I made my first venture out to practice today since the season began. It was also my first chance to see Deuchar in person. Here are a few observations:
- It was dang cold!
- James Edward beat me to the punch here, but I would agree with him that if you can take any messages away from what happens in practice it seemed like Sturgis may be in line for his first action and start of the season. Although to be fair, I heard Sturgis mentioned that he "has no idea" what Kreis has in mind for the starting XI and that the team usually doesn't start to address that until the practice on the day before the match.
- The team spent alot of time in the 8v8 and 11v11 action concentrating on moving the ball, switching the ball and crossing the ball. Based on comments from the coaching staff, I took it that they wanted to focus on making good passes and putting the ball in good spots for the strikers.
While that was going on, several forwards/midfielders who were not involved with that action spent time off to the side practicing their finishing skills. - My impression from what I saw and from talking to a couple of others at practice is that Cordoba is really coming along. The team still likes his ability, and his fitness is getting better. He still appears to be a little bit out of sync with what is going on at times, but he is fitting in much better with the team. He also appears to be less timid than the first time I saw him in practice.
- Beltran will be a starter in this league, and probably sooner rather than later. Wingert is going to be pushed by this guy all season.
Here are a few pics (click to enlarge):
