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I used to play up through elementary school and middle school. I usually played midfield, though sometimes they'd put me up as a striker. Usually I was one of the fastest kids on the pitch and my passing was at least decent, though I couldn't pass the ball long to save my life. Our coaches changed regularly, though the last one we had stayed consistent for a few years -- and unfortunately he was the worst of them. Had assistant coaches who were unclear when they'd shout stuff that was unclear, we'd try to follow, and then they'd yell at us more. (I definitely remember one time thinking that they'd told me to move to the left wing, and I'd stayed there for like 20 minutes -- playing pretty well, according to people who'd watched -- and then being told "uh, wtf, we wanted you to stay on the right".) The last straw was the time that I slid in for the ball along with a kid on some other traveling team (that was way more serious about it than we were and were way better). I got the ball. He got my balls. I was on the ground crying with pain because I was like 11 and the referee didn't stop play and the other team kept passing the ball around and poo poo while my team was like "WTF HE'S HURT". I decided "gently caress that".
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Apr 17, 2009 07:11
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RedPaddy posted:You train? When i say 'we train' i mean, we only play one game a week and don't do any other exercise so having a couple of hours of kick around in the park before going to the pub and getting hammered is what i mean by 'we train'. Good times. the T90's are pretty good i find, i started off using DUNLOP VOLLEYS so you can imagine my joy at finding a pair of shoes that mean i can kick the ball without getting a whopping great bruise on the top/instep of my foot. Also the ball goes usually where i want it. Greatest moment. Having three goals in a game scored by glancing headers from my goalie throws. awwwwww yeah. also, and any game where we concede less than three goals. hughsieblingwish fucked around with this message at 08:08 on Apr 17, 2009 |
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Apr 17, 2009 08:03
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Colly
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hughsieblingwish posted:However, i seem to have come to a mental hump with my skills, in training i think I've got fairly good dribbling skills and feel like i have a chance of beating someone one on one but when it comes to games i just cant bring myself to challenge anyone else. Its dumb but i have in my head that if i gently caress up I've really let the team down in a game, where as in training it doesn't matter so who cares. i cannot get over this. Dear god defenders that DON'T try any clever stuff are the best kind of defenders. Don't feel bad for being careful.
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Apr 17, 2009 08:39
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I just play with friends at a neighborhood park during the summer. I got myself some gloves and played goalkeeper for the first time in my life this past summer, and loved it. Nobody else really wanted to play the position for too long, so unfortunately I didn't see much action elsewhere on the field, but I had a blast all the same. We got together for a game over this past spring break, with diminished numbers. Once I'm permanently installed in Portland again, I'm really looking forward to joining an adult rec league. I haven't rightly played on a team since 8th grade, because of being dumb and not playing during high school and then suffering injuries at the start of the season during college intramurals. This summer can't come soon enough. Oh yeah, and I've also been reffing intramurals at my school for the past couple of years and had a pretty good time with that. Though I'm still a bit timid and slightly indecisive... I'm definitely still learning, but it's been a great experience. I absolutely LOVE booking belligerent frat boys who don't even know how to play the game. Visual Sneeze fucked around with this message at 09:06 on Apr 17, 2009 |
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Apr 17, 2009 09:02
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c0burn posted:I'm like Jan Molby Are you a oval office though?
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Apr 17, 2009 11:18
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Can anyone claim to have accidentally kicked a better player than Ashley Young? Because I was once subbed on against his team at school, and the only thing I managed was to twat him right on the ankle as he did a step-over. (I only know it's him because he scored a hat-trick while I was supposed to be marking him)
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Apr 17, 2009 11:30
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I'm Laurent Robert. Very left footed, pretty lazy when defending, but will run around a lot in attack. I'll take 6 shots. 5 will end up in the stands with one thundering into the top corner. I'm a luxury player.
