For anyone who watched the United States v. Mexico in the Gold Cup Final this past Saturday night there was 1 glaring problem that you simply could not miss: the defense of this US national team is terrible.
When I first heard that Freddy Adu would be in the starting 11 and Landon Donovan would be playing as the lone striker, I thought to myself "this is going to be a long evening." I thought going forward the United States would have major problems, there would be no real link up between the midfield and forwards, Donavan would be horribly isolated, and the United States would lack creativity in the final third.
Well, I was right, but Freddy Adu was not the problem. In fact, Freddy Adu was the best player on the field for the Unites States most of the game. Every time he touched the ball he caused problems. He made the right passes, stayed composed when double and triple teamed, and had a major part setting up both US goals when they went up 2-0 in the first half. So what happened?
My main criticism (as it has been for years) was that Landon Donovan was playing up front as a lone striker. Landon is not built for this role. This has been tried countless times on the international level and it does not work. There are times when you can do this against your Jamaicas, Guatamalas, or other CONCACAF teams that aren't as talented as the US. When you play teams with the class of Mexico (and most European countries) Donovan becomes isolated and a non-factor if left to fend for himself up front. He is made to be your playmaker; your #10 in the center of midfield playing in behind your main striker. You're better having lackluster Jozy Altidore up front to at least serve as a target man Donovan can play off of. You need to put your best players in their best positions.
So how does this relate to my initial point about defense? Quite simply put, there was no link up between the back line and the forwards. There was no real activity in the midfield. Michael Bradley was absent save his glancing header off of Adu's corner. Clint Dempsey was absent save his shot off the bar (which admittedly could have been a game changer in the 60th minute) and his assist, also a product of Adu's play. Jermaine Jones and Alejandro Bedoya don't even need to be mentioned as I barely remember their names being called during the match commentary.
This left back line without Oguchi Onyewu, an aging Carlos Bocanegra, and no Steve Cherundolo (you're best American player in my opinion). After Cherundolo left the game due to injury in the 20th minute the back 4 looked horrific. Jonathan Bornstein could not keep up with Giovanni Dos Santos or Pablo Barrera and Bocanegra was left alone to mark Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez effectively cancellong each other out.
So what now? Of course we expected the US to make it to the final and a loss to Mexico is not something to be ashamed of. A 4-2 loss and the way in which they lost IS something to be ashamed of. The Adu move was the right one. Playing Donovan as a lone striker was the disaster. Drop Landon into the midfield where he can link up with the strikers and distribute to his wingers. And put him in midfield so Bradley has someone to link up with. There is no predator on the US national team to take that lone striker role. For now, put Altidore up front with Donovan in behind him. This gives Landon space to be who he is, the best midfielder in US history.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Efficiency
I thought this might be a good time to turn back to my fitness journey since I took a small break from it the past week. Too many Bruins games! I want to talk a little bit about time spent working out. Both how many days per week and amount of minutes spent at the gym.
So, real deal. To stay healthy, you should work out 3-5 days per week spending an average of 45-90 minutes at the gym (more in the 45-60 area) with a balance of strength training and cardio. For me this has been a problem. My average workout would last anywhere from 90-120+ minutes. Just way too much. This leads to overtraining and does more harm than good.
I never noticed the time lost too much. I'm single, no girlfriend, no pets, no kids. Nothing major going on after work most weekdays. So instead I spend time at the gym. But lately, I've found myself wanting something...A LIFE! I miss reading and writing, keeping up with different Boston sports teams, trivia nights with friends, cooking and learning how to cook better, things like that. Little did I know, rather than having working out supplement my life as it should, the only thing I had was working out. Need to diversify.
