31 – Give us a break. (But not too long)

From a football point of view, the Christmas break seemed to take an age to pass.

The reason being, of the four teams my lad plays for, three were beaten in their final games before Christmas. It’s always good to keep playing matches if you’re in good form but likewise, after a defeat it’s nice to have the opportunity to play games and get back to winning ways.

The school team were beaten convincingly by possibly the best school team in the city. My lad’s team were slightly under strength but in one of the few school games I managed to watch, they were definitely second best.

The grassroots team played the top of the league and lost 2-1, after leading 1-0 with my lad being at fault for the first goal. In truth, after having the chance to be two or three nil up at half time, they never looked like getting anything from the game once they went behind.

The city schools team won their final game – a friendly – comfortably in the end, 8-1. My lad played the first half and had plenty of work to do to keep the team in the game. At half time they were 3-1 up, with the second half basically one way traffic.

The final game before Christmas was a last 16 cup match for the county schools team. They’d had training a few days beforehand, with the squad announced the day before the game. My lad wasn’t in the squad. I was gutted for him. I sent him a text to let him know but without knowing any specific reasons for the decision. His response was very grown up.

“It’s fine, not mine or your fault. Next time I have training I’ll just have to prove them wrong.”

In the squad there are 3 keepers, 2 of which travel to every game and play a half each. Although the manager said initially that the squads would be selected based on what he saw during the training sessions, I had the feeling that the keepers might be chosen on rotation, ie – half a game each, 2 games out of every 3. If that was the case, my lad would be in the squad, as he played the first game but missed the second.

After a short while I sent a text to the manager basically asking for feedback on my lad’s performance in the game he’d played, along with all the training sessions. I chose my words carefully but just asked if there was anything we could take away to work on – as keeper and coach – to improve his chances of being selected for future matches. In the one game he played, he did well, conceding one goal and limiting the opposition. In the training sessions, he performed well. (That’s me watching on as his coach and giving my evaluation, also as his coach.)

Within a couple of minutes of me sending the text, I got a reply. The manager said the decision with the keepers was very difficult because in both his and the goalkeeper coach’s opinion, there is very little between all three of them. But that neither my lad or me should beat ourselves up over it or worry about it because there’ll be other opportunities before the end of the season. Fair enough.

Within half an hour, I had another text saying that one of the other keepers was unable to play in the game, so if he was still available, my lad was in the squad. I was on my way home from work, so as soon as I got in, I asked him what he wanted to do – no hesitation, he wanted to play.

He played the second half of the game and conceded 4 in a very one-sided 35 minutes of football. Although he’d made plenty of saves, he came out of the changing rooms looking totally deflated. As he’s got older, this is where I have to be very careful what I say and how I say it. He often takes quite a negative view on his personal performance when a few goals have been put past him. Thankfully it doesn’t happen that often which is possibly the reason why he felt so down in the dumps about it.

Thankfully I had filmed some of game on my phone, so at least I had evidence to back up my case.

So three defeats out of four games meant – for both of us – a return to training and games couldn’t come quick enough. Since Christmas, he’s played two grassroots games and a city schools game.

In the first grassroots game, his team were 2-0 up and cruising, then just before half time, defended poorly and conceded 2. Early in the second half he made two very good saves to keep the score level. Then a few minutes later, he dived at the feet of their striker and got to the ball fractionally before the other lads knee. He was flat out on his back, with one hand holding the ball against his chest. The ref stopped play and the manager and me ran on to see if he was ok. He was a little dazed, with a cut on the side of his head. I used all the usual “at least you don’t have to worry about it damaging your looks” type of comments and he assured us he was fine to carry on. Shortly after, his team got two more goals and went on to win 4-2.

Next up was an away game for the city schools team. It was played on a field that looked like it might be a home for cattle when games aren’t being played on it, with a young referee who looked disinterested at best. As a rule, I don’t criticise referees as I know how difficult it can be and wouldn’t want to be in their position but to say he had a stinker is being kind. He hardly moved out of the centre circle for most of the match and didn’t make much of an attempt to keep up with the play.

We went 1-0 up inside the first two minutes but by half time we were 3-1 down. All three goals were aided by poor decisions from the ref. Their first goal was offside. No exaggeration to say the forward was 7 or 8 yards offside. The second had a glaring handball in the build up. The third came seconds after a penalty appeal was turned down for our team, when one of our lads was hacked down in the area. Another very easy decision but apparently missed. A goal back in the final minute was too little too late and the game finished 3-2.

The following day was another grassroots game, at home against one of the usual suspects in the title race. They’re a big, strong team who in the past have bullied us during games. Some of our lads have a tendency to ‘go hiding’ in these type of games, when they should be getting stuck into tackles and fighting for loose balls.

The referee didn’t look convinced about the condition of the pitch. It had been raining from about 4pm the day before and there were puddles in both goalmouths. One of our parents did some work with a garden fork and managed to get rid of the standing water. Me and laddo did his warm up away from the goal in the faint hope that our 10 minutes warming up somewhere else would make all the difference.

To be honest, although neither the ref nor the opposition manager were 100% convinced about the pitch, when I was playing, most weeks I seemed to be standing in a small lake in my goalmouth.

The game went ahead. Within a few minutes, he was diving to his left to keep a shot out. Next it was a save to his right when the ball bounced awkwardly that he did really well to divert round the post. He looked to be dealing well with the conditions, as well as the opposition’s attacks. Their main tactic – having so many big lads – is to force as many corners as they can. They’d already racked up 5 or 6 before they scored from one. The corner came across. Defenders and attackers went for the ball, then it dropped and one their lads hit a half volley. Point blank, my lad made a very good save to keep the ball out but it bounced about in the area and an attacker reacted quickest and smashed the ball into the net. 1-0.

We have a tendency to struggle when we go behind but it was soon half time and there was the chance to regroup and repeat instructions to our lads about not giving the opposition too much respect.

The second half started much more brightly and our centre forward put us on level terms. 1-1. Laddo was still having plenty to do to keep the ball out at the other end. A couple of good saves and then a great 1v1 block. One of their strikers got behind the defence and was through on goal. My lad started to close him down, then just as he struck the ball, he spread himself and blocked it.

It was much more end to end than the first half, with both teams making chances. Then came a lesson in game management for our lads. With less than 2 minutes left, a diagonal ball was going out of play but with no opposition players near him (and with no shout from his team mates) one of our lads got the slightest of touches on the ball, to give them a throw in. Once again, it was worked down the pitch and they forced another corner.

Out of all the corners they’d had, all but one had been aimed just outside the six yard box for their lads to attack. This one was dropping closer in. I tried to judge where it was going, then I heard my lad shout his name. Under pressure from one of their lads, he jumped and chose to punch. He got a good contact on the ball and it went to the edge of the area. I was looking at the ref, desperate for him to blow for full time. He didn’t. One of our lads took a touch instead of clearing it first time. It wasn’t his best touch and the ball found it’s way to one of their lads who hit it first time and it looped into the top corner.

There was just enough time to take the centre before the ref blew for full time. The lads were gutted with the result. The keeper as much as anybody but he knew he’d done his bit to keep them in the game.

Although it’s only a few weeks ago, it seems like a very long time since those defeats before Christmas. And even though it’s only been one win, with two defeats in the New Year, laddo’s played well and kept the scores down, so it feels like it’s business as usual again.

So if results don’t go your way and you have a few weeks off before you can put things right, try to keep the faith.