Monthly newsletter - February 2024
Hello ballers,
Welcome to my monthly newsletter, February 2024 edition. If you missed any of the previous months, you can check them out here: https://strivefootballacademy.com/blog
February was great, we had the half-term football camp and loads of one to ones. The only negative was the amount of rain we got this month, which I know caused a lot of games to be cancelled, so hopefully you all get more gametime in March.
Easter Football Camp
Easter marks one year since I started running football camps post COVID. I plan to make this the biggest and best camp yet! For more information or to sign up, follow this link: https://strivefootballacademy.com/football-camps
Shirts and online course
Two exciting things to look forward to for the die hard Strivers out there (I don’t think the term Strivers will stick).
I am in the design process to get some Strive football shirts made. I want these to be completely unique rather than an off the shelf design. As soon as these are ordered and I have them, you’ll be able to buy one and I’ll even offer the service of having your own name and number on the back!
The second thing, my Online Football Coaching Course, which has been in the works for months now, is almost ready to go. I want this to be the best it can be hence why it’s taking a little longer than expected.
What I’ve been watching
We’re coming towards the business end of the season now - when the top teams really start to show what they are made of.
Arsenal are showing that they may have learnt from their shortcomings last season with a great string of results - they have one 6 Premier League games in a row scoring 31 goals and only conceding 3 goals in the process! This puts them 3rd in the league with a far superior goal difference over the rest of the pack.
With Liverpool having the ‘Klopp’s last dance’ effect and Man City, well, being City the run-in should be really exciting to watch for the neutral viewer.
Over in Spain, Real Madrid have started to run away with the title. Real had a hugely controversial game over the weekend against Valencia - they were 2-0 down and pulled it back to 2-2 going into added time. The ball went wide and as they were about to cross it into the box, the ref blew the whistle for full time. All the players seemed to play on and Bellingham headed the ball into the net - obviously the goal didn’t count and two Madrid players were sent off for their protests after the game.
What’s your view on the ref stopping play during a promising attack, should they let it play out?
Ask me a question
One of the readers suggested that I do a ‘Q&A’ section (Thanks Eddie!) So here it is…
What's the most memorable half-time team talk you've witnessed? - Eddie
The first one that pops out at me comes from my time as a Spurs U18’s player in 2010 (back in the dark ages for a lot of the players reading this!). We were playing against Leicester and were losing 2-0 at home. We weren’t playing very well but just before half-time there was a goalmouth scramble where two of our players bundled the ball into the net.
The coaches were already in the changing room ready to deliver their analysis (rant is probably a better word) as we walked in. The two players who scrambled the ball over the line were still arguing over whose goal it actually was as we all took our seats. I won’t name names here but the big, tough, Northern coach picked up an orange from the fruit pile and launched it at the two players arguing - it hit the wall above their heads and exploded on impact. The room fell silent and we then had to ensure 15 minutes of hell as we got ripped into - albeit not as bad as the two that were arguing over the goal got it!
I don’t remember specifics of how we played in the second half but we ended up drawing so it wasn’t all bad.
If you have any questions, shoot them over!
Worth a watch
Here’s a link to that crazy Real Madrid game if you haven’t yet seen it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt740rgPvM0
I love Henry as a pundit (as much as I did as a player!) - watch his analysis of Mbappe: