One thing Budapest does very well is to open up the inner workings of its architecture from time to time. There’s been all manner of architectural events during my fairly short time here: from socialist-era power stations to ruined apartment blocks, but the Kőbánya reservior provided something spectacular.
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Due to my recent wedding, honeymoon and work schedule (Wednesday night games are always a bugger for an English teacher), it’s been a while since I’ve been to see the boys in piros-kék (that’s red and blue to all you non-Magyars).
Continue readingSome of you may know that I also run @statuesofbudapest over on Instagram. It’s been a richly rewarding project for me, and occasionally I’d like to share a post or two with you all. Here’s the first.
Since I’ve been watching Vasas I’ve been astonished by the club’s openness and support. I got to go on a stadium tour, have been welcomed by the supporters clubs and last week I was able to interview Vasas’s free-scoring attacking midfielder Botond Birtalan at the club’s home in District XIII.
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It’s a beautiful day in Ujpest for the final game of the 2018/19 campaign, and it’s also time to say a not-so-fond farewell to the Szusza Ferenc – the ground that Vasas have been borrowing this year – as the team prepares to move back to Angyalföld and the newly-rebuilt Illovszky Rudolf Stadium.
Continue readingWe’re a day removed from the promotion chances of the both my home and adopted teams going up in smoke. Middlesbrough seemed to be heading for the playoffs before a late Derby charge put paid to their hopes, while Vasas didn’t do themselves any favours by dropping 5 vital points this week. Although Vasas still have two games remaining, a 6 point deficit means there’s next to no way they’re getting out of NBii this year.
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Last year I found myself holding two human skulls. The people they were formerly attached to had died from the plague, and I had to identify who was who in order to save another life. I worked quickly; measuring jawbones, assessing facial features and trying not to think about the incessant tick of the clock. I was running out of time…
I got to see the inside of a Hungarian public hospital last week; a hernia surgery meaning I missed the last few Vasas matches. Whilst the aesthetic was a wee bit Cold War and the welcome not as warm as the dear old NHS, I am now the proud owner of three small scars and a fixed stomach – thanks to the staff at Péterfy Kórház for that. And so I managed to get myself up and about in time to see Vasas play Balmazujvaras, a team determined to take top spot from Nyiregyhaza in the “teams whose names I can’t pronounce” stakes.
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It’s hard to motivate yourself to write after watching such a complete capitulation. Let’s get the score out of the way early. Vasas lost 4-0 today and – without exaggeration – it should have been at least seven. Győr were incisive, playing dangerous balls through the Vasas backline with alarming and repeated ease. I was surprised by how well the away team played given their league position; their direct, first-touch, purposeful work too much for a Vasas team that seem to have frittered away their pre-Christmas confidence. Tóth and Kelemen in the Vasas defence were bypassed by slide-rule passes to Győri strikers at will, and the pacy forwards gave them a torrid time all game.
Continue readingWorkrate can be deceiving in football. A player can bustle around for 90 minutes with plenty of the ball and yet hold back his team through lack of intent. When players start to think that running around, making sideways passes and looking busy are the same as having purpose, teams get into trouble. Yes, the manager can’t fault the workrate, but matches aren’t won with directionless effort.
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