Premier League Live 2017/18, Bangalore: 1

The primary reason I went for one of the most eventful and best days of my life was that there was free entry. I'm kinda cheap that way. :P

It was the 14th of October, 2017. I had an exam that day, Research Methodology, which ended at 11:30. In the span of around two hours, I was sitting in the cab with four other good friends on my way to probably, the closest I'll get to the Premier League in the next three years, Premier League Live.

We reached in over an hour and it was really well done up. Right from the entrance to the main stage, it was clear that a lot of effort had been put into this. And you could make out that this was a really big deal due to the Z security all around the big stars who had come to provide their valuable insights of the match taking place, Liverpool vs Manchester United. The match, however, was a let down for many who came to see a free-flowing and high scoring game of football as it ended a boring nil-nil. Liverpool dominated proceedings right from the start and created a high number of chances, unfortunately, their conversion rate wasn't on the same wavelength. Coutinho didn't perform, nor did Firmino, not to their menacing best at least. Liverpool really missed the presence of their player of the season, Sadio Mane'. Jose Mourinho, on the other hand, was tactically and defensively very sound. That was the primary reason as to why they were able to hold a dangerous, attacking Liverpool side.

 Getting back to the event, I was able to spot the place where the event was being held from pretty far and that itself got me so pumped. We paid the cabbie and scooted straight for the gates where we were left stunned by the entrance. It was a beautiful eye-catching structure made of wheatish metallic poles with the Premier League symbol on top greeting every fan entering the arena.

Once our registrations were done, the five of us entered the arena brimming with excitement. Heck, I was melodiously croaking while shouting and singing the Liverpool Anthem, You'll Never Walk Alone, while my brilliant friends disowned me. 

It was mad. Insane. There were so many people, from different backgrounds, from different religions, genders and places all brought together by their love for the game. That is what football is about. It is a way of life, it brings people together. You laugh, you cry, you rejoice, you celebrate. That's football. That's why I love this sport. 

The first thing we saw was this abnormally long and weird shaped line that turned out to be for a glimpse of the Premier League Trophy! The very same trophy that Kompany or Vertonghen might be lifting this season. I had already seen a Premier League trophy a couple of years ago in Mumbai at the Crystal Palace Trials so I wasn't that hyped to see the trophy again, especially after taking a look at the line. 

Aayush and I split up from the rest because they wanted to watch the match whereas we wanted to try everything out and live the experience to the fullest. Because why not? I'll rather watch a match at Anfield and experience that atmosphere than the one set there and not enjoy everything offered. We first headed to the Everton tent where there was this wall where people could write whatever they want. Now, obviously, it was meant for all the Evertonians but then again, no harm in a little friendly banter. Following this, Aayush took a marker and started scribbling the words 'Should have retired when you had the chance' under a Wayne Rooney photo while I used the marker to scribble YNWA on the wall. 

We didn't want to wait in line for Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal or City so we scooted to Brighton and Hove Albion's tent and this decision proved to be the best of the day. One of the academy coaches of Brighton had come down and was going to conduct a small training session later in the day. Aayush and I readily signed up. We got a sick Brighton shirt for the session, which although looks like a dress on me, but it's something that I'll treasure for the rest of my life. The Brighton tent also had the jerseys of their big name players and also had a shooting game where you had 5 targets to put the ball in from a 5-yard distance. You were awarded certain goodies if you managed to score one or more. Aayush managed to put in 3 out of 5 and he was given this beautiful scarf which now decorates his room. I, on the other hand, Lil' overconfident prick, missed all five. They gave me a flag out of pity.

The Brighton Academy Coach.

After we were done with my humiliation, Aayush and I started roaming around the entire area soaking it all in when we spotted this 6'2, broad-shouldered Englishman. The one and only rock of Bengaluru FC, Jon Johnson. Although I do make it seem like we knew who he was at first glance, that was not the case. Rather, we had a rough idea that it was him, but just to make sure Aayush googled him and sure enough, it was him! We managed a photo with the former Middlesborough player and scooted straight to the Leicester tent where we played a 2v2 foot tennis match which lasted us around 3 minutes because we absolutely thrashed the opposition. 

Jon Johnson!

The event had tied up with Nike who were introducing their new line of Hypervenom studs. For this promotional activity, a small 3v3 pitch was set up and it was open to everyone. The biggest plus? You could sport the new Nike Hypervenoms while playing the 3v3. The format was very simple, whoever has more goals after 3 minutes of play gets to stay on the pitch. Aayush, Sriram and I decided to give it a shot. With Sriram and myself being really good players and Aayush a decent one, we were confident of staying on the pitch for the entire duration of the event. Sadly, we got whooped 3-0 by Magic Bus kids who played their heart out while we used the three minutes to get adjusted to the new boots. By the time we were ready to show what we can do, we were thrown out of the cage. The only highlight from that instance was that I was given the chance to test out the new Hypervenom Phantom which are studs I can't even dream of buying.  