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Apr 17, 2009 19:06
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It's difficult to name a player similar to me. I can control the ball, move it well, pass short and long, can't head the ball to save my life and I'm lightly built which matches most attacking midfielders I can think of. But I'm also pathetically slow which doesn't really match any attacking midfielder I can think of ('cept maybe Scholes but I can only score from inside the box). I played for a Sunday League team when I was younger but since I couldn't head the ball I was stuck out wide, and since I wasn't fast enough to outrun opposing fullbacks I was left as a fullback myself, which usually ended in 50/50 between a well timed defensive tackle and being left for dead by any left winger who can outrun a turtle. I could run for 90 minutes though so at least I got to be crap for a full match instead of being subbed off.
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Apr 18, 2009 05:47
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Me? I'm the Jewish Roy Keane without the talent. I can't run, I can't head, I have a first touch comparible to Nicklas Bendtner with his boots on the wrong way round and I have all the agility of a bus in treacle, but I'll run all day and I'm 6' 3" and shaped like Tal Ben Haim (i.e. a bag of potatoes) so I'm usually tasked with marking their trickiest midfielder by kicking his shins off - though I'm a fair tackler and have a terrible disciplinary record pretty much exclusively for pushing flighty wingers in the back after they've blown past me rather than serving up Gerrard Specials week in week out. Due to my being the only natural left footer in my team I've also done the odd stint on the flanks, but I'm pretty much the worst winger in the world, as my only skills are distribution and the ability to flair players up in the air. I also played in the same team at school as Andrew Barcham, currently of Gillingham. I'm sure he's very proud.
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Apr 18, 2009 06:39
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Scikar posted:It's difficult to name a player similar to me. I can control the ball, move it well, pass short and long, can't head the ball to save my life and I'm lightly built which matches most attacking midfielders I can think of. But I'm also pathetically slow which doesn't really match any attacking midfielder I can think of ('cept maybe Scholes but I can only score from inside the box). You're Fabregas.
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Apr 18, 2009 07:09
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Does anyone have advice for getting back into shape for football? I played when I was younger, but gave it up and picked up smoking cigarettes instead. So now, my stamina is pretty well hosed and I'm not so strong on my feet. It's pretty embarrassing when your younger brother absolutely clatters you in a fair challenge while doing one-on-ones at a local park. Basically, I'm still faster than he is so I want to be able to do that longer and I want to be strong enough to stay on my feet when he goes for a tackle, and then kick the little bastard in the shin before he gets up. So tips? Exercises and drills or something?
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Apr 18, 2009 09:23
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Apart from the obvious, just running a couple miles every day for stamina, I think you'd be better off working on balance than strength for staying on your feet.
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Apr 18, 2009 10:50
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The Mash posted:You're Fabregas. If he cut out the running altogether he could be Socrates, my favourite player of all time. edit: And started smoking.
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Apr 18, 2009 11:55
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I used to play at a fairly reasonable level but age and laziness has caught up on me and I'm now reduced to cameo appearances for a Sunday league team. I'm only twenty-eight so I still have hopes of getting back to playing decent football but it's loving hard work. I've played most of my life in mid-field or a second striker role. I've never been much of a goal scorer but feel that my greatest asset is having an eye for a good pass. As for who I play like well I'd like to think a really poo poo Michael Laudrup (we share the same name after all!) but I'd probably have more in common with a really poo poo Ali Dia.
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Apr 18, 2009 12:47
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Jollzwhin posted:If he cut out the running altogether he could be Socrates, my favourite player of all time. He could be Riquelme except for the whole scoring outside the box thing.
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Apr 19, 2009 13:20
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I play keeper too. I have the Reusch Goaliator Pro Ortho-Tec X1's or whatever they are called. loving lovely gloves I would highly recommend them.
