Ingredients of Top Players
What drives players?
Money, power, ego, recognition & attention? Football can provide a place for players to forget lifes harsh realities, to improve their financial lives & lives of their families. Many players come from the poverty of 'potreros', tough housing estates, displaced from war torn countries, from unstable societies & family lives or remote places which offer little social recognition.
Whether you think its right or wrong or you don't want to hear it, nurturing, developing, identifying talent & culture starts as young as 2-3 yrs & in some cases with clubs & fans, before a player is even born. While the athletic gene plays a huge part in development, so does culture. If the ball & game (not just watching games on TV & wearing a replica shirt!) is a center piece of the family in society & the home (meaning parents, siblings & relatives played the game at a good level & continue to play/coach), there is a much higher likelihood that a player will become a higher level player.
Love of & relationship with the ball & physical & cognitive movement are far more important to a special player than systems, structure & fixed positional play, winning trophies or team standings. Special, talented players have the ability to self-correct, understand when to take risks. They break the mold, play with freedom, experiment in training environments & apply their skills in match play. They thrive on playing with older, better players, play longer & practice & play more than watching & when watching they are more selective, preferring to watch players rather than teams. They imitate, emulate their favorite players & aspire to become extraordinary & something greater than themselves. Artists, actors, writers, singers all have similar stories challenges in their upbringing.
Playing for their art and craft and to entertain. It’s a passion.
"It's up to the parents, teachers, clubs, federations to teach players the essence of their craft and to honor the game and pledge to becoming the best players they can be. Ordinary players make a fortune when they are very young and kids have forgotten about the hard work and the struggle. Extrinsic commercial reward and narcissistic self adoration that exists has enabled ordinary, average quality players to benefit financially without actually being good. Great players of old measured their performance by their adoring fans cheering their name when they made a nice pass, or control or dribble and by the excitement of the crowd and the pleasure they bring to their audience. We still see this in TV replays today when a player makes a special action. Every top player wanted their fans to respect them as players, for the artistry in their movement, for the drama and for their unique differentiation in how they played, regardless of how much they got paid, the match result and regardless of who they played for. Top players wanted to win in style. Wiel Coerver only ever wanted to bring the artistry, the excitement and of course, results, back to the game."
(anonymous famous player)
Good players possess these qualities
They take responsibility for their actions and have a mentality of self-responsibility and don't shift blame to coaches, teammates, family
While they appreciate and sensitive to extrinsic feedback (audience, coaches, opponents, teammates) they tend to be more intrinsic (self image, personal standards of excellence etc)
They think of how they can improve themselves instead of thinking “am I a better player than the other player?” Players who are always obsessed with how they perform compared to others have the tendency to blame bad field conditions or footwear or referee or coaching tactics when things go wrong. Players who face their own problems and strive to improve themselves are more likely to succeed to become great players
They are able to understand and accept their own weaknesses and have the initiative to improve by training independently
Players that can look at “themselves” can eventually look at the “team as well. Then, they can develop their tactical and mental personalitieS
How you can tell a player is on track to play high level select (pro & college) soccer
It's their first sport
They practice every day
They love the game and love the ball (ball mastery proficiency/juggling etc is a tell tale sign). Read interview on Juggling
They watch the game, have favorite players, fav. teams, know football history (best players of all time)
They are mobile and physically fit. They cover more ground than other players
They love to practice as much as they like to play
They self practice and have an obsession with the ball. (juggling, 'moves', kicking against the wall etc)
They are identified by player selection platforms (ODP and Id2 national or regional isn't always an indication)
They like to play at home, at school, play up, play down, stay later after practice, arrive early, do extra skill sessions
They take a ball with them wherever they go (school, vacation, around the house)
They play up age groups can easily hold their own and sometimes standout
They are standout players and dominating HS Freshman year
They spend more time practicing than playing, or watching games on tv or watching their own videos. they prefer to emulate and imitate their idols and watch clips and repays of classic games of brilliant players
They are often fans of good football, as opposed to fans of a team and they also tend to have favorite players as opposed to favorite teams.
They self practice more than they do with their team
Parents are invested in supporting their child at a young age
How you can tell if a player is NOT on track to play high level select (pro & college) soccer
They don't self practice
They aren't athletic and can’t cover ground
They aren't physically assertive, aggressive and combative
They don't have a competitive 'rage' in their make up/DNA etc.
They tend not to follow the whole game. They may be fans of the game but they don’t know their history (world’s best players, top club team and national teams, etc.)
They don’t have a favorite player/s
They tend not to spend time doing camps or extra clinics and lessons
(in the US) They only watch college soccer and not professional
They don't work on their technical game. They don't do homework and don't have a ball (even a tennis ball or size 1 etc) on the end of their foot all day long
They don’t have a juggling record or pick up tricks or enjoy doing individual ball actions/movements
If a parent or coach wants it more than the kids then there is usually not a good outcome
They spent more time practicing with their team vs self practice and they play more games than they do self practice
They are not flexible in their movement and positional play and prefer a system and fixed position
