How I restored, renewed and re-energised my love of the game in Fiji.

The photograph above is from one of the best holidays I've ever had. It was on a remote Fijian Island in the middle of the South Pacific and, I don't think I saw a television for the week that I was there.

Yes, there was internet access, which I had to use for work but, the fact I didn't watch one minute of TV during my time there was remarkable, for me anyway, due to the fact it was in January 2018. A time when I would normally be watching just about every minute of the crammed festive period in the English Premier League or, Scottish Premiership I could lay my eyes on.

This holiday came during the winter break which shuts down Vancouver football for almost a month from mid-December to mid-January. A trip to see family in Sydney, an incredible week in Fiji and I was a man renewed. I went back to work refreshed and energised having done something I don't think I had ever done - not watched any type of football whilst away on holiday. I would normally watch games on tv, go and see local games or even visit teams training sessions to try and learn something a bit different or new. This step away from watching any game I could was unexpectedly pleasant.

As a player, coach and analyst of the game, I usually watch matches with purpose. Looking for: trends in play, patterns in player movement, team shape in attack and defence, how do the teams press in different areas of the field, what do they do for set pieces, is the centre forward left or right footed, does the winger want the ball to feet or into space, how does the keeper react to playing the ball out under pressure...? The list could go on and on and on. I enjoy that and will still do it but, I wanted to try and renew and re-energise myself for the upcoming season - for which I have big plans!

So, this summer, I tried to turn off the analyst/coach part of my football brain. I wanted to watch matches purely as a fan of the game. Could I watch and enjoy the U20 World Cup just for the football that is being played? Apart from watching New Zealand (a friend is leading their S&C department, so I had a slight bias towards them), I have been able to watch the tournament and just enjoy it. Enjoy the goals, enjoy the skills, enjoy the fight shown from some teams to come back from going a goal or two down, feel annoyed at how long some of the VAR decisions are taking (learn from rugby, if the guys upstairs can decide, let them, no need for the ref to hold up play and go to watch 18 more angles to arrive at the same decision), get angry at the referee for all the bad decisions they make - the ref is always wrong by the way! ;-p . I can feel my way through a game, enjoy it without over analysing it and move on. It has been truly refreshing. I have started to do the same with the Women's World Cup and hope for some decent games I can enjoy there too.

The reason I wrote this particular piece will be quite obvious to those who have followed me on Twitter and Instagram over the last few years. I'm a fan of Movember and try to be an advocate for mental health. Take time to restore your energy, refresh your mind and renew your passion for the game. I've said it before and i'm saying it now, if we can respect someone for eating right, sleeping right, drinking right and going to the gym to look after their body, then we can absolutely do the same for those looking after their mind.

November is not the only time to consider your own mental health and fitness and, I have been surprised at how enjoyable this U20 WC has been, not as a coach or analyst but as a fan of football.