Weekly Review 28th – 3rd June 2012 [standout]

Need to be the best player. Have to standout. Need to be involved more!! putting more pressure on defences, and focus on winning that ball back for the 85 mins when the I don’t have the ball. That sprinting player going everywhere to win it back. I don’t feel as though I give it all my energy in games so this is what I need to do! – this is what will make me look strong. Need to be special. Special players have character and traits and I need to show that.

3 things I need to do in a game

1. Never come off the field feeling like you still have enough energy left to play another half.

2. Make 3 contributions

3. Win ball 3x

but.. running back may be unnecessary at times and wastes energy…

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Well it was a pretty glorious way to finish off an injury barred week.

Wasn’t sure if I would be able to play today after a sore only training of the week on Friday, but I felt okay through today’s warm up and I started the game against Deakin (Canberra FC). I played about 70 minutes which wasn’t bad considering one training in the past week.

You can read what happened here! We won the match 3-2 with a few minutes to go! Pretty amazing celebrations and we celebrated like we had just won the world cup in the dressing rooms after – it was gold. This is a team we lost 6-1 to in the seasons reverse fixture and who have been champions 10 out of the last 11 seasons. They lost last week, they sacked the coach (who was a prick) and Marko (my old u14’s coach) replaced him – so to lose again for them would be unthinkable. They haven’t lose twice in a row for 15 years. But today we did it! So it was a great afternoon!!

The earlier part of the week was basically all resting. Went to the Physio on Tuesday and the problem was spinal.. probably an overuse injury with the gym/soccer. Z-joint capsule dysfunction it’s called and it’s cured by rest.. So that’s what I did and my pain slowly disappeared day by day. Still feel it, but I think that will disappear soon.

Last four games have been pretty poor by my standards. No goals or assists in the last three games against the AIS, Monaro and Deakin, but in all those games I had problems with my back during, or in the lead up to it. So now I understand why players play poor in seasons where they have recurring injuries or niggles which keep them out. Good news it that the next three games should be injury free.

Seeing as I will be 99% likely to be living Uni student life soon, drinking is obviously a big part of it. Inevitably there will be some trainings/games following a wild night out. I went out on Saturday night, but this time I carefully planned my recovery so the risks of a hangover were minimized and I could be 100% for the game. So.. these are the tips I have set.

1. Drink at least 2L of water before/during/after drinking before you sleep!

2. Make sure you go to bed sober

3. Before the game/training – mental focus session / drink coffee to get rid of tiredness.

4. Get at least 7 hours of sleep and before 2am preferably – closer to natural wake up time

5. Get a full meal in your stomach.

6. Avoid caffeine drinks (red bull/vodka/jäger bomb = no) – effects sleep

7. Don’t get completely trashed – recovery is then very difficult

8. Go for a light jog / sauna / hot bath sweat it out the morning after – gets toxins out of the body.

When to avoid drinking or going out:

– When the game/training next day is before 2pm

– Gym session on the same day – apparently excess alcohol amounts will stop the building of muscle?

So I have to print these tips out and hang them somewhere to remind me because they will be very helpful and avoid getting paranoid while trying to have fun because of soccer the next day!

Stressed out about injury aswell- best cure: whenever a trace of the thought about it comes in your mind – erase it and stop thinking about it. Only think about it when you absolutely need to.

Made a new video with game highlights – sent it to Chris and he asked for raw footage from the AIS game and Deakin game.. But no updates on a-league trials.

Might try going to parliament house to film for new assessment video.

Eden hazard to chelsea!! Pretty cool

15 hours next week – so injury not aggravated.