Chadwell Chatter

Hello everyone,

It has been a busy international break for me, as I have been away with my national team, Romania.

The most important thing for us were the results and we are in the World Cup Play-Offs. For me personally, I was suspended for our first game but I went with the squad to Andorra to be together and to support them and we won 4-0.

After that we came back to Bucharest for the game against Estonia and we were thinking all the time in our sub-conscious about the other match in our group between Turkey and Holland. A lot depended on that game because we needed Holland at least to draw. Then, if we won, we would finish second in our group.

The most important thing was for us to win against Estonia and we got a penalty kick after half-an-hour and scored. We got a second goal and secured the win.

In the middle of the first half, we heard the reaction of the public in the stand and knew that something positive for us had happened in Turkey, so that made us more comfortable on the ball and made it easier to manage the game.

Now we are waiting for the Play-Off draw on Monday, where we can face Croatia, Greece, Portugal or Ukraine.

It will be tough, but we go into it with a second chance to qualify and that's why football is beautiful because anything can happen. Even the smallest team can beat a better team, so we think we can do good things and big things in the Play-Offs.

Looking back at the game at Tottenham, first of all the result was amazing. I didn't expect my first London derby to have a very good end with a very good result.

Personally, I was playing against Andros Townsend and he's a very good player, as everyone knows as he is playing for England. I did my best to stop him and it is up to you to analyse how I did against him! I did what I try to do every time - to play the best that I can and to stop my opponent. It doesn't matter what name they have.

These days, teams play wingers on their opposite wing, with left-footers cutting inside from the right wing. This makes it more difficult for the left-back and the most difficult thing for a defender is when their opponent is two-footed. Then, you really don't know if he will go down the left side or the right side, so you have to be very careful and sometimes to feel or smell when and where he will go. You can be caught out sometimes but this is normal because you are playing against good players and big players.

On Saturday, I will face Manchester City and more than likely be directly up against James Milner or Jesus Navas.

To be ready, first of all I will prepare mentally. Physically, we are all fit, so in football to be prepared mentally is the most important thing. Also, it's very important to analyse your direct opponent because each player has skills but also some movements that they are doing all the time. I will try to stop those movements and not let him make dangerous things for his team.

Finally, I have recently bought a new car and the lads have been having some fun at my expense!

As you will know, I have been nicknamed 'Roland' because of the TV character Roland Rat, so the boys put some new number plates on the car with 'RAT 1' and 'ROLAND RAT' written on them, like the real Ratmobile!

My car is red, but the Ratmobile was pink and a bit slower, but it is nice.