14-20 Mar
The hard yards.
I’m back again. Sport can be simple, much like life can be sometimes. Win your individual battles- don’t be outworked and you’re halfway to victory. Manage the momentum swings as they dictate the outcome of the game. Loss minimisation rather than profit maximisation may be the way. All this I surmised after a first-half thumping during my team’s 5 a side fixture. We dominated the second half but it was too little too late.
Focus on your opponent too much and you lose the thrill of the game.
Let their antics disturb you and you’re at their mercy. You gain nothing from being reactive.
This week I thought about putting in the hard yards. This is the hustle of life or the grind in other words. When at a disadvantage it’s easy to see why you’d need to work hard. When Crystal Palace come up against Manchester City, the former concede their technical inferiority and cede away possession. They understand that a positive result will only come from defensive solidity, effective counterattacks, and most principally hard work. On the flip side, when one has a natural advantage over another, that desire to graft isn’t as prominent. Palace can play their best game and still lose because they’re just not as good as City, yet City can win based on moments of individual quality. Yet this season in the league fixtures between these 2 teams Palace failed to lose, even though they’ve faced 33 shots to 15 and averaged 29% possession. I use this as an example not to suggest City weren’t as aggressive as they needed to be, but more so that sheer doggedness and resoluteness can be enough when mixed with opportunism. Also, I kept thinking about ‘The Parable of the Persistent Widow’ (Luke 18:7-8)- a slightly separate point but along the same theme of perseverance.
Some final questions: I wondered whether I cared more about things turning out how I expected it to versus all working together for my good. Am I allowed to be frustrated if things worked out in the end, or does the process matter most?
Apologies my week was not cohesive so it reflects in the summary this week. It was choppy, abrasive- difficult to piece together and understand. Let me know what you think about the above questions.
To another week; tsl.