H8FC Training 22 January 2011

On 22 January 2011, 10 Hougang 8 players played a series of 5-on-5. Here are my summary of them...

Alex = He is his usual self. A playmaker who is all-round.

Syahrein = I am a crap outfield player. I'm only good as goalkeeper.

David = Powerful midfielder. Shoots the ball powerfully.

Crazy = These 3 brothers - Alex, David and Crazy got strong genes. All are natural sportsmen.

Kelvin = He reminds me of Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen. Getting better each Saturday.

Wei Yao = He can score simple, nice, effective goals.

Blue shirt boy = Smallest player on the pitch. But plays with his heart. Brilliant effort put in.

Daniel = Very fit but cannot finish off many oppurtunities. Maybe big, standard goalposts can.

Tang Yao = Seems not serious. How can play while using handphone? Maybe he's serious only as goalkeeper for his school team.

How Meng = Quiet boy but speaks through his football. Hope he maintains that way and not led astray becoming a bad boy in the future.

H8FC Training 15 January 2011

Today 11 people played on a rainy day...

Alex
David
Crazy
Q-S
Da Pang
Shyong Ming
Wei Yao
Kelvin
Jerwin
Daniel
Eddy

Alex, David and Crazy were against me, Da Pang and Shyong Ming in a 3-on-3 at first. Only me, Da Pang and Shyong Ming were wearing our jersey. (Q-S 81, Wee Zheng 17 and Shyong Ming 10). My team won 3-2.

Then the three boys Wei Yao, Jerwin and Kelvin came. We played 5-on-4. Alex, David, me, Da Pang, Jerwin on one team. Crazy, Shyong Ming, Wei Yao and Kelvin on the other. Then a new 31 year old Malay guy called Eddy came and joined us. I don't know if he's a bad Malay guy turned good or a good Malay guy like me who people think is bad at first look because we are dark-skinned Malays. He seems ok the first time he plays with us. Hope he doesn't bring bad Malay guys along for our next training. Eddy played for the other team and then Daniel came to make it 6-on-5. We won 10-8.

The next match was another 6-on-5. This time I'm with Eddy, Jerwin, Wei Yao, Shyong Ming and Da Pang against the rest. We put on a good performance and could even take them who are better to the limits. The score was at 9-9 and I made spectacular saves as goalkeeper from David and Alex. Kelvin scored the Golden Goal. 10-9.

Eddy left and said he will join us again. We played 5-on-5 as the sky is already dark. Me, Crazy, Shyong Ming, Da Pang and Jerwin against the rest. I decided to play outfield and scored a goal. But my team lost 5-2.

H8FC 5(David 3, Uncle 'Zidane', Raid) YCK Bad Boys 3(Daniel 3)

Before the match, we had a 'lottery' to see which 4 of us are going to play for YCK Bad Boys. Turned out it's...Teck Seng, Tang Yao, Jerwin and Daniel(Indian David Villa Guy).

As I am the player-manager, they ask me for formation. Well, it's 4-4-1 at first then Uncle 'Zidane' came in and it was 4-4-1-1. The four midfielders are given licence to roam everywhere ala Barcelona.

GK = Syahrein

LB = White Shirt Boy
CD = Crazy
CD = Cher Siang
RB = How Meng

CM = Alex
CM = David
CM = Kelvin
CM = Wei Yao

RW = Uncle 'Zidane'

ST = Raid

Nice formation eh? I don't care if you all think my formation was crap. We WON and that's all that matters. The back four did tremendously well. Alex and David are biological brothers so they form a telepathy in the middle of the park. Wei Yao and Kelvin are best friends so they know each other's game. Raid likes to drop back which is ok. While Uncle 'Zidane' plays very well at his age.

Play-by-play:

0-1 = Daniel breezed through and put me to the sword with the first goal. (I'm playing goalkeeper)

1-1 = David equalized with a thunderbolt of a goal

2-1 = Again, David scored. It just is his day

3-1 = Remarkable. David scored his 3rd and of course HAT-TRICK. Looks like he is more potent wearing 'David 9' than 'Gerrard 8'. It's always better to be yourself

4-1 = Uncle 'Zidane' scored like he is around my age

5-1 = Shot by Alex rebounded to Raid who slotted home

5-2 = Daniel never gave up and scored another one

5-3 = Last kick of the game. Daniel took the corner and I accidentally directed the ball into goal. Though YCK Bad Boys lost, Daniel scored hat-trick too.

Why do I call them YCK Bad Boys? Because they were schoolmates in Yio Chu Kang Primary. Bad boys because 99.99% of underaged smokers are bad. I thought they were going to play rough but I'm pleased they didn't. A couple of them even joked with me so it's a harmonious football match.

I think I should be full-time goalkeeper seeing I saved many shots today. Forget about being like Frank Lampard. Medicine I'm taking kills my stamina. Now should I buy goalkeeper's gloves?

H8FC Training New Year's Day

A lot of people came. We played 2-side. One team consists of Tang Yao-Cher Siang-Da Pang-Crazy-Wei Yao-Jerwin-Ah San-Daniel and the other team is Kevin-Raid-Shyong Ming-David-Alex-Teck Seng-Kelvin 6-How Meng-Syahrein. It was 8 against 9. I played for the team with extra man and we lost!

When I look at it, the team that won got 3 defenders, 2 midfielders and 2 strikers. In my team, we have 1 defender, 6 midfielders and 1 striker. For their team, Crazy was defending at the best quality. I say Crazy Rooney Kang Xiang is the man of the match. Any opposition got the ball, he would win the ball from him in his best ability.

Cher Siang did well in defence too. And Ah San with his vast experience can outsmart 5 men in midfield. For my team, we were humiliated. Everyone in my team excluding Alex refused to pass the ball to me. They don't see the big picture. They think I'm lousy because my style of play is to immediately pass the ball when I get it? So what did they do after refusing to pass the ball to an open me? They tried to dribble and lose possession. If only they pass the ball to me, I would quick release it to an open player. My passes when compared to their dribbling and losing possession got a higher success rate. I think I should play goalkeeper and only play outfield when someone else wants to be keeper. Switching back to old medicine gives me little stamina.

Raid, who long time never play with us since he moved to Tampines lost his iPhone. I don't know who stole it. If you have an expensive handphone, never leave it alone. If you have to bring, switch off your handphone and place password on it so other people can't access your phone. Happy New Year. May we play football together forever until we are old and can't play anymore. Long live Hougang 8!