Anyone here go to the open practice? It really was entertaining. Having seen previous such events, this was done right and the intensity and complexity of the drills was a joy to watch. Almeyda seems to get a lot out of players while keeping a very fun demeanor. Pictures attached in below link for anyone interested Cheers https://flic.kr/s/aHsmFRsnSf
great night. weather was perfect and it was fun to see what goes on in a practice session. I'm sure the players were having more fun than usual since they had an audience but I can see that they work hard. After Almeyda blew his whistle I noticed some players just drop in exhaustion - only to get back up and go again a few minutes later. During the practice I thought we wouldn't see any scrimmage because the players already looked completely exhausted but nope - they still scrimmaged at the end (although on a small field). These athletes recovery time is not the same as my recovery time - that's for damn sure.
Anyone know the academy kid who was playing with Shea? He stood out to me - thought he looked pretty good.
I was glad to see practice activities which kept everyone moving and running. I can see how fitness is maintained. In addition there seemed to be a lot of activity which promoted quick, hard, short passes at speed in close-quarters. I could see how the close-in give-and-goes in the penalty area during MLS games will benefit. I've seen a few Quakes open practices before, and they usually featured players running down the sideline and crossing the ball into the box. Of course, this was a Monday session after a Saturday game, so perhaps the crossing drills will come later in the week. Still, this practice looked more like the way the team is paying on the weekends now, which is an attractive style.
We really enjoyed the event! I took a lot of notes, but I was surprised how little the guys actually played, and how few touches they got. It was good for maintaining skills, but If that’s a typical practice, then I wonder how anyone actually improves their skill. Now I understand why players hang around after practices to keep kicking or shooting. But maybe it was lightweight cuz it was a Monday practice after a Sat game. What really struck me was the staff of 11 coaches and helpers including translator. Were some of those academy coaches? The last practice I attended had only Yallop, Watson, Russell & GK Coach. So that’s a big increase in coaching staff
I would venture to guess that the training activities are not the same for every session. You only have so many hours a day to train and you have a lot of things to work on. However, this does have me wondering about Vako's interest in working after hours, as it were, to continue improving, and how he was asking the staff what he can do. Again, you only have so many hours to work with everyone, so you're only going to get so much individual attention during training sessions. I wish I'd been able to go to the event, it sounds like it was pretty interesting.
Hey guys, i put together a little video of the open practice. Hope you enjoy it! (Hopefully it doesn’t get removed for content issues)
Make it so! I loved the fitness with in the drills (cross field zones). Plus practical drills controlling and moving. I love this coach!
My favorite part of the open practice was at the outset when Wondo nonchalantly carried out the bag of balls and started setting up those plastic frisbees (or whatever their official name) on the field. Top-scoring ball boy in MLS history.
And this video holds the keys to the mystery of who has the pink cleats. At minute 1:21 are the pink cleats. At 1:46 is who I think is Cummings, in bright yellow cleats.
See the photos in the first post. There's a close-up of #19 wearing pink cleats. Siad. Is that the guy?
Pink cleats, then it was Siad. There was only one player wearing pink cleats. He looked much bigger than 5'8" to me, but like I keep saying... I didn't have my glasses. But he _was_ a beast. I was very impressed. In the scrimmage, he anticipated so many passes, and several times he did what I call a "Bobby Wood", which is to take a ball facing away from goal, looking down, turn and shoot, into a corner, without ever looking at the goal. I know it isn't unique to Bobby, and he hasn't done it that many times, but he was the one I first remember thinking "wow, he just knows where the goal is at all times." If Siad does it in a Quakes game, I'll rename it in my mind =)