inside of my left-foot and immediately sent a very accurate low 41' left-footed pass (in the 8:00 direction given 12:00 as the direction I was facing when I got the ball) up the middle to a team-mate who was able to shoot on the first touch and almost scored.
Game 5: 1) feeling tired, after getting the ball on the left-wing, I made a bad right-footed centering pass into the middle that went to the other team. 2) With time running out I made an accurate 70' left-footed chip pass from the right rear corner of the court to a player in the left forecourt.
General Notes:
1) I appointed Stephen to be captain and boss me around, when I finally landed on the orange-jerseyed team. I was shocked when at the end of the last game Stephen complained to me about not hustling back on defense. I told him that when I play wing, I play more defense than anybody. Seemed Stephen was imitating Manny who day before yesterday complained about my lack of hustle (before the games started I told Stephen about what Manny had said). I had been watching the 2012 Futsal World Cup videos on the internet on Youtube. I had noticed that the wings at the World Cup, would drop way back on defense when the players they were marking did not have the ball, and then move up to be about five feet away from the player they were marking when he got the ball, and I imitated them. The result was that I got alot of defensive action, and my team did well. The result also was that when I dropped back on defense when the man I was marking did not have the ball, a team-mate invariably took my place up on the left wing, forcing me to stay back on defense.
2) Often when the best option was to pass me the ball, my team-mate did something other than pass me the ball. Often my team-mates tried to pass me the ball but the passes were inaccurate and/or intercepted.
3) After the games, I interrogated Ian re his impressive dribbling. Unlike me, his father played alot of soccer and taught him. Unlike me, he grew up with a brother who liked soccer who he practiced soccer with. Ian even played on the Complutense College soccer team in Spain. Ian told me that his approach to dribbling is that before he starts a dribble, he sizes up a couple of different patterns to follow, one pattern if the defender will be nearby, another if he will be farther away; and then he implements the pattern. I had been wondering whether it is wise to preplan what kind of dribbling attack you are going to mount before going ahead with it. I now suspect that I have not been pre-determining dribbles enough. I have not even been predetermining whether I am going to attempt to dribble past the defender when I get the ball (last year I got in the habit of deciding to dribble past the defender aforehand, and then doing it, and eventually enjoyed plenty of dribbling success, beating the defender about 2/3rds of the time). And I have not been predetermining what kind of dribbling attack I am going to mount. I've been trying hard recently to be aware of where all my team-mates are all the time, this has impaired my dribbling, because it is difficult to size up where you team-mates are and then beat a defender on the dribble simult. Last year, when dribbling successfully, I forgot about where my team-mates were and just dribbled. Seems I've been trying too hard to be a good little coach's boy who always knows where all his team-mates are.
4) I forgot to remove the earplugs from my ears this game. I think removing the earplugs improves my play, because players use their ears to discern what is going on.
5) When I was asleep before today's games, I had an important, long, majestic, dramatic dream (see David Virgil's Blog: Being the modern Caesar-- a Dream). But my performance in soccer after the having the dream was not above average for me.
The situation with regards to wind-power type endurance was not good today, neither was the situation with regards to the pain I've been experiencing in my calves and in the soles of my feet. There are various possible reasons for this. The weather outdoors has prohibited outdoors conditioning work. There has been little open gym time at the Y (the gym has been occupied by basketball, volleyball, children's activities; the Group Exercise studio at the Oak Sq Y has been almost always in use for yoga etc.; the Waltham Y is not allowing persons who are not registered for specific groups that use their group exercise studio to use it). I did not exercise yesterday. I consumed my 'nutrients cocktail' today 14 hours before the game started instead of the usual 2 hours before the game started. I had only about one minute to warm up with the ball before the games started. I was not able to sleep well before the games, in part because my sleep was disturbed due to a very long, dramatic, seemingly supernaturally-inspired dream I had. I woke up only about 2.5 hours before the games started.
Notable events during the games:
Game 1: 1) I stopped the ball and then chipped it, the chip was short. 2) I made a good fast 1-touch right footed pass forwards 50' to team-mate, sending the ball back in the direction from which it came up the middle. 3) a left-footed inwards roller pass I made as short. 4) approx 6 times I blocked a shot or intercepted a pass or disrupted a dribble.