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Apr 19, 2009 14:14
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Russ posted:Until I was 18 I played for the Edinburgh youth team that act as a feeder club to Hibs. A lot of the current Hibs youngsters came from there, and there are guys like Keigan Parker and Kevin Harper who made it from our team down to playing in England. We were ridiculously good and won just about every competition in the East of Scotland year after year, and as far as I know the club still dominates the Edinburgh based leagues. I was in a similar set-up, but on the West Coast. Played against most of the guys who're 24-26 that're playing in the SPL and lower these days, and my claim to fame was fracturing Kirk Broadfoot of Rangers' foot back when he played in the centre of midfield for an Ayrshire side. I also pretty much gave up any hopes of continuing at that level by going to University in Glasgow and discovering it was much more fun to get incredibly wasted every single night and play for teams at University and the surrounding area. These days I occasionally turn out for junior sides, and play six-a-side football for a couple of teams in the area. On thinking about things; you've probably lined up against me at youth level!
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Apr 19, 2009 14:36
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11-2 victory last night. gently caress yeah.
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Apr 20, 2009 01:44
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Started playing at 6, was pretty loving good as a kid and even got "watched" by one pretty important team, but never called up. I've played in bottom-table teams for most of my life, never having a chance to really compete with great players and great teams, which i would have loved to. After a bad ankle injury and a few fights with the coach, i decided to retire at the tender age of 16. Stopped practicing sports altogether for a few years, until playing one day with my old school friends i realized i'd gotten ridiculously fat and outta shape. Spent a year and a half getting myself back in shape, lost 40 pounds, and got so loving nostalgic about playing my dear football that i decided to start playing again at amateur level this year (i'm 21 now). Of course, my team's bottom of the table. But we have fun. Being the first year of football in 6 years, i thought i'd do much worse. I'm currently the team's best striker, with 10 goals in 23 appearences (i'm counting the one i entered as a sub. too), and in the top-15 scorers in the league (not saying much, but it ain't easy playing in my team). I'm a second striker which mostly plays on the left flank, but i can go on the right as well if necessary, with a good technique, good dribbling, and i can run really really fast which is my main gift. This year i started scoring free kicks too, and not doing bad at all with 2 scored in 4 attempts. There's a few things in which i suck, but mostly it's headers. I can't hit the ball with my head for poo poo, i'm really loving terrible at it. Also, i'm a bit of a lightweight so huge defenders are pretty much always kicking me around. That's it. Having loads of fun 
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Apr 20, 2009 02:13
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New season started last night, seems we got promoted to the top division this time around. Pretty solid start all in all, knocked the ball around with pace and accuracy, peppered their keeper and limited the opposition to a handful of punt-and-runs. So of course we lost 2-0 because we hit the post about 5 times and of the 4 shots on target I faced, 3 were breakaways where the forward slipped the ball under me with annoying calmness 
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Apr 22, 2009 09:54
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Played 7-a-side last night on the nicest surface I've ever played on. We usually play on Astroturf, but we were playing on Astro-grass and it was lovely. It was just like playing on perfectly cut real grass.
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Apr 22, 2009 11:30
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Irn--Bru posted:Played 7-a-side last night on the nicest surface I've ever played on. We usually play on Astroturf, but we were playing on Astro-grass and it was lovely. It was just like playing on perfectly cut real grass. if that's anything like what we call field-turf in the U.S., then I'd totally agree. Other than the cushioning rubber bits getting into every crevice of your body, it's pretty awesome to play on. Not nearly as bad as old-school astroturf. I played when I was reaaaally young, got out of it, didn't play sports much again until the end of high school and beginning of college when I played rugby union for two years and then played a bunch of intramural sports in college. Decided to try getting into more shape to play soccer, and actually took it as a P.E. class my final year of uni. There's lots of things I need to do right now, but I would really, really like to get involved in rec league here in a year or two. I'm tall and not in very good shape right now, but I prefer to attack than defend - much better nose for the ball, and I think I've got a good sense for passes, too. Also imagine my surprise when very right-footed me slotted home a couple instinct goals left-footed one time!
