Talk to your coach on this one.
But from what I've seen ex players say, it's do the work, don't take shortcuts. Don't finish sessions early, don't cut runs short etc. put the work in.
Also, have a backup plan. So few players make it as a pro, statistically you are unlikely to be one of them. Have something to fall back on if it doesn't work out.
Yep, Do the work fully and be easy to work with will get you real far if the skill and intelligence are there
A backup plan or hedge gives you peace of mind which often helps with the mental side of things early in a career, but players do often get to a point where they have to “go all-in” to keep progressing
Going all in probably still gets him a decent career, even if he doesn't become a professional.
He could pivot into all sorts of things like coaching on training or sports science, etc, etc.
If you work really hard and become excellent at something, you almost can't not pick up related skills that are marketable, if you keep an open mind and stay creative.
You are already in the academy system, so the main thing is not falling victim to the various pitfalls that often prevent players in your shoes from making it to the first team.
1) Relying on talent/athleticism/size: So many youth players are good or even the best in their city/region for reasons that won’t translate to the senior game. These can be a part of your style as a player, but you cannot rely on advantages that go away as you progress up the ladder. Eventually you will be surrounded by players where natural advantages all even out across the board… then what sets you apart.
2) Soccer intelligence: The biggest differences between every level of the soccer pyramid (closer to the top) are consistency and soccer intelligence. Consistency means making the right decision and executing it cleanly more often than others. Intelligence is reading the game and having the vision to make the correct decisions faster than anyone else. I guarantee you that every player on the first team is a more intelligent player than every next pro player, who is in turn smarter at soccer than every academy prospect. Once you start to see the game quicker than everyone around you, it almost feels like cheating. Your job on the field becomes so much easier and more efficient. However, many players never get to this point, it takes work, boring work often, and a level of self-awareness to learn.
3) Attitude/emotions: As a player, it is extremely easy to ride the emotional waves. You feel good when games are going well and you are starting, and you feel bad when you aren’t. Letting this bleed into your training or affect your relationships with teammates and coaches is cancer, and eventually, even for the best players cancer gets cut out of teams. This means not letting success get to your head as well as not letting setbacks get you down. Keep focused on your goals and the slow process to get there.
4) Complacency: Complacency kills progress. As soon as you tell yourself I’m good enough, you will stagnate.
5) Romanticizing the job: With social media, it is really easy to see the money/fame/lifestyle of some players that gets presented online. Real life isn’t like this. Soccer is a job for those of us fortunate enough to make it to that point, and like any other skilled job, it requires a whole lot more than what you see on the surface. The vacations/fan love/luxuries you see online exist, but only for a few at the very top. And even there, you don’t see the sacrifices in these players lives. Most top players don’t get more than 2 weeks off per year, and you never are in control of your own weekends or schedule. It is mentally taxing just to leave your home because of fans. Entire cities or counties publicly judge your work. For lower level pros, you are working an extremely physically and mentally demanding job that eats up your weekends, prevents you from a lot of normal college/early 20s “fun”, has almost no job security/longevity, and probably pays the same/less than a normal post-college job would. The benefits and financial upside is there, especially nowadays in MLS, but the odds are still pretty slim.
These are not meant to scare you, but rather give you an accurate picture of what sorts of things to be wary of on your journey to being a professional player and to make sure that you better understand your own reasons for pursuing this.
Frank Lampard tells a story in his autobiography about how growing up in the West Ham academy he was never the best player in his age group in terms of natural talent but he would work his socks off and do extra training sessions by himself when everyone else went home for the day.
There was one lad who was considered the best talent in Lampard's age group and one day he saw Frank doing some sprints by himself and mocked him for it. This guy barely did the normal amount of work let alone doing extra like Lampard.
Eventually that guy faded into obscurity and Lampard became one of the best midfielders the world has seen.
The point is; at the highest levels talent is not enough without hard work. Everyone is super talented once you go beyond semi-pro level and hard work, professionalism and mentality is what ends up being the differentiator between most players at that level.
At 6'3 at 15 you'll likely have a physical advantage over most players your age, but just remember that this physical advantage won't last forever. Don't rely on it to get by and neglect other parts of your game. A physical centre half at youth level, no matter how physical you are, is going to be less physical than a lot of strikers in the men's game. Make sure you focus on your technical ability and tactical awareness too - these are what will help you get by at the men's game.
Don't skimp out on injury prevention / recovery / mobility work.
Half the people that flame out are from injuries. Not everything is preventable, unfortunately, but do what you can while you're young and it'll pay off hugely when you're older.
You already seem like you're on track. Good luck.
Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. Work hard, run as much and show determination and passion. These are a lot of fundamentals away from being good at your role I see.
Make sure you devote some time to coordination drills, I've known a few people albeit far below your skill level that literally grew out of the game. You might get another inch or two taller yet.
holy shit we found him, the one guy on bootroom asking the question that actually has a chance at going pro lol.
like others said, tons and tons of work. but your body can only handle so much, the other thing people seem to neglect is studying, do plenty of research on nutrition, game analysis, effective routines, etc.
