Yesterday was Thursday and we had most of the day to relax before training with Newcastle Town at night. We went for a couple mile run with the team before playing, and it was kind of disturbing how much trouble some of the guys on the team were having. I guess they ARE still part-timers (as opposed to "full-time professionals"). We were...disappointed to put it mildly. I think both of us finally showed, not really publicly, just how exhausted we were from these 2 weeks. We talked afterwards about the level of play and how it seemed to be glorified pick-up. not many people seemed to be in positions, except Steve, who again took pity on me and also hates losing, so he was playing defense (the only other defender on our team was the 49 year old assistant manager). Needless to say, without a proper warm-up, neither of us ever really got comfortable on the field. so, that being disappointing, we only had one more session left, with Crewe today. This also was less than satisfying for us. Again, its probably the fact that we've been going pretty hard for two weeks and the extent of what we'll need to do has become more obvious to us, we were both just ready to be done playing. Not that the trip has been disappointing, far from it...but after the session today we were both very relieved. Crewe has a big game tomorrow against Millwall, so it was a pretty lax day for them, which usually means, again, not much defense was played in the small sided and mid sized games.
However, at the end of the session, we talked to Glen, one of the head scouts at Crewe and talked about the best way to get trials. Unfortunately, its not easy, especially being America. And by that I mean that we're 21 and 22 and around most of the world, 21 and 22 year olds already have 3 or more years of professional experience. So, it will be hard to get clubs to try and let people of our age to trial with them when they've got no previous professional experience. But, it is what it is, and now we just have to go home and concentrate on finishing up senior requirements and then get back to work training and such. Tomorrow we're spending the day in Manchester before coming back and having dinner with Ken and his family. A little unwinding before flying home on Sunday. ah yes, we went to the local pub with our host family tonight, the Man in Space. Most places around here having something that they'll call "the mixed grill" or something of the sort. Its really a carnivore's delight. We both got that...for the 2nd time since we've been here. Anyway, we're looking forward to getting back to the states and being back at Whitman. We'll post about our trip tomorrow as well as some closing remarks about the trip in general, what we learned, where we'll go from here, etc...
S&B
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Photos from Wales
Here are some photo's from our day trip to Llandudno on Sunday. An update about Tuesday-Wednesday of this week follows.
Steve and Lizzie on the pier.
Ken, Lizzie, Jan, and Steve
Steve was...touching the ocean? With the pier in the background.
A hotel at the top of the hill
Steve and I at the top...it was windy to put it mildly.
View of the lower half of the hill from the pier. Our photo was taken off to the right and a bit higher up.
Oh Welsh...
Steve and Lizzie on the pier.
Ken, Lizzie, Jan, and Steve
Steve was...touching the ocean? With the pier in the background.
A hotel at the top of the hill
Steve and I at the top...it was windy to put it mildly.
View of the lower half of the hill from the pier. Our photo was taken off to the right and a bit higher up.
Oh Welsh...
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday-Wednesday: Crewe, Newcastle Town, & Port Vale
Yesterday (Tuesday) morning, we trained with Crewe's reserve squad since the 1st team was away traveling to play at MK Dons. Apparently they were down 2-0 with 20 minutes left and came back to tie. field players and keepers warmed up separate form each other, but the keeper coach was traveling so it was just myself and the #3 and 4 keepers. The #4 isn't game fit, he just returned from shoulder surgery two weeks ago. Apparently he was the #1 before he got hurt. Anyway, the field players did a series of long ball and driving drills before we all joined up and played small sided games. Steve and I again showed that we can easily play with these guys, granted they're the reserves and I'm sure some of them are on their way out of the club at the end of the season. Nevertheless, we fit in fine. Afterwards, Ken had to run some errands so he dropped us off in Hanley, which is apparently the "downtown" type area of Stoke-on-Trent. With the great exchange rate, we went into a JJB (sports store) and bought some things for relatively cheap. Also we picked up a snack since we hadn't eaten at Crewe that day. Later on we had dinner at Ken's house before going to train with Newcastle Town. The food in England continues to be much better than it was the last time we were here. Newcastle had another "fun" practice, as I'm sure they will tomorrow since it is so late in the season. That seems to be the common theme with the clubs we're with except for Stoke, being in a relegation battle and all. We played some kind of chipping and juggling game, a small sides game with small goals, did a few shooting drills (which I was less than impressed with myself during) and finished up with some sprints. Everything was split into two teams of "young" and "old" guys. The dividing line was 23. That session was less than fun as well in terms of weather, cold, rain, and wind.
It was more of the same today when we trained with the academy team at Port Vale. The older guys had the day off, I guess they had a game last night too. There were a few of them out on the practice pitch doing some simple things, but only for a little while. The academy kids looked just like the ones at Stoke, maybe were even a bit bigger, but it was surprising the difference in the level of play. Not to talk trash, but the Port Vale kids weren't half as good as the Stoke city kids. Steve dominated the entire time we played in the midfield. He scored most of his team's goals while I had a slightly more difficult time in goal dealing with the freezing rain coming down hard and hard side winds as well. Not the best conditions to try and keep control of the ball. The youth team coach was hilarious, but not in a funny way. It will be a good story to tell the guys at home how he called the play "diabolical", twice, when it was sub-par at the beginning of practice.
Even still, I think he got the point across that the play was shite. Afterwards, we went in and showered and they gave us a suite overlooking the game pitch with some sandwiches and tea to wait for Kent o pick us up. Something similar about most stadiums we've seen so far: The stadiums and fields are all really nice, but the outsides of them are the ugliest sport venues I've ever seen. They look like...nothing, from the outside, some pieces of tin put together. But once inside, they're super nice and you just know that they're all filled with more history than most American sports franchises could ever hope for.
Tomorrow we train with Newcastle Town in the evening and finish up with Crewe on Friday before coming back on Sunday. Should be a pretty fun last two days, since Newcastle Town will probably just play for an hour on the turf pitch like last time and since they play again on Saturday, I'm sure Crewe will have another light day.
Steve is healthy for the most part, we're both just sore from playing on Crewe's practice pitch, which is surprisingly rock hard, despite the rain that the country has been getting. I continue to tape and play with my finger, which is still fat but all the bruising is gone. I think its broken, but there's nothing you can really do for it but give it rest. I'll do that when we go back to the States and I have to write the rest of my thesis.
Its become a little embarrassing for us to explain the American education/athletic system in the U.S. to the guys here. We're relatively old, being 21 and 22 and its almost a joke to them that we're trying to start playing pro now when they've been established for 3 years at least when they're 22-22. It's become pretty obvious to us why American soccer is so stunted in its growth and why more Americans don't play in Europe. But we'll get to that in some closing remarks at the end of the week.
S&B
It was more of the same today when we trained with the academy team at Port Vale. The older guys had the day off, I guess they had a game last night too. There were a few of them out on the practice pitch doing some simple things, but only for a little while. The academy kids looked just like the ones at Stoke, maybe were even a bit bigger, but it was surprising the difference in the level of play. Not to talk trash, but the Port Vale kids weren't half as good as the Stoke city kids. Steve dominated the entire time we played in the midfield. He scored most of his team's goals while I had a slightly more difficult time in goal dealing with the freezing rain coming down hard and hard side winds as well. Not the best conditions to try and keep control of the ball. The youth team coach was hilarious, but not in a funny way. It will be a good story to tell the guys at home how he called the play "diabolical", twice, when it was sub-par at the beginning of practice.
di⋅a⋅bol⋅ic
[dahy-uh-bol-ik] Show IPA –adjective
əˈbɒl
| 1. | having the qualities of a devil; devilish; fiendish; outrageously wicked: a diabolic plot. |
| 2. | pertaining to or actuated by a devil. |
Even still, I think he got the point across that the play was shite. Afterwards, we went in and showered and they gave us a suite overlooking the game pitch with some sandwiches and tea to wait for Kent o pick us up. Something similar about most stadiums we've seen so far: The stadiums and fields are all really nice, but the outsides of them are the ugliest sport venues I've ever seen. They look like...nothing, from the outside, some pieces of tin put together. But once inside, they're super nice and you just know that they're all filled with more history than most American sports franchises could ever hope for.
Tomorrow we train with Newcastle Town in the evening and finish up with Crewe on Friday before coming back on Sunday. Should be a pretty fun last two days, since Newcastle Town will probably just play for an hour on the turf pitch like last time and since they play again on Saturday, I'm sure Crewe will have another light day.
Steve is healthy for the most part, we're both just sore from playing on Crewe's practice pitch, which is surprisingly rock hard, despite the rain that the country has been getting. I continue to tape and play with my finger, which is still fat but all the bruising is gone. I think its broken, but there's nothing you can really do for it but give it rest. I'll do that when we go back to the States and I have to write the rest of my thesis.
Its become a little embarrassing for us to explain the American education/athletic system in the U.S. to the guys here. We're relatively old, being 21 and 22 and its almost a joke to them that we're trying to start playing pro now when they've been established for 3 years at least when they're 22-22. It's become pretty obvious to us why American soccer is so stunted in its growth and why more Americans don't play in Europe. But we'll get to that in some closing remarks at the end of the week.
S&B
Monday, March 23, 2009
Start of Week 2: Crewe Alex
Yesterday was Sunday, our second day off in a row. We went to Llandudno, on the northern coast of Wales with Ken's family for UK Mother's Day (pictures to come). It was pretty nice, apart from being cold and windy. We attempted to have a picnic outside up near the top of hills that overlook the entire town and the town off in the distance. We had some success, but a few times things blew all over the place. We walked around the town for a while, of course testing out the local cafes and candy shops. Its a pretty nice British coast town, nice place to spend the day.
In more soccer related events, today is Monday and the start of our 2nd week in England. We trained earlier today with Crewe Alexandra of League 1 (2 levels below the premier league). I trained in with the keepers and Steve was in the with 1st team. Today was a pretty light day since they have a game tomorrow evening. Tomorrow morning we'll train with the reserves. The 1st teamers will obviously have off. After an hour or so of us keepers ripping shots on each other and the field players doing various games of keep away, we played a small sided game. It had been pretty windy the whole day, but during this game, the wind picked up a lot and it started raining hard. The rain was basically coming straight across and was just plain awful. I won't say that we can both comfortably play on this level since we've only been there for one day of light practice, but today we each held out own nicely, except in the small sided game it didn't seem as if my defense felt like playing, at all. I must have gotten scored on 20 times in the half an hour that we played. Steve put a couple in past the other keeper (including me there were 5 total, the starter is on loan from Everton) and made the opposing defenders look foolish at times.
The Crewe facility is much nicer than Stoke's. They have a larger team room, a pretty large weight and cardio room. It seems that have at least 2 full sized field turf fields and 3 full sized short-cut grass fields that are all in great shape. They also have a half field of low-cut grass and a off to the side field turf area with a few portable goals that's about 30x40 yards (40 across). Oh, they also have an indoor facility, which I'm assuming is an indoor sized field-turf field. For those unfamiliar, an "indoor" sized field is probably 2/3 the size of a normal field. The gear we received to train in at Crewe was nicer too, although in all fairness to Stoke, their dining and shower areas were much nicer and better equipped. I haven't seen it yet, but Ken mentioned that Crewe also had an indoor swimming pool. Apparently they've invested a lot of money into their youth development, which is one of the top programs in England. I think they're 4th right now, behind Man City, Everton, and Man United.
Tomorrow we're training with Crewe again, the reserves I believe and with Newcastle Town tomorrow night, followed on Wednesday probably at Port Vale of League 2. Off on Thursday, except with Newcastle Town on Thursday night, and back to Crewe on Friday. I think that should wrap it up for us in the UK in terms of training.
If anyone is wondering about anything specific, shoot us an email @ axelrobm@whitman.edu or phillisr@whitman.edu.
S&B
In more soccer related events, today is Monday and the start of our 2nd week in England. We trained earlier today with Crewe Alexandra of League 1 (2 levels below the premier league). I trained in with the keepers and Steve was in the with 1st team. Today was a pretty light day since they have a game tomorrow evening. Tomorrow morning we'll train with the reserves. The 1st teamers will obviously have off. After an hour or so of us keepers ripping shots on each other and the field players doing various games of keep away, we played a small sided game. It had been pretty windy the whole day, but during this game, the wind picked up a lot and it started raining hard. The rain was basically coming straight across and was just plain awful. I won't say that we can both comfortably play on this level since we've only been there for one day of light practice, but today we each held out own nicely, except in the small sided game it didn't seem as if my defense felt like playing, at all. I must have gotten scored on 20 times in the half an hour that we played. Steve put a couple in past the other keeper (including me there were 5 total, the starter is on loan from Everton) and made the opposing defenders look foolish at times.
The Crewe facility is much nicer than Stoke's. They have a larger team room, a pretty large weight and cardio room. It seems that have at least 2 full sized field turf fields and 3 full sized short-cut grass fields that are all in great shape. They also have a half field of low-cut grass and a off to the side field turf area with a few portable goals that's about 30x40 yards (40 across). Oh, they also have an indoor facility, which I'm assuming is an indoor sized field-turf field. For those unfamiliar, an "indoor" sized field is probably 2/3 the size of a normal field. The gear we received to train in at Crewe was nicer too, although in all fairness to Stoke, their dining and shower areas were much nicer and better equipped. I haven't seen it yet, but Ken mentioned that Crewe also had an indoor swimming pool. Apparently they've invested a lot of money into their youth development, which is one of the top programs in England. I think they're 4th right now, behind Man City, Everton, and Man United.
Tomorrow we're training with Crewe again, the reserves I believe and with Newcastle Town tomorrow night, followed on Wednesday probably at Port Vale of League 2. Off on Thursday, except with Newcastle Town on Thursday night, and back to Crewe on Friday. I think that should wrap it up for us in the UK in terms of training.
If anyone is wondering about anything specific, shoot us an email @ axelrobm@whitman.edu or phillisr@whitman.edu.
S&B
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Pandimonium at the Britannia
We took a tour of the Britannia today before attending the game vs. Middlesbrough, which was a huge game as both teams are fighting to stay in the Premier League. Sorry sports fans, I've never been to a sporting event in America that was like that. Almost constant noise, mainly singing and chanting, throughout the entire game. It only got louder since the team was playing poorly. In America, the team plays poor and gets booed. Here they get cheered even louder. I got the big goal on video, sorry about the first part being sideways. A patented Stoke City home goal, a long throw from Delap headed home by one of their tall guys. The sad looking people behind the goal really are sad. They're the Middlesbrough supporters. The only empty seats in the place were in their section, their allotted tickets that they didn't sell. Oh yeah, this goal came in the 84th minute? I think..so, near the end of a big game..
Beforehand we had drinks in the Skybox Lounge, access to which was gained by our VIP passes and afterwards we had passes into the player's lounge. The Skybox wasn't really anything special, some tables and chairs with a high up view looking out the back of the stadium. There's a picture from it below. Also, the player's lounge was nothing special, same as the Skybox, also it was a bit awkward since it was packed with players, family, a few other random people, and us. So, we only hung around for a few minutes before heading down to the main lobby to wait for Ken to finish up with his business. The stadium was only a 45 minute walk from where we're staying, but it was cold and windy, a lovely English day. Finally, some pictures...
Trentham Gardens, where we come to do work, but the hotel isn't in this part.
More of the Gardens
And more
The Britannia from the front.
From the upper level
The press room
Sorrenson's gear laid out for the game
View from where we were sitting
This place is crazy
Trentham Gardens, where we come to do work, but the hotel isn't in this part.
More of the Gardens
And more
The Britannia from the front.
From the upper level
The press room
Sorrenson's gear laid out for the game
View from where we were sitting
This place is crazy
Friday, March 20, 2009
Friday
Yesterday: We started off with a bit of a lay in, which was well needed. After that we went to Trenthan Gardens again, and we found a hotel that had wireless internet. We did some bits and bobs on the internet and did some school work. Ken then came and picked us up and we went and caught the sun in his back garden. I cannot remember if Brett told you about the big fat rabbit they have, but it is such a funny pet. The rabbit lives in the back of garden in a shed, and really does not do much except eat the salad that we don't eat at dinner. Ken's and Jan's house and garden are really nice, which seems to be a trend around where we are. The gardens are all well manicured with an Old English Style, and every house that I have seen has a Sun room.
Later that night we went and trained with Newcastle Town on a field turf pitch. We both played pretty well and had a good time. The training was good, not as serious as Stoke, but all the guys were still pretty good. It was much better than their game play the other night. There were kids from 17 or 18 to men that must have been 33. We played at the beginning and then did some shooting. Brett put on a pretty good display when we were taking shots.
After training we headed back to Ken's house and they had dinner on the table. Ken's family has been amazing taking care of us, hopefully some day they come to America and Brett and I can repay them somehow. After dinner we headed back to the Thomas' home and went to bed.
We woke up this morning and went to Stoke again. Brett and I finally feel pretty relaxed there, but it is are last day so we will have to start all again and Crewe. I think we know how things work though, so fitting in will be easier. We both started off training with the youth team. After about 45 minutes Brett went over with Thomas Sorenson and played keeper in a small sided game, pretty awesome! I guess he played well today, and his finger is looking less and less like a English sausage. About 40 minutes later I got to go over to defend the first team guys. They were working on set pieces and build up for their big game tomorrow. I had the pleasure of marking James Beatty, and for the 15 to 20 minutes I was playing center back against him he did not score. Plus, my new claim to fame is that I won a header over Beatty, he just doesn't have huge hops like me. I felt pretty proud about that, it was one of the few times I touched the ball in those 20 minutes. I bet you didn't know I was a center back Mike....second day in row that I have played it...haha....it's no fun at all.
