Last Saturday 14th April 2012 was the 2nd edition of the EPL supporters club futsal tournament. It was bigger then the last tournament with a total of 12 teams. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle all sent 2 teams while Manchester City and Spurs sent 1 team.
Prior to the tournament we didn't really prepare well. All attempts for centralized training was met with lukewarm response and injuries. With that, I came into the tournament with zero expectations. And how wrong I was. I didnt know we were suppose to win the whole shindig. The best part was the players who never turn up for training are the ones demanding a win.
First I'll get to the results. We drew our first game against Chelsea B 0-0 and I didn't see any playing time in that one. Next we lost to Man Utd A 2-3. I came in after half-time and we were already 2-down at that point. I came in and help stabilize the defence (sometimes you just need big guys at the back). I also got yellow-carded in that game. I was carded because I ran over a very small Man Utd player which I didn't see when going for a high ball. Funny call but it was against Man Utd. Craig pulled us level with 2 quick goals. Then disaster happened. I under hit a pass forward which was intercepted by a Man Utd player and I was caught out with a quick 1-2 counter. I was blamed for that goal which I owned up too. But the rest didn't accepted it. They claim that I should have been subbed because I was 'tired'. Well that was suppose to be their call on who comes in and out. My number wasn't called so I carried on. With that I knew I was going to be benched for the rest of the tournament. I missed our next 2 games, a 2-1 win over Arsenal A with goals from Leonard and Conrad and a 1-3 loss to Liverpool A with Conrad scoring our lone goal. We were already eliminated from the semis before our last game against Newcastle B. I was asked to start because there was nothing to play for. Due to be out cold, I wasn't ready for the game and made 2 early errors which lead to their goals in the first 3 minutes or so. Everyone was making me the scapegoat and then I had it. I walked out on the team, asked someone else to replace me. We lost 1-3 with Shahrul getting our goal. I didn't say goodbye to the team and walked back home straight after the game. The tournament was just across the road from my in-laws place so I decided to just walk to the tournament venue.
So i just played less then 8 minutes in the tournament from a total of 50 minutes playing time. Only played in 2 games while I was benched for the other 3. I didn't appreciate being made the scapegoat for the losses in which I played a part in. We didn't even prepare as a team. What do you expect? You think we can win by just showing up? Even Barcelona don't win without any preparation. With that I officially quit the team (like I was needed anyway). I will not make myself available for any future Spurs Malaysia futsal teams.
A frustrating tournament and also a wasted weekend.
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