Matchday 8: Very Bad Day...

Hola amigos.  We just finished our 8^th game of the season and our 7^th loss.  The opponent was Ostersunds and we lost 4-2 but were never in the game.  We were down 3-0 after 27 minutes.  This season has been kind of a nightmare and today was the worst of all the days.  First, we changed our formation and it was an absolute disaster.  We played 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield.  I started on the right, but this was nothing like the winger position I normally play.  I was asked to do much more defensive work and to cover far more ground than usual.  The only problem was that I was never told of the additional responsibilities I was being given.  Thus, as I played as I always have, Siggi and the rest of the staff were freaking out on the sidelines.  In the run of the game I couldn’t quite digest all the information they were giving me.  I just figured we’d sort it out at halftime…wrong.  I was subbed out in the 42^nd minute.  That pissed me off.

I know that some of my readers are not soccer players and don’t really understand what a first half substitution means.  If you watch 100 matches, you will see a first half sub in maybe two or three games.  Of those, they are overwhelmingly for either one of two reasons: either the player gets injured and cannot continue or he is playing so poorly that the coach has no choice.  Maybe others will argue, but I don’t think I fell into either of those categories.  Obviously the staff thought that I was playing horribly, but to take me off in the first half seems to be a bit more than tactics. Mine was certainly not a tactical shift.  The person who came on for me was Rasmus Fries and we’re essentially the same player.  I think the sub was made to embarrass me because the staff thought I played poorly and deserved that embarrassment.  I hope I’m wrong but that’s my belief.  All this in a half where I was our most dangerous attacking player and created our only goal of the first half.

On a positive note, I finally got my first assist of the season.  I’ve made my fair share of good runs and passes but none have been finished.  I also haven’t gotten too many attacking opportunities since we’ve been the 2^nd best team in most of our games.  I don’t want to make excuses for my lack of productivity though and the one positive from today was that I finally was able to contribute in a concrete way.  Based on when I was subbed today, I don’t know when I’ll get my next opportunity, but when I get it I’ll be sure to build on the small foundation I laid today.  The positive parts, not the stuff that got me yanked out of course.

In other news, Celia is back visiting again!  We went to Stockholm and met an old friend of mine who I’ll reveal tomorrow or whenever I can get my photos to load from my phone to computer.  Anyway, that’s why I haven’t posted in 3-4 days.  I hate to have Celia sitting bored while I blog!  Stockholm was pretty fun, even though it was terribly cold and raining the entire time.  Stockholm is one of the few cities I know of that actually looks good in the rain.  It kind of seems like the city is suited to the glum, grey background, something like Gotham City.  I’ll post the photos after the fact, so check back in a few days. [edit]: photos are up.

Other than that I haven’t been up to too much.  Celia and I have been exploring the cafés of Enkoping since I never go to them otherwise.  It’s pretty interesting how many places I pass that are actually nice cafés.  In case you’re wondering, tonight is taco night and I plan to make some pretty sweet tacos!  I know you guys are impressed!  For some reason, Swedish people love tacos and both grocery stores in town have huge taco displays.  I couldn’t help but get involved.

That’s all folks.  As soon as I get my pictures loaded I’ll reveal my mystery friend that I met with in Stockholm and tell that story.  Until next time!