So my goal is to reduce the amount of minutes I'm in the gym. I'm good on days per week only getting in there 4 or 5 days. What I'm looking to do is average 45 minutes strength training and 20-30 cardio. A sample of my old routine looks like this:
Bench Press
Incline Press
Decline Press
Reverse Grip Bench Press
Dips
Overhead Tricep Press
Rope Tricep Push Down
Planks
Side planks
Hanging leg raise
30 minutes running
Just way too much! Average: 2+ hours
Here is what I did yesterday:
Bench Press
Incline Press
Decline Press
Reverse Grip Bench
Dips
One Arm Cable Press
30 minutes running
I was in and out of the gym in about 90 minutes. Using exercises like the One Arm Cable Press for core work (which I'll get into some other time) and focusing on complex multi-joint exercises. For example, 3 isolation tricep exercises are not necessary for even the most fit person. They'll get the work in doing major movements (bench press, incline press, etc.). You really only need 1 isolation movement per workout. I think revamping my routine in this way will not only save time, but will provide better results.
So did it work? I think so! Last night I got home in time to catch the end of the Sox game, make my lunches for the rest of this week, and watch "Chopped"'on Food Network. It's all about balance.
How much time do you spend in the gym?
What are your tricks for an efficient work out?
What would you suggest I add/remove from my workout?
So, real deal. To stay healthy, you should work out 3-5 days per week spending an average of 45-90 minutes at the gym (more in the 45-60 area) with a balance of strength training and cardio. For me this has been a problem. My average workout would last anywhere from 90-120+ minutes. Just way too much. This leads to overtraining and does more harm than good.
I never noticed the time lost too much. I'm single, no girlfriend, no pets, no kids. Nothing major going on after work most weekdays. So instead I spend time at the gym. But lately, I've found myself wanting something...A LIFE! I miss reading and writing, keeping up with different Boston sports teams, trivia nights with friends, cooking and learning how to cook better, things like that. Little did I know, rather than having working out supplement my life as it should, the only thing I had was working out. Need to diversify.
So my goal is to reduce the amount of minutes I'm in the gym. I'm good on days per week only getting in there 4 or 5 days. What I'm looking to do is average 45 minutes strength training and 20-30 cardio. A sample of my old routine looks like this:
Bench Press
Incline Press
Decline Press
Reverse Grip Bench Press
Dips
Overhead Tricep Press
Rope Tricep Push Down
Planks
Side planks
Hanging leg raise
30 minutes running
Just way too much! Average: 2+ hours
Here is what I did yesterday:
Bench Press
Incline Press
Decline Press
Reverse Grip Bench
Dips
One Arm Cable Press
30 minutes running
I was in and out of the gym in about 90 minutes. Using exercises like the One Arm Cable Press for core work (which I'll get into some other time) and focusing on complex multi-joint exercises. For example, 3 isolation tricep exercises are not necessary for even the most fit person. They'll get the work in doing major movements (bench press, incline press, etc.). You really only need 1 isolation movement per workout. I think revamping my routine in this way will not only save time, but will provide better results.
So did it work? I think so! Last night I got home in time to catch the end of the Sox game, make my lunches for the rest of this week, and watch "Chopped"'on Food Network. It's all about balance.
How much time do you spend in the gym?
What are your tricks for an efficient work out?
What would you suggest I add/remove from my workout?
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Stanley Cup Parade Day!
My last post described the way I felt about this Bruins team and their journey to the Stanley Cup. I figured the best way to start this week would be with a few awesome pictures I got at the parade:
Waiting for the team around 930am, we had some entertainment with several people trying to climb trees on Boylston St.
Once these clowns were done, our Captain, Big Z rolled on in!
With the Cup and my boy, Tim Thomas!
Had to make sure I got a solo shot of Timmy.
Chiarelli and the Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern Conference Title).
Horton.
Big bad Lucic.
The Bear! a.k.a. the most miserable person on the duck boats that day. Had to be 100 degrees in that suit.
McQuaid.
Great shot of Bergeron if I do say so myself.
City of Boston's newest hero: Dennis Seidenberg.
Guy holding up a Bobby Orr sign?
