This Premier League Season we have seen two super-subs come on and score crucial game winning goals for their teams.
If you don't know who I am talking about, I am referring to Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez (Manchester United) and Edin Dzeko (Manchester City). Both players have come on and bailed their teams out when it looked like they were going to drop points.
Hernandez has been doing this for three seasons since his move to United from Chivas Guadalajara, and has since become a United hero.
However this is not the position anyone would dream of playing. Every player at every level strives to be in the starting 11. No one wants to feel like they can only make a difference if they are coming of the bench.
This is certainly the case with both of these players. Dzeko has come out a few times to the media and has expressed his firm belief that he is and should be a starting player, and its tough to argue with him.
Here are his stats over his career, and as you can see, he certainly has a point. He is currently tied for his team lead in goals, yet he can't seem to get the starts that he desires.
Once you start scoring clutch goals off the bench, it's tough to shake that notion of "super-sub." In addition, being at a club like Manchester United and Manchester City, two teams that seem to stock full of strikers at the moment, its tough for anyone to get consistent time.
Unfortunately, it seems that all these two can do is continue to work hard, continue to score, and hope that they can force their managers to give them starts.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Forgotten Team
The final whistle blows. Scenes of one team celebrating, while the other team is left in tears.
After those scenes of the the losing players emotionally leaving the field no one ever wants to focus on the team that lost. To some degree it is understandable if one feels that the only team that should get attention is the victorious one, after all they did win.
However, after IMS's semi-final loss to Loyola, the amount of emotions and thoughts simultaneously occurring is the most intense and real aspect of the end of a playoff game.
So many questions arising in players' heads you could almost feel them thinking, as I looked into their eyes in the locker room. Questions like, "could I have done more?", "How could I have made that play differently?" and "Is this really it?" were all being processed at the same time.
All of this was clearly mentally and emotionally draining and tensions begin to rise causing two players to have a confrontation that had to be settled down by other players and myself intervening.
I looked around the room and I could see several people crying and yet I could draw absolutely no emotions what so ever. I must admit that at one point I tried to force a tear or two just to feel something. However, I could muster nothing, I was emotionally shocked. The only time I can remember having a similar emotion is when one of my close friends from high school suddenly died.
This emotional blankness allowed me to focus on other people in the room. Two of our players pouring out tears, others just sitting in their lockers looking absolutely dejected. Coaches who sacrificed so, much now fighting back tears.
Slowly players began to exit the locker room, until one group remained. I will never forget the senior member of that small group, face blank, and his eyes moving ever so slightly as he was working out the questions arising in his head.
You could see him starting to work out, in his head whether or not this was the end of his competitive playing career. A question that must be worked out by every player at some point in their final year. For some, the decision is made easy for them because they know whether or not they can make it at the next level, and they adjust accordingly. Yet for this senior it was not that simple.
While I observed you think about what must be going through each player's mind. I thought about how hard they worked in preseason up until this point; the sacrifices they made.
As the last of the players left the locker room, I remembered what one of my two closest friends said to me after he was denied the national college boxing championship, "The worst thing is that no one knows how much harder I worked than everyone else this year. No one realizes how hard I worked myself to win that belt and they took it from me and no one cares." I finally understood exactly how he felt.
Below are the seniors from this years team. Where ever you end up, I
thank you for the tremendous impact you have had and will continue to
have on my coaching career
After those scenes of the the losing players emotionally leaving the field no one ever wants to focus on the team that lost. To some degree it is understandable if one feels that the only team that should get attention is the victorious one, after all they did win.
However, after IMS's semi-final loss to Loyola, the amount of emotions and thoughts simultaneously occurring is the most intense and real aspect of the end of a playoff game.
So many questions arising in players' heads you could almost feel them thinking, as I looked into their eyes in the locker room. Questions like, "could I have done more?", "How could I have made that play differently?" and "Is this really it?" were all being processed at the same time.
All of this was clearly mentally and emotionally draining and tensions begin to rise causing two players to have a confrontation that had to be settled down by other players and myself intervening.
I looked around the room and I could see several people crying and yet I could draw absolutely no emotions what so ever. I must admit that at one point I tried to force a tear or two just to feel something. However, I could muster nothing, I was emotionally shocked. The only time I can remember having a similar emotion is when one of my close friends from high school suddenly died.
This emotional blankness allowed me to focus on other people in the room. Two of our players pouring out tears, others just sitting in their lockers looking absolutely dejected. Coaches who sacrificed so, much now fighting back tears.
Slowly players began to exit the locker room, until one group remained. I will never forget the senior member of that small group, face blank, and his eyes moving ever so slightly as he was working out the questions arising in his head.
You could see him starting to work out, in his head whether or not this was the end of his competitive playing career. A question that must be worked out by every player at some point in their final year. For some, the decision is made easy for them because they know whether or not they can make it at the next level, and they adjust accordingly. Yet for this senior it was not that simple.
While I observed you think about what must be going through each player's mind. I thought about how hard they worked in preseason up until this point; the sacrifices they made.
As the last of the players left the locker room, I remembered what one of my two closest friends said to me after he was denied the national college boxing championship, "The worst thing is that no one knows how much harder I worked than everyone else this year. No one realizes how hard I worked myself to win that belt and they took it from me and no one cares." I finally understood exactly how he felt.
 |
| Mike Jordan (MJ) |
 |
| Robbie Krohmer (Robbo/Diesel) |
 |
| Doug Stephens (Dougie Fresh) |
 |
| Alvaro Torrecilla (Torre/Al) |
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| Ansger Otto (Otto) |
The Knock Out Blow
Readers, you know what a disappointing season it has been for IMS. We started off the season with such high expectations, despite a challenging schedule, only to face a tough reality as the year progressed.
