Soccer Manifesto: Part 4

After a stretch of weekends without games in October, I am back to my normal soccer schedule of daily training sessions and matches on Saturdays. And I am not complaining one bit; in fact, the past two weeks have been some of the most fun I've had on the soccer field during my time here. 

I realize I haven't given too many details about my games. For the longest time I still had no idea what to expect from game to game, but after two solid performances in early November, I feel our team is finally meshing. 

I've been anchoring the back line along with my co-centerback Christian, whose natural instinct on defense is second to none. It's been fun sharing the defensive responsibilities with him, although our goals against tally isn't all that great. The different style of play allows for more goals in general. It's less scrappy, more possession oriented, and in general a more attacking style of play. My team doesn't excel in the center of the park, so many goals get scored on us when our midfielders get beat, leaving an outnumbered defense. One other observation: the goals tend to be more beautiful and skillful here. I've seen long range blasts and vollies off of crosses scored more often than in your typical Berkshire County soccer game.

Though I have been held back on defense, I managed to bag a header goal on a corner kick in my most recent game. After falling down 2-0, we fought back to tie the game at half. They scored shortly into the second half, but I netted our third goal to tie the score again. Once more our opponents scored, but with five minutes left we got a lucky bounce and the ball trickled into the net. It ended a 4-4 draw--probably the best played match I've been a part of in Germany. 

I'm certainly improving. Even though I've always considered myself a smart player, I've learned so much as I've tried to fit my game to the German system. It's crazy to think I only have four matches left, and hopefully we continue to score goals and move up the table.

I'll post if we have any more exciting or fantastic results, and I'll definitely write a big summary  about my German soccer experience once I play my final match.