Sat in Alicante airport, demolishing an Iberian ham baguette, I thought was the right time to reflect on the last few days.
It has been a week of intense work in extreme heat, a period of time to build new bonds and strengthen ones that have already been established, and a chance to get excited for what is to come this season.
Anyone who knows me well will attest to the fact that I love food. I like pretty much everything about it, the way it tastes (obviously), the way it smells and looks. I like eating it yes, but love preparing it too and I also love how food brings people together.
Every day, three times each day, we as a group of 50 people would sit down eat and chat. This phenomenon is the same all over the world, in whatever country you live. When it’s time to eat you gather as a collective and spend time together.
During these times over the past four days, you hear all manner of things. Chats about football, the World Cup, how that day’s session has gone.
There are discussions about which card game to play, who you’re going to play at table tennis or pool. Pretty much everything is discussed and a huge topic of conversation on my table on Wednesday was about the inter-squad match that was played that morning.
As we sat over our lunch we talked about how the morning’s 60-minute game had been a great indication on what we can expect from Argyle this season. On the game, the red-bibbed team raced into an early 2-0 lead. Owen Oseni with both goals.
Keeping to the food theme, the lads had dinner riding on the result. They were off to have a meal later that evening and those in the losing side would be paying. So, when Oseni tapped home from a couple of yards out it was looking very likely that the white bibbed side would be stumping the cash.
However, a great fight back in the second half, led by first-year scholar James Sharpe, saw the whites win the game and enjoy a free meal that night.
Tom Cleverley’s post-match thoughts were that not everything was perfect, but there was clear fight and desire to implement what had been worked on that week. But also, it was evident that the fighting spirit that was at the cornerstone of Argyle’s form at the backend of last season, is still strong in this squad. A good sign in my opinion.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. What was the food like out here? It’s a question that so often gets asked in general small talk. So, I will tell you.
It was obviously very clean; these people are athletes (not including myself in that statement) and there is a LOT of everything.
Grilled meat, either beef, lamb or chicken are always on the menu. Fish, sweet potato, roasted veg, salad aplenty. Rice and pasta, cheese and olives and tonnes of fruit for dessert. To be honest it was delicious. I did worry that I might get bored of the same things every day, but there was just enough variety to keep the pallet excited.
The main thing to note, is that on that final lunch, after the game in the morning and the week the players had gone through, was that the amount of food consumed was immense. You look at a footballer, well most sports people for that matter, and they are stick thin – barely an ounce of fat on them. But boy they can eat, plate after plate was demolished.
So as a final reflection there are three things that come to mind:
- The harmony of the squad looks great.
- The coaches work them hard.
- And we all need to improve our Iron Maiden knowledge.
Onto the rest of pre-season now.
