My Messy Football Note-Taking Adventure
Alright so yesterday I sat down to watch that Real Madrid vs Leganes replay – yeah, I recorded it, sue me – with my notebook ready. Goal was simple: actually figure out how they set up, not just mindlessly scream at the screen like usual. First step was just watching like a hawk. Seriously, ignored the commentators completely, focused ONLY on where players stood when we didn’t have the ball. Like, Modric wasn’t just “in midfield,” I saw he kept shuffling closer to the right side whenever Leganes tried to build from the back. And Casemiro? Planted himself right between our center-backs half the time. Didn’t write anything fancy yet, just scribbled “Modric drifts right,” “Casemiro drops deep” in my notepad with a ton of question marks. Messy? Oh yeah. Felt weird ignoring the actual ball at first!
Second step kicked in when the game paused (bless replays!). Made myself freeze it roughly every 5 minutes. Pulled out this kinda dumb, simple diagram I drew earlier – basically just a blank pitch split into zones like left wing, center circle, our penalty box. Then, forced myself to map out where EVERY single white shirt was at that exact frozen moment. Like playing connect-the-dots with footballers. Benzema hovering near their left-back? Dot in the “high left” zone. Carvajal practically on the touchline? Dot way up the “right flank”. My notes looked like a toddler attacked the page with markers. Sticky notes everywhere saying “Leganes counter? Our left side empty!!” Coffee stain on the corner? Classic.
Third step was the “putting the puzzle together” phase. Finished the whole replay feeling exhausted. Then, stared hard at my disaster of scribbles and stickies.
- First thing jumped out? Every time we lost the dang ball, Modric and Kroos didn’t just chase – they instantly shuffled sideways to block off the center lanes. Made Leganes go wide every single time. Clever, sneaky.
- Second huge “aha!” moment was Vinicius Jr. My notes from the first half showed dots mostly stuck near the touchline. Later freeze-frames? He kept popping up WAY more central, almost next to Benzema sometimes! Explains why he suddenly looked more dangerous.
- Finally, noticed those Casemiro scribbles. Guy basically lived in front of our center-backs whenever Leganes had the ball deep. Solid brick wall. But when Leganes pushed up? He didn’t charge up much. Just stayed put, plugged holes.
So yeah, my “analysis” wasn’t some fancy computer graphic. Took maybe three hours total? Coffee cooled, pen leaked, notes look like a warzone. But honestly? Felt way more satisfying than just reading some expert tweet. Like I actually saw how they lined up, how they moved together. Next step? Try this for our next game… maybe with less coffee near the notebook. Dropped dead on bed after.