I'm not particularly satisfied with my football situation at the moment. By this I don't mean the way I'm playing so much as.. well, let me explain:
I'm part of TSV Handschuhsheim, the local sports club. It has two football teams, in the lowest and third lowest divisions. As mentioned in past posts, I train with the second team, but due to either not having a passport, or facing top-of-the-ladder competition, I haven't seen any game time.
My biggest problem is that I'm not even seeing any game time is training - because we don't do practice games here. The firsts, training not 50m away, spend at least half their sessions doing some variations on practice matches; we, on the hand, do individual drill after drill - some elaborate setup where A throws to B, who heads back to A, who passes to C, who runs a few metres and passes to D, who sends a long ball to E, who crosses back in for D to head into an empty goal. Or maybe we'll jump over a bar, pull a ring over our heads, and then shoot at the goal. Wait 5 minutes for everyone to do it, and go again.
It's giving me the fucking shits. There's nothing for defenders to practice, no one-on-one situations, not even any drills where attackers and defenders are set up against each other. Why does a sweeper need to know how to shoot? At higher levels, sure, but we're in the lowest division!
Part of my frustration is coming from the fact that I'm not getting very much chance to prove myself. I'm quick, fit, tackle decently, have good tactical awareness and can hit a decent pass, but how am I supposed to show any of that when there's no practice games? A coach would have to be gambler to put someone on the field he's never seen play, but he's a fucking moron if he's not even giving himself the opportunities to do said observation!
I went to my coach a few weeks ago, and said to him: "I'm struggling with the 3-5-2 system we play, because I'm not built solidly enough to be a man-marker, and the midfield spots are often filled by guys from the 1st team who aren't getting a game. I've been here a few months now: do you think I should concentrate on being a defender or a winger." What did he reply? "Oh, well, I haven't really had a chance to see you play.."
No shit, sherlock.
So now we've got 4 practice matches in the winter break, against other teams. The first one I missed because I had an exam the day before, and two days after. The one today was cancelled at the last minute. The one this weekend clashes with my sister Eva's birthday, and I'll bet a pair of boots that the coach will spout some claptrap about our last practice match being against a good team, or it being too close to the start of the season to mess around with the lineup, to give me a decent run.
God, the guy gives me the shits. Talks about team spirit and then does nothing but yell at us. Shouting "concentrate" at the precise moment before someone shoots/crosses is not motivation - it's bad sportsmanship! Street footballers will beat you up for that shit. He has no suggestions on what we might be doing wrong, just points out that "oh, that was bad." Praise? Encouragement? The man doesn't speak French, sorry. I'm there early, and stay behind for every training session to do extra practice with another new guy, and we're the guaranteed benchwarmers.
*sighs*
Alright. That was my rant. I return you to your (ir)regular programming.
My biggest problem is that I'm not even seeing any game time is training - because we don't do practice games here. The firsts, training not 50m away, spend at least half their sessions doing some variations on practice matches; we, on the hand, do individual drill after drill - some elaborate setup where A throws to B, who heads back to A, who passes to C, who runs a few metres and passes to D, who sends a long ball to E, who crosses back in for D to head into an empty goal. Or maybe we'll jump over a bar, pull a ring over our heads, and then shoot at the goal. Wait 5 minutes for everyone to do it, and go again.
It's giving me the fucking shits. There's nothing for defenders to practice, no one-on-one situations, not even any drills where attackers and defenders are set up against each other. Why does a sweeper need to know how to shoot? At higher levels, sure, but we're in the lowest division!
Part of my frustration is coming from the fact that I'm not getting very much chance to prove myself. I'm quick, fit, tackle decently, have good tactical awareness and can hit a decent pass, but how am I supposed to show any of that when there's no practice games? A coach would have to be gambler to put someone on the field he's never seen play, but he's a fucking moron if he's not even giving himself the opportunities to do said observation!
I went to my coach a few weeks ago, and said to him: "I'm struggling with the 3-5-2 system we play, because I'm not built solidly enough to be a man-marker, and the midfield spots are often filled by guys from the 1st team who aren't getting a game. I've been here a few months now: do you think I should concentrate on being a defender or a winger." What did he reply? "Oh, well, I haven't really had a chance to see you play.."
No shit, sherlock.
So now we've got 4 practice matches in the winter break, against other teams. The first one I missed because I had an exam the day before, and two days after. The one today was cancelled at the last minute. The one this weekend clashes with my sister Eva's birthday, and I'll bet a pair of boots that the coach will spout some claptrap about our last practice match being against a good team, or it being too close to the start of the season to mess around with the lineup, to give me a decent run.
God, the guy gives me the shits. Talks about team spirit and then does nothing but yell at us. Shouting "concentrate" at the precise moment before someone shoots/crosses is not motivation - it's bad sportsmanship! Street footballers will beat you up for that shit. He has no suggestions on what we might be doing wrong, just points out that "oh, that was bad." Praise? Encouragement? The man doesn't speak French, sorry. I'm there early, and stay behind for every training session to do extra practice with another new guy, and we're the guaranteed benchwarmers.
*sighs*
Alright. That was my rant. I return you to your (ir)regular programming.
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