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Apr 22, 2009 19:19
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Field turf sucks, the only redeeming factor it has is that it's not astroturf.
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Apr 22, 2009 19:28
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Yeah it was the stuff with all the wee black rubber bits in it. Much better than hard astro turf. And there are no good real grass pitches in my area, so it's the best we have 
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Apr 22, 2009 19:32
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Irn--Bru posted:Yeah it was the stuff with all the wee black rubber bits in it. Much better than hard astro turf. Always fun when I go home and have to empty about a million of those out from my shoe. (We don't play seriously enough to actually wear real boots)
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Apr 22, 2009 19:38
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I play a -very- casual game most Wednesdays (not tonight unfortunately), usually about 9 or 10 a side. I play all across the defence and am fairly left-footed, but I can use the right if I have to. As far as comparisons go, I'm like a poo poo Carragher: not very fast, bad first touch, can't finish, shout all the time. On the plus side, my passing's alright, I'm very good in the air (despite being 5 foot loving 8) and I'm recklessly brave. Also my tackling's really good. Last week's game was great as all the good attacking players were on the other team (and there are no good defensive players in our games) so organising my terrible defenders into mostly keeping them out felt like a proper achievement.
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Apr 22, 2009 19:49
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Question: what do you do when the best part of your game is long balls/crosses and dead balls, but you've got no pace and can't dribble worth a drat? Oh god, I just realised. I'm a crap version of Becks.
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Apr 22, 2009 20:01
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Guitar_Hero posted:Question: what do you do when the best part of your game is long balls/crosses and dead balls, but you've got no pace and can't dribble worth a drat? You learn to tackle and play DM.
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Apr 22, 2009 20:01
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Chuggo posted:You learn to tackle and play DM. That's where I usually end up playing because my positioning is usually fairly decent, but my tackling is average at best. edit: actually, I take that back, it's just clumsy. Average is way too good a description of it.
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Apr 22, 2009 20:03
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Guitar_Hero posted:That's where I usually end up playing because my positioning is usually fairly decent, but my tackling is average at best. If there's someone else who's good at it (and willing), you could always form a little Pirlo/Gattuso or Alonso/Mascherano partnership, with you as Pirlo or Alonso. Granted that could be a bit too organised for amateur football... As far as tackling goes, it's very much a skill that improves with practice, significantly so with regular games/training. As long as you keep your eye firmly on the ball and don't go to ground if you can help it, you've got the basics down fine.
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Apr 22, 2009 20:08
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Guitar_Hero posted:That's where I usually end up playing because my positioning is usually fairly decent, but my tackling is average at best. that just makes you a sunday league version of Andrea Pirlo then - great positioning, deadly free kick. Maybe take those free kick skills and also take some pops from distance too?
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Apr 22, 2009 20:29
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harperdc posted:that just makes you a sunday league version of Andrea Pirlo then - great positioning, deadly free kick. Maybe take those free kick skills and also take some pops from distance too? I'm pretty bad at long-range shots, actually. My free-kicks are usually pretty good because I get a lot of height and curl on them, but not a ton of pace - I can't really rocket it.
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Apr 22, 2009 20:34
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I played youth soccer until I was finally big enough to play American football, but after getting to college I rediscovered my love of playing the beautiful game. I usually end up as either at goalkeeper or striker. Whenever I get in the field, I immediately gravitate towards the front regardless of where I'm told to be on the pitch. I'm a pretty big guy and hard to move and I am also pretty good at using my head. I'm pretty awful at dribbling, but my passing skills are decent. I can also crush free kicks, and have decent accuracy when I keep my head down. I think my skills as a keeper are much better, I can catch very well and am usually very aggressive about coming off of my line. Somehow my team failed to qualify for the playoffs in our league after going 5-1. My favorite moment ever was when I scored a goal off a corner as the keeper. The other team was concentrating on marking the other big men while I crept up past half. Being an indoor league I was only about 25 yards away from the goal, when the ball was passed back to me and I blasted a beautiful curling ball into the top corner. Nothing is better than a keeper scoring. I've had to stop playing as much this past year as little cunts decided that putting late challenges into my ankles was a cool thing to do. 