Brett and I are now back at Trenthan, Brett is reading for his thesis right now. We are going to go out with Ken's family tonight and eat dinner. We are going to go to the Stoke game tomorrow, and have a tour of the stadium before hand. In short, the trip has been amazing and we are having a really good time.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Day 3: Pretty light
Today was a relatively light day. We went to Stoke again and trained with the youth team. The 1st team and reserves had off today, so it was only the young guys around. We just played a full sided 11v11 game, with 3 coaches making up the final 3 on one team. That team lost 6-0. Steve played all over the pitch:forward, center mid, and yes, center back, where he held his own but wasn't too confident about his performance, especially since 2 of the 3 coaches were his outside backs and provided little help. I had relatively little to do. My right index is worse than yesterday and mostly everyone who looked at it said it was broken. I'll get it actually checked by the physio tomorrow, hopefully it won't be as bad as it is now. Lunch at the Michelin (Stoke's training ground) was again real good. "Minced" lamb, potatoes, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and some kind of really good green soup. Afterwards we actually had to walk home today, Ken had a meeting, but it wasn't too bad: about a half hour walk.
We rested at home for a bit and then went over to this kind of outdoor shopping center, Trenthan Gardens. We walked around a bit looking in on some shops, mostly paintings and artisan shops, but didn't buy anything. More or less the price tags were slightly beyond our range. There were also some nature parts of Trentham Gardens that we walked around in for a bit, kind of reminiscent of the reservoir at Central Park, just not as many people or big buildings in the background. For dinner, we went to Pizza Hut with Lizzie (Ken's daughter, 17). Believe it or not, Pizza Hut in England is actually a nice sit down restaurant that doesn't even do take out. Here is when Steve somehow ordered two main meals: an individual pizza and a pasta bowl. But he ate them both like a champ. Around 8:30 we all went and saw the Watchmen, which was pretty good after it got going, but loooong. A nearly 3 hour movie and there were almost 30 minutes of previews and commercials before hand. Argh. anyway, that ended and Ken picked us up and dropped us off at home. Tomorrow should be another fairly relaxing day. i think we're going to do some school work in the morning and early afternoon before some kind of a meeting Ken set up at 2:30ish before training with Newcastle Town at night.
S&B
To note: According to Lizzie, both our English accents our very "posh" like a Londoner. She refused to do an American accent.
Also, somewhat of a schedule (that I've found out can change any time) could look like this:#
Thursday: training with Newcastle Town#
Friday: training with Stoke
Saturday: tour of the Britania and game vs. Middlebrough
Sunday: TBD
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: training with Crewe
Thursday: training with Newcastle Town
We rested at home for a bit and then went over to this kind of outdoor shopping center, Trenthan Gardens. We walked around a bit looking in on some shops, mostly paintings and artisan shops, but didn't buy anything. More or less the price tags were slightly beyond our range. There were also some nature parts of Trentham Gardens that we walked around in for a bit, kind of reminiscent of the reservoir at Central Park, just not as many people or big buildings in the background. For dinner, we went to Pizza Hut with Lizzie (Ken's daughter, 17). Believe it or not, Pizza Hut in England is actually a nice sit down restaurant that doesn't even do take out. Here is when Steve somehow ordered two main meals: an individual pizza and a pasta bowl. But he ate them both like a champ. Around 8:30 we all went and saw the Watchmen, which was pretty good after it got going, but loooong. A nearly 3 hour movie and there were almost 30 minutes of previews and commercials before hand. Argh. anyway, that ended and Ken picked us up and dropped us off at home. Tomorrow should be another fairly relaxing day. i think we're going to do some school work in the morning and early afternoon before some kind of a meeting Ken set up at 2:30ish before training with Newcastle Town at night.
S&B
To note: According to Lizzie, both our English accents our very "posh" like a Londoner. She refused to do an American accent.
Also, somewhat of a schedule (that I've found out can change any time) could look like this:#
Thursday: training with Newcastle Town#
Friday: training with Stoke
Saturday: tour of the Britania and game vs. Middlebrough
Sunday: TBD
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: training with Crewe
Thursday: training with Newcastle Town
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