Game 2: I took a hard, in-swerving left-footed shot from 47 feet; the ball would have entered the upper corner of the goal to the goalie's right, but Jose, the no-hands goalie, stretched his right foot out and up and blocked the shot, this despite him being stocky and short. 2) I made a good 30' chip pass into the middle. 3) I got the ball on the left-wing, turned to face the defender, looked around to see where my team-mates are, made a short hesitant dribble, the defender stole the ball from me (seemed the simult combination of assessing the whereabouts of my team-mates and attempting to dribble by a defender was too much for me). 4) a right-footed clearance kick I made, travelled 50' and then hit the chest of an opponent player. 5) about 4 times, I blocked a shot, intercepted a pass, or disrupted an opponent dribble.
Game 3: I got the ball on the left wing, dribbled forwards at very fast speed, and took a very hard 31' shot while moving very fast; the ball missed diagonally outside the goalie's upper right corner by 2' (shot would have been a goal if we had been using standard size 10' x 7' Futsal goals, even Capt Stephen complimented me for this shot) . 2) I stopped the ball, dribbled it, and took a very long, but very hard left-footed 80' shot that hit the wall behind the goal hard; the ball missed diagonally outside the upper corner to the goalie's right by 6 feet (this shot would have been a goal if we had been using standard size outdoors 24'x8' goals). 3) I cut inwards on a dribble with the inside of my left foot and then accurately passed off up the middle to a team-mate. 4) on the left wing, I stopped the ball and made a good pass up the middle.
Game 4: 1) I made a good accurate 40'-distance chip into the middle on a corner kick. 2) I stopped the ball with my back to a peppy defender, cut inwards with my right-foot on a dribble, and passed accurately up the middle using my right-foot. 3) I stopped a ball with the inside of my left-foot and immediately sent a very accurate low 41' left-footed pass (in the 8:00 direction given 12:00 as the direction I was facing when I got the ball) up the middle to a team-mate who was able to shoot on the first touch and almost scored.
Game 5: 1) feeling tired, after getting the ball on the left-wing, I made a bad right-footed centering pass into the middle that went to the other team. 2) With time running out I made an accurate 70' left-footed chip pass from the right rear corner of the court to a player in the left forecourt.
General Notes:
1) I appointed Stephen to be captain and boss me around, when I finally landed on the orange-jerseyed team. I was shocked when at the end of the last game Stephen complained to me about not hustling back on defense. I told him that when I play wing, I play more defense than anybody. Seemed Stephen was imitating Manny who day before yesterday complained about my lack of hustle (before the games started I told Stephen about what Manny had said). I had been watching the 2012 Futsal World Cup videos on the internet on Youtube. I had noticed that the wings at the World Cup, would drop way back on defense when the players they were marking did not have the ball, and then move up to be about five feet away from the player they were marking when he got the ball, and I imitated them. The result was that I got alot of defensive action, and my team did well. The result also was that when I dropped back on defense when the man I was marking did not have the ball, a team-mate invariably took my place up on the left wing, forcing me to stay back on defense.
2) Often when the best option was to pass me the ball, my team-mate did something other than pass me the ball. Often my team-mates tried to pass me the ball but the passes were inaccurate and/or intercepted.
3) After the games, I interrogated Ian re his impressive dribbling. Unlike me, his father played alot of soccer and taught him. Unlike me, he grew up with a brother who liked soccer who he practiced soccer with. Ian even played on the Complutense College soccer team in Spain. Ian told me that his approach to dribbling is that before he starts a dribble, he sizes up a couple of different patterns to follow, one pattern if the defender will be nearby, another if he will be farther away; and then he implements the pattern. I had been wondering whether it is wise to preplan what kind of dribbling attack you are going to mount before going ahead with it. I now suspect that I have not been pre-determining dribbles enough. I have not even been predetermining whether I am going to attempt to dribble past the defender when I get the ball (last year I got in the habit of deciding to dribble past the defender aforehand, and then doing it, and eventually enjoyed plenty of dribbling success, beating the defender about 2/3rds of the time). And I have not been predetermining what kind of dribbling attack I am going to mount. I've been trying hard recently to be aware of where all my team-mates are all the time, this has impaired my dribbling, because it is difficult to size up where you team-mates are and then beat a defender on the dribble simult. Last year, when dribbling successfully, I forgot about where my team-mates were and just dribbled. Seems I've been trying too hard to be a good little coach's boy who always knows where all his team-mates are.
4) I forgot to remove the earplugs from my ears this game. I think removing the earplugs improves my play, because players use their ears to discern what is going on.
5) When I was asleep before today's games, I had an important, long, majestic, dramatic dream (see David Virgil's Blog: Being the modern Caesar-- a Dream). But my performance in soccer after the having the dream was not above average for me.
posted by David Virgil at 3:16 AM
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