Our final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Loyola, in the MAAC semi-finals, when we were defeated 1-0. A set play goal that was controversial to say the least.
During the MAAC regular season it seemed that our tough schedule was paying dividends. We had finished 5-2, lower than we expected, but with our goal of winning the MAAC still intact heading into the playoffs.
Maybe it was the fact that we had to travel on Wednesday morning, for a game that was taking place on Thursday at 9 p.m., and only being an hour and a half away. The fact that we had so much time to kill on that Thursday just didn't seem right.
Or maybe it was just the fact that this game had a higher importance than all the other games this season. Either way it was hard to get a feel for the team, as I usually have been able to do heading into a game.
The match's start time did end up being pushed back a half hour because the playoff game before us was deadlocked and went to overtime, only to be decided within 15 seconds a quick sudden death goal.
Warm up seemed as normal as ever, and I tried not to read into to many things (something I have learned to do as the season went on). This is what we have been preparing for all year and now was the time for us to prove it.
In the opening 15 minutes we were a little unsettled and Loyola looked to get a foothold on the game, and they would have taken the lead if not for some great last stitch defending by us and some real poor finishing from them.
On two occasions their number 9 was wide open during set-plays. A warning for us as the game continued to progress.
As the rest of the first half played out we began to settle down a bit and by the end of the half each team could come away feeling they deserved to be leading. Chances that should have been taken by both sides went begging and a 0-0 score line seemed a proper reflection of the first half.
The second half started with us clearly on the front foot. We began to posses the ball more as we like to do and the game seemed to be going more in our favor this half. We seemed to have addressed the problem of their number 9 getting open on set plays, we just had to put the ball in the back of the net.
As the second half wore on the teams began to even out and a back and forth started to occur. One team would create a chance on one end only for the other team to respond.
Then with about 20 minutes left to go in the game, Loyola were awarded with a very soft free-kick. The ref calling a foul on something he had let go all game. To make matters worse after we had cleared the initial free-kick the ref inexplicably called for a re-take. All of this confusion, led to one moment of a lapse of concentration, and once again their number 9 was open only this time he didn't miss.
Though we were all filled with rage about the whole situation, we had to push on. We pinned them into their own half, causing them to take on attack after attack, we just couldn't finish.
There was one moment, with about eight minutes left, where we had about five attempts in a row on goal, that were either saved by their goalie or blocked by their defenders. Though you would never admit it at the time, when we didn't score at that moment, we had sealed our fate.
Our final push didn't produce a goal, and when the final whistle blew and it was all over. A sense of shock set in and it felt like the game had unjustly been taken from us. All one could do is just shake their head and know that this game should have been ours. (Injustica).
Our final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Loyola, in the MAAC semi-finals, when we were defeated 1-0. A set play goal that was controversial to say the least.
During the MAAC regular season it seemed that our tough schedule was paying dividends. We had finished 5-2, lower than we expected, but with our goal of winning the MAAC still intact heading into the playoffs.
Maybe it was the fact that we had to travel on Wednesday morning, for a game that was taking place on Thursday at 9 p.m., and only being an hour and a half away. The fact that we had so much time to kill on that Thursday just didn't seem right.
Or maybe it was just the fact that this game had a higher importance than all the other games this season. Either way it was hard to get a feel for the team, as I usually have been able to do heading into a game.
The match's start time did end up being pushed back a half hour because the playoff game before us was deadlocked and went to overtime, only to be decided within 15 seconds a quick sudden death goal.
Warm up seemed as normal as ever, and I tried not to read into to many things (something I have learned to do as the season went on). This is what we have been preparing for all year and now was the time for us to prove it.
In the opening 15 minutes we were a little unsettled and Loyola looked to get a foothold on the game, and they would have taken the lead if not for some great last stitch defending by us and some real poor finishing from them.
On two occasions their number 9 was wide open during set-plays. A warning for us as the game continued to progress.
As the rest of the first half played out we began to settle down a bit and by the end of the half each team could come away feeling they deserved to be leading. Chances that should have been taken by both sides went begging and a 0-0 score line seemed a proper reflection of the first half.
The second half started with us clearly on the front foot. We began to posses the ball more as we like to do and the game seemed to be going more in our favor this half. We seemed to have addressed the problem of their number 9 getting open on set plays, we just had to put the ball in the back of the net.
As the second half wore on the teams began to even out and a back and forth started to occur. One team would create a chance on one end only for the other team to respond.
Then with about 20 minutes left to go in the game, Loyola were awarded with a very soft free-kick. The ref calling a foul on something he had let go all game. To make matters worse after we had cleared the initial free-kick the ref inexplicably called for a re-take. All of this confusion, led to one moment of a lapse of concentration, and once again their number 9 was open only this time he didn't miss.
Though we were all filled with rage about the whole situation, we had to push on. We pinned them into their own half, causing them to take on attack after attack, we just couldn't finish.
There was one moment, with about eight minutes left, where we had about five attempts in a row on goal, that were either saved by their goalie or blocked by their defenders. Though you would never admit it at the time, when we didn't score at that moment, we had sealed our fate.
Our final push didn't produce a goal, and when the final whistle blew and it was all over. A sense of shock set in and it felt like the game had unjustly been taken from us. All one could do is just shake their head and know that this game should have been ours. (Injustica).
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