I’m going through one of my phases where football does my head in. The Under 13s I coach capitulated in a top of the table clash yesterday, going down 7-1 against a team they really should have beaten. What can you say though? You can’t give them the hairdryer or shout at them. They might do a big cry. Instead, I’ll make them run and run and run on Friday.
Anyway, it’s not all about barely playable junior pitches and teenagers with bad attitudes. While my live football watching has toppled from Championship to Conference North in recent years, I still watch anything on the telly. I even watched that Futsal thing recently. It’s like loads of show offs playing with a popped size four in a sports hall.
Thankfully, this week sees the Quarter Final stages of the Champions League. To mark this televisual feast, adidas have done what they always do and restored my wavering faith in football. I know it’s only a football, but to appreciate it you’ve got to look at the lineage of adidas and football. It’s the brand when it comes to heritage. They’ve been doing it for years.
So while the 12 and 13 year olds are sat with a bargain bucket and their finger on the red button, switching between Gent v Wolfsburg and Zenit against Benfica, marvelling at the boots and ball on show and imagining themselves scoring in the final in Milan, I’ll be creating elaborate fitness drills and cackling quietly to myself. Might grab one of these balls so they can have a game at the end though. I’m not that nasty.