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Apr 22, 2009 21:41
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0nslaught posted:I've had to stop playing as much this past year as little cunts decided that putting late challenges into my ankles was a cool thing to do. My brother found this. He played as a keeper in a Sunday league and was constantly being subjected to completely unnecessary late challenges when he'd had the ball in his hands for a good second. He's got what could turn out to be permanent ligament damage in his right knee from a shocking tackle by some oval office. Edit - I can't spell ligament
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Apr 22, 2009 21:44
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Chuggo posted:My brother found this. He played as a keeper in a Sunday league and was constantly being subjected to completely unnecessary late challenges when he'd had the ball in his hands for a good second. He's got what could turn out to be permanent ligament damage in his right knee from a shocking tackle by some oval office. I had this a few years back, until some fucker raked his studs down my thigh from hip to knee. At which point I lost it and shouldered him in the face, breaking a few of his teeth. I only got booked, and word must have got around because it mysteriously stopped happening after that.
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Apr 23, 2009 09:11
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Chuggo posted:a poo poo Carragher I'm like a black Timothee Atouba. Only white.
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Apr 23, 2009 09:38
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Starting in a new 5 a side student league next week, at manchester city's old training ground in rusholme. Need new boots though, my old pair have split near the toes. I'm looking for comfort more than anything, the football eqivalent of loafers. And it's field turf so Sambas are useless.
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Apr 23, 2009 16:34
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RedPaddy posted:Starting in a new 5 a side student league next week, at manchester city's old training ground in rusholme. Need new boots though, my old pair have split near the toes. I'm looking for comfort more than anything, the football eqivalent of loafers. And it's field turf so Sambas are useless. Another goalkeeper here, only combined with not being able to come up with a clever username  Currently playing on a usual mid-level 'premier' league team for our area. The exception being a year ago when everything clicked including me earning 2 assists and finishing in 3rd behind the 2 teams that win every year and a called handball or grassy field with the usual few posts from draws/wins when we played them. Then we lost our 2 playmaking center mids, speedy winger, 3 strikers and sweeper all while getting a year older and are now 3rd from last.I keep thinking if a few things happened differently I would've been able to go a lot further with it, but still I hold a ton of high school records including probably being the only 1st team all-state player to not get an invitation to the college showcase game  A couple years later I managed to walk on to a fairly good DII college team, had a good time, got tons of free clothes but rarely any playing time. Which sucks since I've always looked 10x better once I get 3 matches in.
keeper fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Apr 23, 2009 |
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Apr 23, 2009 18:10
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Spent most of my youth football career defending. I'd like to think I was pretty good at it too, that and I'm responsible for injuries that still continue to bother people a decade on. Got bored when the the school system left me with cunts who all wanted the glory and would gravitate forward, leaving me and just the keeper in any sort of position to stop the other team should they get possession. When this lack of cohesion would naturally lead to the other team scoring goals me and the keeper would be berated for letting it happen, combined with never getting any praise when we did stop it led to us both quitting. I think they lost every game after that. I lost the appeal of playing formally after that mess, local youth squads and my university team were all unappealing for a variety of reasons. Though me and some friends are considering entering a 5 aside, it will probably be very messy.
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Apr 24, 2009 03:57
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Just finished my 7 on 7 league last night. We had a perfect regular season but lost in the semifinals. We suffered from England syndrome... too many midfielders and no keeper (literally on the last part). I had to play keeper in our last game, saved a penalty, but someone put in an OG. Now I've got an infected kneecap from awful astroturf burn. Normally I play up and down the left side.
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Apr 24, 2009 04:12
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