So I just completed 43 hours of focused football work this week, sticking to the promise I made myself! Wow 6-7 hours a day everyday, mostly by yourself is difficult as your always constantly thinking of "ah.. I wondering what's happening on facebook" or "Fuck this! I need a break!". It's tough, especially when you're on summer holidays. Of course i'd love to relax a little more, but then again, my goal is to become signed to an academy within the next 12 months. I've made so much progress already, I cant stop now.

I feel like I am a good player now, that I feel has more potential that ever before. I feel quicker and more confident. Although I think this attitude that I've gained from practicing by myself needs to be tested against some decent players before I get ahead of myself.  

This Week

I watched at least 100 youtube videos this week on highlights of different players, watching so many really puts the things you see into your own style of play which is improving my football brain I feel.

These are some of the things I took out of it:

• When trying to receive a through ball, make a run with the ball carrier in mind and the position of his nearest defender, so he can slot a clean ball through. 
• On the counter attack , you cannot delay with the ball because defence and mid are getting back as fast as possible. Wrote this because of selfish Pedro at the end of Holland – Uruguay semi. 
• Fake one way, step next to the ball with one foot, take another step to fake direction while taking ball away in the opposite direction with other foot.
• When defending, if you think a pass will come near the defending line you're in, move up and block the pass that might occur, very good tactic if you don't have anyone to mark. 
• Van Persie trademark is cutting inside and outside on the edge of the box to get a cross or shot in. 
• Elia fakes shot, and rolls ball with sole – just another variation of a fake. 
• Before making a dribble, Ronaldo may drag ball with sole of foot and that way it is easier to trick defenders because you create the speed of the ball. 
   

So another 20 hours next week, cool!

Got back not long ago from watching the FIFA World Cup Final in a outdoor bar with friends. It's amazing, just watching the celebrations of the Spanish players and it made me want to be apart of it one day, on top of the world. Wow, Iniesta scoring that last minute goal is a moment that as a footballer you dream about. I can't imagine how I would feel if I was Iniesta scoring that goal, winning the world cup for his country. It would certainly be the moment of my life if I did something like that. And that's what I am aspiring to do, my goal is to be in the starting line up of the Australian national team by 2014. This goal is miles away currently but with every pass, every shot and every time I write in this blog I'm an improving player every single day. You don't need belief in me, I just know I can do it. 

This Week and Next Week

So I recorded roughly 8 hours of the 15 I was suppose to do. But like I said previously, I am on holiday with family and I needed to spend time with them + all I had was a little mini ball to play with at the hotel. So I'm going to count this week as a little "break". But from next week I will have 43 hours to complete. 10 – 4pm every day is the plan. I'm making a promise to myself now that I WILL DO these 43 hours, so I don't keep missing out on hours. If I do not do this promise then I won't be able to trust myself in the future to reaching any goals or anything.  

I currently do roughly a 60% with the ball and 40% watching mix with my current training regime. Once the season starts again and I feel that my play intelligence is improving, I will do more with the ball. 

So anyway, this week has gone really fast + it's the end of world cup But it's all good! Off to next week then! 

This Week

I've been a little laidback this week because I've been seeing friends and keep getting distracted by girls, which by the way take up a lot of time, I've also been in France the last three days holidaying with my Family. So I've completed 17 out of the 23 hours I was suppose to do this week. To be honest, of course I could of completed those hours if I didn't go out with friends or anything and didn't spend as much time with family, however I think it really is more important that I spend time with the people that are important as much as I can because once I become a professional footballer, I don't think I'll have as much time and freedom, so I don't want to be regretting when I look back.

Next Week

So I'll have to do 20 + 6×3 hours next week which is 38 hours! But I won't do those next week because I want to be with my family more. I will also reduce the number of hours I do to 15. So I'll do 38 + 5 = 43 hours the week after next. That's more hours than a full-time job, I think it will be a little hectic, but I'll try manage it so I play football from 10 – 4pm every day and that way I still have time to be with friends in evenings. World cup final in 7 days!

This week was the first without school and club training, so it was just watching, playing and doing it again everyday.. all 30 hours of it this week. I trained roughly 5 hours by myself today and watched world cup and youtube for another 5, so I feel all worn out, but only have myself to blame as I left 1 third of the weeks training on the last day of the week. Whatever, all this training is making me a better player so it's all worth it. Especially when I see some special celebrations like Landon Donovan scoring against Algeria, or Suarez scoring a nice one against Korea. I dream of scoring goals like they did every day, just seeing the joy on people's faces and the noise and everything.. wow it would just be unbelieveable. I am always playing scenarios in my head like I make my debut as a late substitute for Chelsea against Man United in the champions league semi final and score a stunner from outside the box into the top corner, and then pretend there is a crowd infront of me to celebrate to! 