This was Clarendon Street after the parade was done. Tons of people scattered in Copley Square.
Amar had a good time.
And so did I!
Really awesome experience and it was totally worth it to get up early on a Saturday morning, get crammed into the T with tons of people, and watch the Stanley Cup and this team roll through the city. There is only 1 Stanley Cup and it was no more than 20-30 feet from me. Awesome. Would I do it again? Absolutely! Let's hope we have some more Stanley Cup wins in our future. Congratulation again to the Bruins!
Waiting for the team around 930am, we had some entertainment with several people trying to climb trees on Boylston St.
Once these clowns were done, our Captain, Big Z rolled on in!
With the Cup and my boy, Tim Thomas!
Had to make sure I got a solo shot of Timmy.
Chiarelli and the Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern Conference Title).
Horton.
McQuaid.
Great shot of Bergeron if I do say so myself.
City of Boston's newest hero: Dennis Seidenberg.
This was Clarendon Street after the parade was done. Tons of people scattered in Copley Square.
And so did I!
Really awesome experience and it was totally worth it to get up early on a Saturday morning, get crammed into the T with tons of people, and watch the Stanley Cup and this team roll through the city. There is only 1 Stanley Cup and it was no more than 20-30 feet from me. Awesome. Would I do it again? Absolutely! Let's hope we have some more Stanley Cup wins in our future. Congratulation again to the Bruins!
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Most Inspiring Team I've Ever Seen
I woke up this morning and still could not believe the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup Wednesday night. I haven't updated this in a few days because much of this post rested highly on the result of this series. I also knew that the next post would involve the Bruins since it is all I've been thinking about lately. Now, I could go through and give you stats, talk tactics, and tell you why the Bruins won from an Xs and Os standpoint but I won't. Frankly, I don't watch or know enough about hockey to do that, but I think we can all learn a lot from this team. Hockey fan or not; this team is inspiring.
I'm not going to go through the whole series and how this Vancouver team is a bunch of dirty, diving, classless players. You all already know that. I want to focus on one big point where this team inspired me. This team relied on no one except themselves to reach their ultimate goal. Throughout the course of this series, the Canucks were trying to buy penalty calls and were constantly looking to the referees to solve their problems. The Bruins on the other hand, never turned to the officials. The Bruins played physical, old time hockey. They didn't need the officials or the NHL to hand out suspensions when the other team was biting them (literally). They didn't need the media to tell them they were an amazing, talented team (like that head case Luongo needed everyone to tell him). They handled their own problems on the ice.
Case and point would be in game 6 of this series when rookie Brad Marchaud got up in Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin's face and punched him 4 times with no response from Sedin. Sedin looked at the official, asking for a penalty because he did not have the guts to solve the issue himself. Vancouver was a team of cowards and this Boston team was ALL courage.
This is what really inspired me about this team and I think we can all learn from it. Too often I find myself in my own life, relying on the powers that be to solve my problems for me. This attitude has not brought me to the goals and accomplishments that I want to get out of my life because, the "officials" will call the game and step in when needed, but in the end, it's up to you to get out there and take it. That is the lesson the 2011 Bruins have taught me.
No one gave this team a chance. People were calling for Claude Julien to get fired all year: he just won a Stanley Cup. People were calling for Tim Thomas to be traded last year or be pulled for Tukka Rask (as recent as the Philly series!): he just won a Stanley Cup and was the NHL playoffs MVP. The entire city (this guy included) felt this team was going to bring us nothing but sorrow in another round 1 loss to Montreal: they just won A STANLEY CUP!
If we could all be a little more like this team and have that fire that burns inside you when everyone else has counted you out to keep pressing on. When all the critics, pundits, etc. tell you that you have no chance; you have to decide you're just going to win. To paraphrase Tony Mazz, this team won the Stanley Cup on pure heart, balls, and courage. I think this is why, even after all the the titles the City of Boston has shown me in my 27 years, this one and this 2011 Bruins team will forever be in my heart as the most inspiring team I've ever seen in any sport.
