From Fort Lauderdale: Two games played... One to go

It's extremely difficult to know exactly what to expect when going in to a combine of this magnitude. One can only hope to prepare as best they can; be fit enough, sharp enough, and mentally tough enough to take the pressure that is placed upon him every second of every day that he is here. Then again, that's exactly what the combine is here to do.. showcase the players that have potential to play at the top levels where every training session and every game is in the spotlight. For me, this is the chance of a lifetime, just as it is for most of the guys here. Playing football professionally is all i've ever wanted to do, and now it's becoming a reality.

The first day of games reminded me of my state ODP try-outs when I was young. The guys came in, a little quiet and reserved at first, with excitement and nerves flowing, unsure of what to expect from this new and, at times, intimidating atmosphere. Everyone can play here however, and everyone can play very well. Whether they show it in these three games or not, they have proven themselves on the field over the years and that's why we are all here. As for excuses to why the level was low on the first day? I could go on for days. I choose instead to look at the positives, something I feel too many people, on the internet especially, fail to highlight enough.

Before the game, all players were required to go through a series of sprint testing -- A note on the physical testing: Greg Dalby explains them in detail at topdrawersoccer.com. All of the testing has been provided by Athletes' Performance, the same company that trained Jurgen Klinsmann's German national team before WC 06'. -- Immediately following the tests the gamebegan (Teamgeist* v. Azteca). I started and played the 90 out at wide-right midfield. As most of the blogs around the net have professed, the game was a bit overpaced and disjointed but there were still glimpses of skill and finesse. I felt the fullbacks for both teams were the strong points; able to hold the ball better than the rest of the field and make better decisions with it; on this, i think the bloggers would agree with me. From there, the lack of continuity between the mid-field and forwards, and the mid-fielders amongst themselves, caused a back and forth quazi-frenzied game. There was a good amount of pace shown all over the park however, as well as good aggressive play (again, this is coming from me). The lone goal came as a result of a small mistake in the back but a good finish nonetheless. Both teams had a couple good chances but only the one was capitalized upon, leaving us with a 1-0 loss.
*my team

As far as my personal performance, I can easily say it was not my best day but I thought I showed at least a couple of the tools that have gotten me to where I am. The system we played was a 3-5-2, an outdated strategy used only because of the lack of true defenders on our team. In this system, we, as outside midfielders (myself and Chase Wileman) ended up doing shuttles up and down the field to keep up with our offensive and defensive responsibilities. Defensively, with players such as UNC's Corey Ashe and Santa Clara's Eric Ustruck coming on to the wing, I had to run hard and also get stuck-in to prevent any major devastation. Offensively, I had a cross that was missed just barely in the first half and another couple in the second half that might have been dangerous were all of us on the same page tactically. To critique myself, my legs were relatively heavy (as I'm sure most people's were) and my touch was not perfect, causing me to give the ball away more than I would have liked, and for whatever reason I did not make as many forward/diagonal runs as I normally do. Overall, an acceptable day definitely but one to be built upon.

The second day was exactly that, a building block. The level was better, touches all around were more crisp, and everyone seemed to be more economic in their decision making. This game was against Tricolore. I began up top, this time in a 4-3-3 formation. Any jitters that I had the first day were gone and I was able to focus on what i needed to do: get the ball and give it, make diagonal runs up top and recieve the ball with my face to goal. My buddy Aaron Chandler (USF) played right back this game, a position that was completely new for him being a natural forward, but keeping a clean sheet was as good a result as he could have asked for in his first performance as a defender. We escaped from the heat in to the locker room for half time as coaches Mike Noonan and Derek Armstrong gave their opinions and comments on what had happened so far. Their tactical advice showed me the reason for their being here, it gave me both more confidence for the second half as well as a better understanding of what the other team was doing. The second half began and each team had a few chances early on, Adam Cristman just missed a well-hit free kick outside the box, I narrowly missed a shot as I gathered and turned just inside the penalty mark off a good ball from Chase, and Wells Thompson had a shot from outside the box. Later in the second, I was moved out wide as we morphed in to a 4-4-2. Only a couple minutes later, I made a run inside and gathered another good ball from Chase just outside the box, faked a shot and brought it to my left, hitting it past the keeper to his left side making it 1-0. Toward the end of the half, Tricolore made a last drive for goal and had a few consecutive corners but failed capitalize as my team's defense did well to keep the ball out of the goal. The game ended 1-0.

Today is Sunday, our day off, and a time for the guys to get to know eachother better and converse a little more. We awoke for another set of physical testing; this time it was push-ups. The goal of Athlete Performance, as we are told, is to quantify the data for each player which is then given to all the interested MLS coaches. After that, I spent the Rest of the day doing just that, resting, and awaiting my chance to show myself one more time tomorrow in our final game against team Tango. Afterward, we all leave Ft. Lauderdale to get back to reality... but hopefully not for too long ;-)