Cover for loved ones
One of the many duties of a responsible box-to-box CM is to clean up messy situations for the team. Because the box-to-box CM inherently lives in the eye of the storm, she has more opportunities than any other position to have her teammates’ back when they require her most.
If a winger gives the ball away on a square pass in the middle of midfield, a quality box-to-box CM will track the opposition as she tries to counter, providing another defensive body to stop 1v1’s or slow the attack so other players can scramble to proper defensive shape. When a striker has her back to goal and is out of options, the box-to-box CM hustles to open grass to provide an outlet for her teammate who has no other pass. Within minutes a box-to-box CM can clear a defensive header after a center back gives a ball away that leads to a cross and then find herself delivering a second assist with a clever pass in Zone 14 just a few sequences later.
Soccer is a team game to its core. The truest definition of teammate is an individual who only finds success from success of the group. The box-to-box CM knows this and exhibits it in every aspect of her game. It is why she can often be found in areas where the team desperately needs a savior.
Friends, family and close social relationships are critical in the formation of a self-actualized human. Ponder all the excellent things one may accomplish in his or her life: graduations, promotions, caring for pets, marriage, procreation, achieving goals, learning a highly advanced language or skill, winning awards, all of these are rarely achieved without the support that comes from our tightest networks.
Those closest to us will make mistakes, fail, get sick and require emotional support. They will struggle. A soul that provides a crutch in these dark and difficult times is a soul who is more closely connected to those who matter most.
Acute awareness of surroundings
Box-to-box CM is the most nautically challenging position in soccer. At a given moment, the box-to-box CM is dealing with situations not only on longitudinal and latitudinal planes, but also in diagonal space as well. A 90 minute match presents a myriad of spacing challenges for the box-to-box CM. Should he move three yards to the left to cut out a passing lane, or should he hold his ground and force an attacker into a pressure pocket? When he has the ball in the middle of midfield, should he move it quickly to the left fullback or chip it long to the right winger? Can he get the center forward more touches?
Answering all these questions is daunting but if the box-to-box CM knows exactly where his teammates and opponents are at every moment, then he has a distinct advantage when trying to navigate ever-changing tides. The smartest box-to-box CM’s religiously peer over their shoulders to get stock of what’s going on around them. They know when they must rush and when to relax. They have a studious inventory of the 22-other people (the ref counts!) and ball that chaotically dance around the confined area of which they share.
In life, opening one’s eyes and one’s ears is not only crucial for day-to-day physical safety (look both ways and listen before crossing the street!), but it is also amazing the things one can learn by hearing and observing their environment with rapt attention.
Intense awareness also helps the brain with an easier path to mindfulness. Often the most peaceful moments one can experience come from noticing the details of a shaking leaf in the breeze, a powerful wave or a pink sunset.
Execute simplicity with precision
Strikers and goalkeepers get headlines for brilliant goals from distance or diving saves, the box to box CM, though, finds her glory in the minute details of the game.
The box to box CM can be compared to the team’s timekeeper. Possession patterns are rhythmic and methodical and its critical that the box to box CM connect short and easy passes with accuracy and a pace that is amenable. Consistently shifting the opposition from side to side and backwards and forwards helps tire them out, a strategy that can bear fruit with a late game-winning or game-tying goal.
The box to box CM must be consistently reliable, even when passes or first touches seem stress free. Its these moments that separate the best box to box CM’s from the average ones.
Success in life requires innovation and discipline however observing basic tenets of social behavior can yield massively positive results. Core values like showing up on time to work or social functions, smiling and being pleasant to collaborate with and treating others with respect and dignity might seem inherent for many, yet often those most troubled are too scattered to fulfill these types of behaviors with ease. Existence is complicated, simplifying it where possible reduces anxiety and engenders serenity.
Cover ground, lots of it
A key attribute that defines the box to box CM is the ability to cover tons of field without relenting. Being able to gallop from the defensive third to the attacking third on a consistent clip is no small task. Its one of the many areas that make a box to box CM so unique.
Extreme fitness and endurance afford the box to box CM the luxury of touching the ball in all zones of the playing field. Her engine never tires, and her tank never empties.
Covering ground in life can mean a variety of different things. It can be prioritizing travel to better understand different cultures, societies and landscapes. It can also mean putting in extra effort in one’s vocation or attending social functions to keep in touch with friends and family who live far away. Moving the body also keeps the body healthy, sanitized, and clear. The pangs of life seem significantly less daunting after a cleansing sweat.
Breathe early and often
Soccer is an emotional beast. The box to box CM spends hours and hours of her time to be able to perform well enough as to not let her teammates down in tiny, fleeting moments. Teammates bond to the point of near blood kinship. Situations change constantly for the box to box CM throughout the 90 minutes. The euphoria of what appears to be a late game-winning goal can so easily be liquefied mere moments later when the box to box CM makes a stupid square pass that leads to an interception and opposition goal.
For the box to box CM, remaining emotionally intelligent cannot be overstated. A steady breathing pattern can cool off the hottest of on field interactions, help push oxygen to tired legs when they need it most and coax the box to box CM into making smart decisions when chaos ensues around her.
Life rarely goes as planned. Traffic makes us tardy to work and play, cell phones run out of batteries and sometimes it literally rains on parades and wedding days. Its often so difficult to remain calm day-in, day-out when challenges like these gnaw at us. Making sure to take deep breaths when things do not goes as planned can bring rationality when raw emotions drive us to make mistakes, be rude or panic.
No comments:
Post a Comment