PRE-season training has started and after 10 hard days of work in New York we have travelled to Cancun, in Mexico, to continue our preparations.
It is very hot here, the training temperatures are very testing and we have three tough games coming up. We face Atlanta and Meridia before a match against Chivas Guadliuarja.
We have been doing double sessions while here, but the second session has been focusing on strength and core work in the gym.
The facilities at the hotel have been incredible, certainly nothing like training camps I have previously been involved in.
It shows the lengths that Red Bulls are going to as the MLS continues to grow. It certainly is a fantastic organization that I am very happy to be a part of.
What a weekend in the Premiership. Firstly the saga with Fernando Torres’ move to Chelsea in a record £50 million move and all this after Liverpool gave him cult hero status and looked after him, while injured, after the World Cup.
From this came Andy Caroll’s surprise and over paid price of £35 million to replace him. Fan anger and media hatred all came out and wouldn’t you just believe it Torres’ debut came against his old club.
All eyes were on him, but sadly he failed to play a significant part as Chelsea lost at home, 1-0. Now people are saying what a waste of money, but boy how opinions change within a space of a week! It was a big loss for Chelsea and this especially after Manchester United had lost to Wolves in the shock of the weekend.
Then there was Arsenal, who sensationally went four goals up against Newcastle in the first 30 minutes, to then suddenly throw away goals at will as Newcastle came back to draw the match in the most memorable comeback in Premiership history. It was great to see Robbie Keane score on his debut for West Ham United in what could be a very shrewd move for the Hammers.
I have to say that it has been a terrible week of sport for Wales though. Firstly the rugby team loses at home to England in the Six Nations, albeit after a cracking game, then Gary Speed’s first game in charge ends in a very disappointing 3-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
A lot of Welsh people will say that it’s the same old story, but you can’t change things after one match, and lets stay positive as there is a massive match against England next month. I know after speaking to the boys that they were very impressed with the methods used by Gary Speed.
Finally the Welsh derby ended in a fantastic 1-0 victory for Cardiff City over Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. Wouldn’t you know it as Craig Bellamy scored a late winner to become an even bigger hero for the fans in a huge match. Big games need big time players, and Bellas certainly lived up to his name.