I don't have much to say on if I improved or not as I am not playing games or anything. But one thing I can say is that I'm improving on my juggling, it's getting alot better these past few weeks because I'm doing it constantly during training with myself. So now I can bounce it on my shoulder, head, chest without the ball getting away from me.

Next Week

I didn't do one hour of the thirty-one this week, which means I have to do 23 next week. Here's the schedule for that:

So since I have more time, I'm going to start posting more articles on some cool things relating to football. Bye. 

It’s officially the end of the season with my club and it’s time for a little reflection.

It’s been around 9-10 months since the season started and also around the same time I started this blog. I never imagined myself going to trials in England, arranging camps, etc when I began the season. It’s crazy how fast time goes, but in the time from changing my attitude, believing, reflecting and seeing that I can make it as a professional. I’ve learnt so much and gained so much experience over the past season, wow.

Anyway, I’m not stopping yet and having a break. With Summer here I’m dedicating at least 180 hours of playing and watching for the next 9 weeks until Summer’s over and school starts again.

Although this week I admit I’ve been a little distracted. Almost every day this week, I’ve hung out with friends, as you would do if you finished school. Hanging out and chilling isn’t what it used to be a few years back, having sleepovers and watching DVD’s. I’ve been constantly surrounded by alcohol, smoking this week and not to mention getting distracted by girls which took my focus off football a little bit. I don’t smoke ever, nor do I drink regularly, simply because of football. I don’t like to go out sometimes because your always pressured and stuff, and when you’re left out from all the fun.. it sucks. But then again, your only a kid once and I don’t want to regret things I didn’t do when I’m older. But that’s a different story.

This Week
I’ve been out with a back injury all from Tuesday – Friday. It forced me to watch football most of the week, which is why my “punishment” of 6 extra hours I was suppose to make up this week didn’t go ahead because I think that’s kind of pointless just watching all the time and not playing in combination. I did 18.5 hours of watching/playing this week, which is 1.5 hours short of what I was suppose to do, so I’m gonna have to do another 4.5 hours next week as I broke the rules. This means I have to be involved with roughly do 31 hours of footie next week. But.. I guess I deserve this.

The comprehension of my game is still improving I feel. It’s been about 6 weeks since the note taking started and now I am starting to understand the tactical side of things. I finally get what all the analysts talk about and stuff. The difficult part is getting it to translate on the pitch.

Next Week
31 hours is alot. That’s a months worth of club training crammed in a week. I only count watching a live game as 1:10 mins because there are so many starts and stops and times where I am not concentrating and stuff.

So.. I’m done with my 2nd last year of school and now I have a whole 9-10 weeks in front of me to improve. A football summer definently. After watching the first few days of the world cup, it just inspires me so much, it’s so exciting everything. I seriously had tears in my eyes at some moments when players would walk out from the tunnel and sing their national anthems, it’s just so inspring because it’s what I dream of all the time.

I was watching an nikefootball interview with Arsene Wenger the other day, and when asked what he looks for in a player he said:
“none of us is perfect…what makes a player go to the top is that he has one quality“.

I have a few strengths  like shooting, dribbiling and speed, but I don’t know what my one single best quality is, I’m gonna think about it and then once I find it, I’ll work on it every day.

Oh and I didn’t receive a call from footballcv which is quite a shame, although they said in a letter that they thought I was good and they would pass my name around to different clubs. They basically gave me an invite to play for the footballcv academy, but that’s a last resort for me because they only help players get into academy’s, it’s not like a proper one. And it’s pretty expensive, 18k pounds a year!

This Week

I just feel as though I have a couple of things that need sorting out with my game, and once they do get sorted out I’ll be so much a better player. I didn’t write down my pros and cons of training this week, but I gotta keep doing that again because it really does give me insight into what’s up and down for each week.

Through watching games this week, I didn’t really find anything new to say because I think I have already learnt a lot of things and I see alot of repitition now, which is good I guess. I think I gotta start looking more on the defensive side and support play because they are really my biggest weaknesses. Things like when to commit to a challenge, when to make a run and things like that are what I need a little help in, so I will look out for that.