I'll see you at the parade tomorrow.
I'm not going to go through the whole series and how this Vancouver team is a bunch of dirty, diving, classless players. You all already know that. I want to focus on one big point where this team inspired me. This team relied on no one except themselves to reach their ultimate goal. Throughout the course of this series, the Canucks were trying to buy penalty calls and were constantly looking to the referees to solve their problems. The Bruins on the other hand, never turned to the officials. The Bruins played physical, old time hockey. They didn't need the officials or the NHL to hand out suspensions when the other team was biting them (literally). They didn't need the media to tell them they were an amazing, talented team (like that head case Luongo needed everyone to tell him). They handled their own problems on the ice.
Case and point would be in game 6 of this series when rookie Brad Marchaud got up in Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin's face and punched him 4 times with no response from Sedin. Sedin looked at the official, asking for a penalty because he did not have the guts to solve the issue himself. Vancouver was a team of cowards and this Boston team was ALL courage.
This is what really inspired me about this team and I think we can all learn from it. Too often I find myself in my own life, relying on the powers that be to solve my problems for me. This attitude has not brought me to the goals and accomplishments that I want to get out of my life because, the "officials" will call the game and step in when needed, but in the end, it's up to you to get out there and take it. That is the lesson the 2011 Bruins have taught me.
No one gave this team a chance. People were calling for Claude Julien to get fired all year: he just won a Stanley Cup. People were calling for Tim Thomas to be traded last year or be pulled for Tukka Rask (as recent as the Philly series!): he just won a Stanley Cup and was the NHL playoffs MVP. The entire city (this guy included) felt this team was going to bring us nothing but sorrow in another round 1 loss to Montreal: they just won A STANLEY CUP!
If we could all be a little more like this team and have that fire that burns inside you when everyone else has counted you out to keep pressing on. When all the critics, pundits, etc. tell you that you have no chance; you have to decide you're just going to win. To paraphrase Tony Mazz, this team won the Stanley Cup on pure heart, balls, and courage. I think this is why, even after all the the titles the City of Boston has shown me in my 27 years, this one and this 2011 Bruins team will forever be in my heart as the most inspiring team I've ever seen in any sport.
I'll see you at the parade tomorrow.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Back to The Foundation
As promised via twitter (@RockGD), I've started my blog. So let's get into it:
My name is George, I'm 27 years old, and I live in Charlestown, MA. Rather than write a full on biography of myself on this first post, I'll tell you why I'm starting this blog and what I'm looking to do with it.
In September, I moved out of my parents' house and relocated to Boston. I was 26 and it was time for me to get out there and establish myself on my own. At that time, I was in the best physical shape I had ever been in. I was in the gym 4-5 days a week, had a flawless diet and nutrition regiment, and properly supplemented my diet and exercise programs with the appropriate multi-vitamins, whey protein, etc. There was honestly nothing that I felt I could not accomplish physically. I ran a 5K in Providence, RI last September without training for it. I clocked in around 22 or 23 minutes, which was fine (roughly 7:20 a mile) but I still felt I could do a lot better. My point, I felt awesome and honestly, I was awesome.
Key word to take out of that is was. After I moved to Boston, I wasn't hitting the gym as often, not taking care of my nutrition how I was, and eventually wasn't working out at all except for playing indoor soccer twice a week and going for the odd run here and there around the Charles River. Still was active and didn't put on weight, but the 5'8" 165 lbs. I was in September was significantly different than the 5'8" 165 lbs. I was in mid May.
Now, I'm not saying things aren't good in my life. Life is good, I can't really complain. I have a good job working as a paralegal, amazing family and friends, 2 dogs back home that I routinely visit, things are good. But there is something that has been missing. The little things in life started to get to me. Stress at work, annoying people, traffic...you know, the little things that aren't a big deal and are a part of everyday life. They just really started to get to me and I was pretty bummed out about a lot of different things going on in my life.
