Well, I'm here. In the last two weeks I have learned so much about the business of soccer that I have travelled to England, where I am looking to play. I have come with my grandfather and manager to get trials. It's a search and wait trip, I am putting out emails to anyone and everyone trying to get seen by anyone that will let me on the field. From Fulham to Middlseborough I have been probing my family and close contacts both from home and in England for possible opportunities.
This is a big thank you to all of those who have helped and are helping me through this. I have big dreams and am doing my best to fulfill them, even if I do get the occassional "sorry, it just doesn't happen like that."
And if anyone has any helpful bitsof info, or any contacts that may be of help; my email is Rmguy12@hotmail.com
Until next time!
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Monday, January 8, 2007
Goodbye and Goodluck...
Today was the first early day of the combine. Well, early for my California College standards anyway (8am wakeup), and even that's not saying much because I played in the second game at 11am. So, we ate breakfast at 8 and left for the field at 945. Our final game was against team Tango, which my roommmate Robbie Findley played for. I didn't start the game but we again started in a 4-4-2 formation and looked much more solid and relaxed than we had during the previous two. We opened up the scoring with a rip from about 20 yards out from Rich Asanti. A few minutes later, Tango had a supect through ball (which our team strongly believes was worthy of an offside call; then again, if there is a goal against our team it is probably going to be suspect according to me) was crossed and then finished by Jarrod Smith, his first of two for the day. Nico Colaluca had the next goal for my team, taking a couple guys on with a run inside and nailing a well hit swerver over the keeper in to the back of the net from about 25 yards out, making it 2-1. The first half ended with my team dominating and playing well together, connecting passes and moving off the ball. Except for a few stumbles over the new, obnoxiously sticky adidas balls, both teams played well and showed less mistakes that Friday and Saturday.
I came in for the second half as a wide ride midfielder. I though my performance today was solid, with a few give-aways that should not have been made; one that ended up as a goal from John Cunliffe after a good through-ball from their left back. After that, I shook off any jitters that were left and began staying positive with the ball, coming in to the middle a number of times to receive it, which by the way I am finding is a habit of mine. It was my final ball that struggled the most today and I felt that throughout the weekend it was a trend for me. Not knowing the forwards well and having a number or different combinations up there didn't help. However, on a more positive note, I had a couple chances at goal on the near post and a few balls that could have been finished, and had the ref been more interested in calling penalties, I may have gotten an assist to Chris Loftus on a little chip through a couple defenders in to the box. The final goal of the day was off a shot from about 25 out on the ground from Tango's left midfielder, it was a slow shot and an unfortunate mis-read dive by our keeper Chris Konopka (probably his only true mistake of the day). With the score at 3-2, we took over the game and had the majority of the play through to the end of the game, but just as mot of the weekend showed, the final ball was lacking. Two corners ended the game, and on the last corner I missed just wide on bobbled front post in-swinger. The game ended as 3-2 loss, not a great result but a good game for both sides.
Now for the juicy stuff...some of my general comments about the combine:
We all stayed at the Sheraton, a very nice hotel with good amenities as far as food, pool/jacuzzi, and location goes. We were about 15 minutes away from the field which was cut down by the nice bussed that were provided. The food was good, for the most part. The hotel did a good job of feeding us the right kinds of foods at least; with those imperative power foods such as meat, salad, pasta, bread, fish, and chicken being served at just about every meal. The timing of meals also seemed ok, there was the right amount of time between meals and food waiting for us after our games (as you can probably imagine, food was about the second most important part of the camp for me). As far as the city goes, I didn't get to see much of it, I didn't really want to use up my precious cassh-money getting to see sights when I was more interested in staying focussed and resting up for the matches to come anyway. However, the view from the hotel was beautiful. There were high rises in the distance and a roller coaster rising just a short drive away, I could also just about see the ocean to the West (and by West I of course mean the East. I Swear i have a 3.7 gpa:-)!) from our room and the place called Las Olas (the only place that I heard a decent amount about from coaches and others walking around the hotel).
The guys were all great as well. There were no blatant assholes or guys that didn't get along with the rest of the group, which I think stemmed from the fact that all the guys here want the same thing (to be a pro) and they realize that in order to do so you need to get along with people. I passed the time watching movies on my laptop, reading John Harkes' book (not a bad read!), and playing video games in Tally Hall's room. The most excitement that went on in the hotel though was, by far, the hydro-therapy/regeneration cycles we did in the hotel pool, jacuzzi, and trashcans filled with ice-water. There were some that could take the ice, and then there were the others....i won't name anyone here to save them a lot of grief... panzies;-)
I'd say the only advice I have to the administrators for the future would be to bring in the guys a day or two earlier for a training session or two with their teams to get on the same page and establish some comeraderie. Today after the game I was bummed to see my team split, I think with those couple extra days the level would have been raised exponentially.