Next Week

I missed 2 hours and 10 minutes of training this week, which means I have to make up 3x that next week. 26 hours and 30 minutes

In other news, I have exams from tomorrow until Thursday and while most of my friends have sacrificed their whole weekends studying, I haven’t revised one minute yet, too busy from watching (watched and took notes five whole hours today) and playing football mostly, but I guess that’s the sacrifice you gotta make to acheive your dreams

This Week

So Monday was the West Ham FootballCV trial day. It went ok. The main thing is that I scored a cracker from outside the box and a good assist, but wasn’t consistent with being good with the ball. This is what I took out of it:
- Assist: Ball comes to right wing, one on one with defender, to the goal line and cross to back post.
- Goal: Edge of right side of box, curled into bottom right corner.
- Hesitated too much and lost the ball.
- Overdribbled (again) at times.
- Probably should of attacked with ball more.
- My agressiveness makes me look strong and I am not afraid of tackling anyone.

I think I have a 40/60 chance of getting a phone call.. haven’t received one yet, but they said wait up to two weeks so… : /

Tuesday:
- Control and passing was good, didn’t lose ball once from just passing around.
- Shielding ball was good.
- Probably should of gone for more runs.

Wednesday:
- One touch passing needs improvement.

Thursday:
- Finishing is good.

Top 5 Game Analysis Notes:

• Realised the quickness that Robinho has, once he takes first touch he flies off, which is what i have to do too.
• Defending, don’t let a player look up, if he does then immediately take ball away from him, think quicker than him. React faster. if he keeps looking down, chances are he’s gonna try and make a move.
• Rooney always seems to touch one way, make defender switch position and go back the other way to beat a defender.
• Best players have lots of small quick touches when running up field.
• Bounce off players when dribbiling.

Next Week

I have a upper back strain at the moment, but hopefully that will heal by Tuesday. I have exams which will alter my schedule from most weeks.

“Like everything in life, the beginning is always the hardest part. But then you adapt.” – Cristiano Ronaldo

So, It’s about 30 minutes past midnight, about to go to bed seeing I have the FootballCV trial with West Ham tomorrow. I’ve had a decent week. Started off well in Monday’s game where my team won 6 – 1. The good thing is that I scored two goals and assisted two goals. One goal was a penalty, the second was a shot into the bottom corner from about 16 yards out. Best assist is when I did a blazing run up the wing and passed it in the box for a player to finish. Although I know I could of played better, it probably shows that I’m improving. On Saturday, I went up to Milton Keynes for the first of my FootballCV trials. I did.. hm.. ok. I reflect on in more detail below but one key thing I realised, is that if I talk to the players and show that I’m a leader before the match starts, I feel much better and play better on the field. I think it’s because I get intimidated too much, and if I talk the player’s that “look good” from the outside don’t really anymore and it settles my nerves I guess. A man before the match on Saturday, told the group just to do the basics right and scouts will notice you. Just pass and control, it sounds too easy, I mean if you just do that who will notice you, is it possible to get a trial just by doing that all the time? Maybe I’ll just keep doing that and see what happens..

This Week

Game Analyse Notes Top 5:

• Stay 1m away from the attacker if you are defending, that way he can’t use your body and bam! you can intercept him easier (nikefootball)
• In the penalty area, cut inside and across the defender to get a shot in.
• Dribble away from the defender before passing.
• I said two weeks ago, and I’ll say again, just looking at messi, he is not at an level that I can’t get to one day.. he just is very smart, knows where he is on the pitch, what he wants to do and he does it. He knows how to find space and how to get space and will execute what he wants to do very quickly.
• To get inside the penalty box, Messi always seems pass to a player at edge of the box, make a run in and the player passes to him to score.

I am really unsure whether any scouts will take my details from Saturday’s game. I think it’s a 40/60 chance that someone has, but seeing as I live in Hungary it might make it more difficult as apparently they prefer only to take details of those who live in the UK. Oh well, these trials still give me a lot of experience and a chance to see where I’m at. I think I’ve certainly improved since the last. I think the last three weeks now of analysing games has worked well too. Putting yourself in the position of what would Messi or Ronaldo do? Really helps alot. So my football brain is.. well improving I guess. As the world cup is nearing, I am deficiently going to be writing down all the things I see and as there’s a potential of 64 games I can watch, that’s like 100 hours right there! Summer will for sure be a football summer for me.

