Needless to say, this wasn’t how we envisioned the start of our
season.
We have no excuses. There is no explanation. We just got
outplayed, and we paid for it.
The key now is to move on and get ready for the home opener next
weekend. In a way, we needed to lose on Friday because it showed us
that just because you’re the defending national champion, it
doesn’t mean your you-know-what doesn’t stink.
We’ll take the positives from that game — we played much better
in the second half than the first — and move on.
Of course, it’s good to think about what happened for a couple
days, but it’s not healthy to dwell on it. By the time training
rolls around tomorrow morning, the game in Vancouver will be a
distant memory.
It’s time to flush this one.
In a long season, teams can’t get caught up thinking about the
mistakes — the games in which they played poorly, the games they
should have won, the goals they should have scored or shouldn’t
have let in — because it distracts from the task at hand.
The good thing about soccer is that you almost always get a
second chance, and you almost always get on the field soon after
the last time you were on it. We train several times a week, and we
sometimes play three games in a week’s time.
Part of what separates average players from professional players
from world-class players is the mental aspect of the game. The only
play, the only session, the only game that matters is the one right
in front of you; the last one and the next one don’t mean
anything.
That’s one of my weaknesses as a player that I’ve been working
to fix. Sometimes, I over-think things. I “get in my own head,” as
the saying goes.
It’s one of the strangest skills to train. The way players get
better at all other aspects of the game is by doing something —
taking 1,000 repetitions, watching game film, talking to coaches —
but not this one.
It’s against every instinct I have as a player to not do
anything, but that’s the key here.
Don’t think. Just act.