So, the one big constant I had when I was living back home, the one big thing (outside family and friends) that honestly and truly makes me happy wasn't there. I wasn't working out, I wasn't eating right, I just wasn't me. So what did I do 4 weeks ago? Joined up at the Boston Sports Club in Medford, and jumped right back into the old routine. Obviously, my performance was way down from 9 months ago, but I didn't get in good shape overnight and I didn't lose that shape overnight either. So that's where I'm at now. 4 weeks back at it and I haven't felt this good since I moved to Boston.
My dad gave me a copy of "Men's Fitness" a month or 2 ago and I read the letter from the editor which really hit home for me. The article asked, who would you be if you lost everything? Your job, possessions, money, all that. He emphasized not what you would be (as he put it, you would obviously be "screwed"), he emphasized WHO would you be at your core. For me, it's nutrition and exercise. It's who I am. When I am at my absolute best physically it makes me my absolute best in all other aspects of my life.
That's what I'm looking to do with this blog. Not posting and telling you how much I bench week by week, because for me nutrition and exercise are so much more than that. This is my journey back to my foundation and who I really am.
My name is George, I'm 27 years old, and I live in Charlestown, MA. Rather than write a full on biography of myself on this first post, I'll tell you why I'm starting this blog and what I'm looking to do with it.
In September, I moved out of my parents' house and relocated to Boston. I was 26 and it was time for me to get out there and establish myself on my own. At that time, I was in the best physical shape I had ever been in. I was in the gym 4-5 days a week, had a flawless diet and nutrition regiment, and properly supplemented my diet and exercise programs with the appropriate multi-vitamins, whey protein, etc. There was honestly nothing that I felt I could not accomplish physically. I ran a 5K in Providence, RI last September without training for it. I clocked in around 22 or 23 minutes, which was fine (roughly 7:20 a mile) but I still felt I could do a lot better. My point, I felt awesome and honestly, I was awesome.
Key word to take out of that is was. After I moved to Boston, I wasn't hitting the gym as often, not taking care of my nutrition how I was, and eventually wasn't working out at all except for playing indoor soccer twice a week and going for the odd run here and there around the Charles River. Still was active and didn't put on weight, but the 5'8" 165 lbs. I was in September was significantly different than the 5'8" 165 lbs. I was in mid May.
Now, I'm not saying things aren't good in my life. Life is good, I can't really complain. I have a good job working as a paralegal, amazing family and friends, 2 dogs back home that I routinely visit, things are good. But there is something that has been missing. The little things in life started to get to me. Stress at work, annoying people, traffic...you know, the little things that aren't a big deal and are a part of everyday life. They just really started to get to me and I was pretty bummed out about a lot of different things going on in my life.
So, the one big constant I had when I was living back home, the one big thing (outside family and friends) that honestly and truly makes me happy wasn't there. I wasn't working out, I wasn't eating right, I just wasn't me. So what did I do 4 weeks ago? Joined up at the Boston Sports Club in Medford, and jumped right back into the old routine. Obviously, my performance was way down from 9 months ago, but I didn't get in good shape overnight and I didn't lose that shape overnight either. So that's where I'm at now. 4 weeks back at it and I haven't felt this good since I moved to Boston.
My dad gave me a copy of "Men's Fitness" a month or 2 ago and I read the letter from the editor which really hit home for me. The article asked, who would you be if you lost everything? Your job, possessions, money, all that. He emphasized not what you would be (as he put it, you would obviously be "screwed"), he emphasized WHO would you be at your core. For me, it's nutrition and exercise. It's who I am. When I am at my absolute best physically it makes me my absolute best in all other aspects of my life.
That's what I'm looking to do with this blog. Not posting and telling you how much I bench week by week, because for me nutrition and exercise are so much more than that. This is my journey back to my foundation and who I really am.
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