March 2:
The weather is getting better, so Finland is finally starting to get some color. In the month that I’ve been here, I haven’t seen a single blade of grass. However, the last two days have been above freezing so the snow is starting to melt. Maybe sometime soon I’ll get to see the beauty of Finland that people around here have been talking about.
I missed yesterday, so I’ll recap that in ten seconds. We had two trainings, I scored a bunch of
goals in each and then I watched 6 hours of Netflix and went to bed.
Today we had training in the morning and it was pretty
simple. The coach today though
inexplicably debuted a new formation that we’re going to play tomorrow against
HJK. We’re going to change from a 4-3-3
formation to a 3-4-3. For those not so
technically involved with soccer, that is ridiculous. It essentially causes every single player on
the field to have new or expanded roles.
In addition, the formation has forced two players in the starting lineup
to play in entirely new positions. That’s
not a good thing. We’ll be lucky if we
don’t get killed tomorrow.
Speaking of the match, I have once again been selected from
the pool of trialists to play in the match.
I don’t know if I mentioned before, but in the League Cup matches a team
may only play two trialists. Last week
we had four trialists, but this week we have six, so I’m happy to have been
selected once again. I’ve even been
selected ahead of the trialists who haven’t had the chance to play in a game
yet. I feel like this bodes well for my
chances, but getting my hopes up is useless because I have no idea what the
coach is thinking. I’m not starting, so
I won’t have much time to show my worth.
If I do well though, I expect that a contract will be offered pretty
soon. Send me positive vibes!
Other than training not much happened today. I spent almost 30 euros today on candy and
bakery products at the grocery store, which isn’t even saying all that much
because groceries here have freaking heroin prices. A couple of things, notably milk, are quite
cheap. However, everything else is very
expensive. In Europe, or at least in
Scandinavia, food is more expensive in euros than the same food is in dollars
in America. For instance, in the US a 2
liter of Coke costs around $1.79. You
can argue the number but it’s close enough for my point. Here, they sell 1.5L bottles of Coke for 2.19
euros. Considering that a euro equal
about $1.27, that’s a significantly higher price. The same discrepancy goes for essentially all
other food. Of all the money that I’ve
spent in the 30 days I’ve been here, at least 90% has been on food and train
tickets. The good news is that I’m
becoming a Top Chef over here and I’m learning to make good meals from the
cheapest possible foods!
I’m starting to get used to Myllykoski now that I’ve been
here for 10 days or so. I’m not saying
that the town is any better than when I got here, I’m just accepting it much
better than before. I put a picture of the town center so you can see how slow it is. If I sign a contract
here, I will just hole up in my room and watch Netflix all day. Hulu too.
I guess if boredom is my biggest problem then I will be able to say that
I have a good life. Hopefully I’ll get
to that point.Next time you hear from me I will have played in my second match with MYPA. Hopefully I play well and have good news for you!
Hey, a MyPa fan here, just came across your blog. Found some of the comments about training, tactics et al illuminating in a way... And the observations about life in Kouvola were just what I expected, heh.
ReplyDelete"The coach today though inexplicably debuted a new formation that we’re going to play tomorrow against HJK. We’re going to change from a 4-3-3 formation to a 3-4-3. For those not so technically involved with soccer, that is ridiculous. It essentially causes every single player on the field to have new or expanded roles. In addition, the formation has forced two players in the starting lineup to play in entirely new positions. That’s not a good thing. We’ll be lucky if we don’t get killed tomorrow."
Now, I don't remember exactly how that match went (we did win and were miles better than HJK at every point in the game, though), but I'm glad to see the manager had the stubborness to push through extremely succesful ideas that some players might've found "inexplicable" :) Same with your comments about training, if there was an excessive emphasis on fitness and pace, it seems to have paid off well, considering MyPa has performed well and above every pre-season expectation so far. From what I saw of you in Kouvola, I would've happily signed you, but turns out Korkeakunnas was looking primarily for a whole different type of striker/winger, a more muscular and pressing one...
Still, good luck at Haka under the new manager. And bigups for the blog, really enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for the kind words ToniK. I remember that game and we actually were much better than HJK that day. I guess that's why the coach makes the tactics and I just stick to playing! :) I'm glad to see MyPa doing well though and I can't wait until we play each other!
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