Our next destination was the small mini pitch where our private training session was to be conducted by the Brighton academy coaches. Aayush and I were made to sign a waiver, following which the kids had a small training session. 

As you can see, the pitch was beautiful and the coaching? Even better. It was evident, the class difference between the coaches in India and the coaches from Europe. There's a different mentality between India and England, especially when it comes to football. We concentrate more on the physical side of the sport, the stamina, the strength and these are traits that we will never be able to match when compared to Britishers as it's a well-known fact that they are genetically far superior when it comes to your physique. From my observation, we cannot catch up in terms of physicality, but what we can do is work, work, work, then work again until the technical side of every Indian footballer is top notch. But that's just me and who am I right?
Anyway, the Brighton coach, let's call him Harry, was really encouraging and motivating. Harry was letting everyone express themselves with the ball, he kept telling us to show off, do some showboating, try stuff out. I think he wanted us to become freer as a player, something that is not promoted in India and I'm certain that in the 20 minutes I had with Harry, I grew as a player.

I really enjoyed my time out there on the pitch and I guess everyone else did too. Even though all of us were slipping and losing control of the ball, our love for the game made us forget the fact that we were wearing sneakers and not astroturf shoes. We all just wanted to play, in that atmosphere, under a professional coach's watchful eye, all for the love of our religion, football.

A New Chapter: Christ University, Bangalore

On June 2nd, 2016, I started a brand new chapter in my life. I had just joined the "best" university in India for a Bachelors Of Business Administration. I was pumped. I was eager to join, eager to start playing football especially because I had heard a lot about the football scene in Bangalore and that it was on par with Mumbai's football scene.

College started and I was assigned my class and it took me a while to realize that football practice had already started. A while being three weeks to be exact. But little did I know what was about to come in the next year.
Excelling at football and making my mark in Christ football was my main goal when I joined. And that's what I had drilled into my head as well.

Buzzing from a great inaugural season at the VPPL, I was ready to go!

On my first day of practice, I was kind of under-confident, to be honest. The ground was buzzing with over 100 players who looked really hungry to prove themselves. I looked around to see who the coach was and it was pretty obvious who that was. He went by the name Arun Sir, tall, dark and with a hearty, genuine smile. I took my own sweet time during kit up when a senior walked in and told us to get our asses to the pitch quickly. I got up and headed out to the pitch where the coach was talking in his weird style. I am not sure how I would describe the way Coach speaks but let me just tell you that it was as amusing as it is irritating. But then again, he was here for football, to coach a bunch of arrogant college kids. Who was I to judge?

So, in Christ, we can practice at two grounds because sometimes, the numbers are too much and it helps accommodate the different teams of the university. I was sent to the second ground where two teams of 11 were divided and set to play against each other. I was in one of these teams and I had made my stance very clear from the onset of team creation that I will only play in the centre midfield position no matter what happens. The problem was, there were three other central midfielders on my team. So two of them took a hit for the team and played in a centre back position. I did not want to take the risk of playing in any other position because I have had the sad experience of playing in an unfamiliar position during a trial and eventually not getting picked up.

 I felt bad for both of them, but one of them turned out to be an insane player with an even more insane work ethic which astounded me. His name was Karan. We instantly had this telepathic communication. I knew where he was, I knew that when I was in trouble, there'll be a solid centre back at the back to cover and he knew exactly how I liked to receive the ball. We both had a good time playing with each other. Little did I know that we would go on to play with each other a lot more, win trophies, lose some, but always put in our 110%

FOCUS

I played a few really beautiful Hollywood passes across the field which is when I caught the coach's attention. When i figured out that he was looking at my play, I stepped it up. I started running more, putting in more tackles, more effort and I eventually scored a goal.

After the game, the coach huddled us together and spoke to us with great excitement ahead of the new football season. He did single me out during his talk when he made the statement "I know a polished player when I see one" and he looked directly towards me at the far end of the huddle.

Instantly I knew he meant me and that this was just the beginning. I realized that I would have to square up for a spot on the Christ A team with people not just doing their undergrad but those doing their masters and doctorates as well, tough, strong and really good university level players. I knew that it was going to be hard but then again, I wasn't new to adversity and I'm certainly not the guy backing down from a challenge.

So that was that a new chapter in my life had started in Bangalore and my goal, was to leave a mark in Christ football history.