Next Week

So I have to say first that I haven’t done by 20 hours this week. Just a little dis-organisation, more sleep to recover vs. playing and this trip to London were some issues. I think I only did about 12 hours to be honest. I’m setting consequences for myself now, so from now on, If I do not complete the hours on my schedule for what I set, the hours I did not complete, will have to be tripled. So if I miss two hours, I have to do six hours the next week. And if I get injured it’s no excuse, I can still watch and analyse. I’m also going to try to get to training 45 minutes earlier now, so I can train before training and do my time then, instead of when I get home and am tired.

Another week of training passes by. It’s been around 8 whole months since I started writing in this football diary of mine and in that time I’ve developed a whole lot as a footballer. I’ve attended two English scout trials and one for AFC Wimbledon, become “the best” player in training (not consistently yet), been told by my coach I can be a footballer (only if I develop a football brain), kept believing and succeeding more. I think I’ve come a long way towards my dream. But not yet have I reached it. I wonder what I’ll be saying this time next year once I finish school.. will I be wanted by other clubs? Will my left foot be as good as my right? Will I be signed to a professional club? I’m already thinking of playing in Japan one day! I have two more chances to go one step further with two more footballcv trials this weekend when I go back to England and trial at MK Dons and West Ham United’s Upton Park stadium. Scouts from Chelsea, West Ham, Brentford, etc are already expected to be there. I need to prove that the 20 hours of training each week is valuable and that my failure’s will turn into success. In fact I deserve to be given a proffesional contract more than anyone else because I can and I am willing to change the world through football.

This week has been a fairly ordinary week. More of analysing games, more training and most of all, more improvement even though this week was one of my down in form weeks one could say. This is what I learnt through videos this week:

• If there is no immediate clear option in front of you or to the side, either pass it back or put it up for a long ball.
• To beat a player one on one, make sure you turn and face him
• A player is trapped on the sideline by about two or three defenders, his teammate makes a run up the sideline and brings a defender with him and results in the once trapped player now having much more space to attack. Off the ball runs are important!
• Rooney gets all the way back in defence to win the ball and that’s what “show me that you want to be on the pitch!” really means. Determination!
• Checking, blocking players for run on.

Next Week

This week has been the first week where I video analyse players, try to understand why there so good and apply it to my game. I have a book here which I write all the things I see so I don’t forget, I have about a good page and a half written so far. To be honest, sometimes I prefer watching videos and writing things down than going out and kicking the ball around. In the weeks before I’m training roughly 10 hours by myself and it gets lonesome, but probably the main problem is that there’s no structure to the training. I will go out in the garden, put some cones out and dribble, shoot and just do what I feel. Every single day doing that, you go a little crazy so I really need to plan ahead.

By planning not do these things last week:

- Do homework before I do anything else (work on website, play games, etc only exception is football training).
- Go on facebook no more than once a day (includes on my phone)
- Get into bed by 10:30pm each night. (except weekends)

Really helped me be more productive, except next week, I’ll keep my bed time to 11pm so I can do a little bit extra.

First of all here’s the top 5 things that I found through looking in a lot of youtube videos this week:

• The top players are always trying to find space in between opposing players.
• At the edge of the box, an attacker always tries cutting inside and shooting.
• Messi: Runs straight at the defender, makes a move to put him off balance but at the same time leaving sufficient space so the defender cannot make a challenge. Messi doesn’t use tricks, but just runs straight with a simple fast change of direction.
• When running at a defender with speed the defender has to stop, so it’s easier to beat him.
• Messi: When the direction of defenders off the ball is moving in a clear direction (either right or left), he dribbles in their opposite movement which makes it much easier for him to go past defenders.

So my football intelligence has probably taken it’s first step this week to becoming where it needs to be (really good), in the weeks to come I will hopefully see and my coach will see some improvement.

I’m not sure that it’s relevant any more to post what I’ve been training like because I’m better than everyone else in the team now. If I were with a better team, then I think my weaknesses and strengths would really show and be true of me. Anyway here it is:

This Week

Tuesday:
- High speed dribbiling through longer separated cones not very good.

Wednesday:
- Did great with dribbiling through small cones, got good at this through practising at home.

Thursday:
- Left foot passing has improved significantly, I can actually lob the ball with it now! Wouldn’t even dream of that a year ago.
- I can tell Janos really wants me to be a leader in the team.

Saturday:
- I’m almost always out of breath in games because I run alot. I need to learn to conserve my energy more, so I can properly make runs and stuff instead of being too tired to. This is what caused me to play bad in trainings game.

Next Week