Overall though, this was a dream week for me, well, at least the start of my dream, and I am so thankful to have ben apart of it all. After saying our goodlucks and goodbyes, everyone has now gone their seperate way, hoping to see as many guys as possible this coming Friday, January 12th in Indianapolis. The wait has begun...
I came in for the second half as a wide ride midfielder. I though my performance today was solid, with a few give-aways that should not have been made; one that ended up as a goal from John Cunliffe after a good through-ball from their left back. After that, I shook off any jitters that were left and began staying positive with the ball, coming in to the middle a number of times to receive it, which by the way I am finding is a habit of mine. It was my final ball that struggled the most today and I felt that throughout the weekend it was a trend for me. Not knowing the forwards well and having a number or different combinations up there didn't help. However, on a more positive note, I had a couple chances at goal on the near post and a few balls that could have been finished, and had the ref been more interested in calling penalties, I may have gotten an assist to Chris Loftus on a little chip through a couple defenders in to the box. The final goal of the day was off a shot from about 25 out on the ground from Tango's left midfielder, it was a slow shot and an unfortunate mis-read dive by our keeper Chris Konopka (probably his only true mistake of the day). With the score at 3-2, we took over the game and had the majority of the play through to the end of the game, but just as mot of the weekend showed, the final ball was lacking. Two corners ended the game, and on the last corner I missed just wide on bobbled front post in-swinger. The game ended as 3-2 loss, not a great result but a good game for both sides.
Now for the juicy stuff...some of my general comments about the combine:
We all stayed at the Sheraton, a very nice hotel with good amenities as far as food, pool/jacuzzi, and location goes. We were about 15 minutes away from the field which was cut down by the nice bussed that were provided. The food was good, for the most part. The hotel did a good job of feeding us the right kinds of foods at least; with those imperative power foods such as meat, salad, pasta, bread, fish, and chicken being served at just about every meal. The timing of meals also seemed ok, there was the right amount of time between meals and food waiting for us after our games (as you can probably imagine, food was about the second most important part of the camp for me). As far as the city goes, I didn't get to see much of it, I didn't really want to use up my precious cassh-money getting to see sights when I was more interested in staying focussed and resting up for the matches to come anyway. However, the view from the hotel was beautiful. There were high rises in the distance and a roller coaster rising just a short drive away, I could also just about see the ocean to the West (and by West I of course mean the East. I Swear i have a 3.7 gpa:-)!) from our room and the place called Las Olas (the only place that I heard a decent amount about from coaches and others walking around the hotel).
The guys were all great as well. There were no blatant assholes or guys that didn't get along with the rest of the group, which I think stemmed from the fact that all the guys here want the same thing (to be a pro) and they realize that in order to do so you need to get along with people. I passed the time watching movies on my laptop, reading John Harkes' book (not a bad read!), and playing video games in Tally Hall's room. The most excitement that went on in the hotel though was, by far, the hydro-therapy/regeneration cycles we did in the hotel pool, jacuzzi, and trashcans filled with ice-water. There were some that could take the ice, and then there were the others....i won't name anyone here to save them a lot of grief... panzies;-)
I'd say the only advice I have to the administrators for the future would be to bring in the guys a day or two earlier for a training session or two with their teams to get on the same page and establish some comeraderie. Today after the game I was bummed to see my team split, I think with those couple extra days the level would have been raised exponentially.
Overall though, this was a dream week for me, well, at least the start of my dream, and I am so thankful to have ben apart of it all. After saying our goodlucks and goodbyes, everyone has now gone their seperate way, hoping to see as many guys as possible this coming Friday, January 12th in Indianapolis. The wait has begun...
Sunday, January 7, 2007
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 ;-)
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 ;-)
A little Intro...
Welcome to my blog! If you are here, you probably already know a little bit about me, but if not here is a little bio: I was born and raised in San Diego, California and grew up playing with the La Jolla Nomads and San Diego Surf soccer clubs under various coaches such as Derek Armstrong, Tony Parker, Paul Taylor, Mike Nicholson, Colin Chesters and Dave Cohen just to name a few. I was also apart of the ODP world where i was fortunate enough to win a national championship in 2000 with Cal-South (coached by Steve Rammel and Keven Asparza) where I was honored with the MVP trophy. I travelled with the Region IV national pool team to Brazil, Italy, Costa Rica, and Cocoa, FL where I was priveleged to play under the likes of Tim Schulz and Gerry Gray. As a native San Diegan, or San Diegoite :-) I decided to attended the University of San Diego where I played under coach Seamus Mcfadden and assistants Thomas Tate and Mike Nicholson. I finished my college career with 16 goals and25 assists, breaking USD's all-time assist record. Now, I am looking forward to a professional career and am currently in Ft. Lauderdale, FL playing with 60 of America's top collegiate players at the 2007 MLS player combine. I will keep you all up to date with all the happenings! Enjoy, and thank you for your interest and support!
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