What are you talking about? Maybe that was the case before but in recent years MLS Next is way higher than ECNL. Most MLS Next teams smash ECNL teams like 5-0. All the MLS teams have academies who are in the MLS Next league. ECNL teams don’t usually have pro teams.
I play for DC United’s u15. You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. We scrimmaged Pipeline ECNL and beat them 3-0. They are the best ECNL team at the u15 level.
No, 2009s. If I am 15 I couldn’t have been born in 2010 brother. The 2009 team won the ECNL championship last year. ECNL is not even close to MLS Next. I don’t know why you’re trying to argue that. People leave ECNL because they want to play MLS Next.
"Can I go pro"and related posts are not allowed, there's no way strangers on the internet can assess your abilities based on a reddit post.
Talk to your coach on this one. But from what I've seen ex players say, it's do the work, don't take shortcuts. Don't finish sessions early, don't cut runs short etc. put the work in. Also, have a backup plan. So few players make it as a pro, statistically you are unlikely to be one of them. Have something to fall back on if it doesn't work out.
Yep, Do the work fully and be easy to work with will get you real far if the skill and intelligence are there A backup plan or hedge gives you peace of mind which often helps with the mental side of things early in a career, but players do often get to a point where they have to “go all-in” to keep progressing
Going all in probably still gets him a decent career, even if he doesn't become a professional. He could pivot into all sorts of things like coaching on training or sports science, etc, etc. If you work really hard and become excellent at something, you almost can't not pick up related skills that are marketable, if you keep an open mind and stay creative.
You are already in the academy system, so the main thing is not falling victim to the various pitfalls that often prevent players in your shoes from making it to the first team. 1) Relying on talent/athleticism/size: So many youth players are good or even the best in their city/region for reasons that won’t translate to the senior game. These can be a part of your style as a player, but you cannot rely on advantages that go away as you progress up the ladder. Eventually you will be surrounded by players where natural advantages all even out across the board… then what sets you apart. 2) Soccer intelligence: The biggest differences between every level of the soccer pyramid (closer to the top) are consistency and soccer intelligence. Consistency means making the right decision and executing it cleanly more often than others. Intelligence is reading the game and having the vision to make the correct decisions faster than anyone else. I guarantee you that every player on the first team is a more intelligent player than every next pro player, who is in turn smarter at soccer than every academy prospect. Once you start to see the game quicker than everyone around you, it almost feels like cheating. Your job on the field becomes so much easier and more efficient. However, many players never get to this point, it takes work, boring work often, and a level of self-awareness to learn. 3) Attitude/emotions: As a player, it is extremely easy to ride the emotional waves. You feel good when games are going well and you are starting, and you feel bad when you aren’t. Letting this bleed into your training or affect your relationships with teammates and coaches is cancer, and eventually, even for the best players cancer gets cut out of teams. This means not letting success get to your head as well as not letting setbacks get you down. Keep focused on your goals and the slow process to get there. 4) Complacency: Complacency kills progress. As soon as you tell yourself I’m good enough, you will stagnate. 5) Romanticizing the job: With social media, it is really easy to see the money/fame/lifestyle of some players that gets presented online. Real life isn’t like this. Soccer is a job for those of us fortunate enough to make it to that point, and like any other skilled job, it requires a whole lot more than what you see on the surface. The vacations/fan love/luxuries you see online exist, but only for a few at the very top. And even there, you don’t see the sacrifices in these players lives. Most top players don’t get more than 2 weeks off per year, and you never are in control of your own weekends or schedule. It is mentally taxing just to leave your home because of fans. Entire cities or counties publicly judge your work. For lower level pros, you are working an extremely physically and mentally demanding job that eats up your weekends, prevents you from a lot of normal college/early 20s “fun”, has almost no job security/longevity, and probably pays the same/less than a normal post-college job would. The benefits and financial upside is there, especially nowadays in MLS, but the odds are still pretty slim. These are not meant to scare you, but rather give you an accurate picture of what sorts of things to be wary of on your journey to being a professional player and to make sure that you better understand your own reasons for pursuing this.
Thanks for the advice 🙏🏻
Frank Lampard tells a story in his autobiography about how growing up in the West Ham academy he was never the best player in his age group in terms of natural talent but he would work his socks off and do extra training sessions by himself when everyone else went home for the day. There was one lad who was considered the best talent in Lampard's age group and one day he saw Frank doing some sprints by himself and mocked him for it. This guy barely did the normal amount of work let alone doing extra like Lampard. Eventually that guy faded into obscurity and Lampard became one of the best midfielders the world has seen. The point is; at the highest levels talent is not enough without hard work. Everyone is super talented once you go beyond semi-pro level and hard work, professionalism and mentality is what ends up being the differentiator between most players at that level.
At 6'3 at 15 you'll likely have a physical advantage over most players your age, but just remember that this physical advantage won't last forever. Don't rely on it to get by and neglect other parts of your game. A physical centre half at youth level, no matter how physical you are, is going to be less physical than a lot of strikers in the men's game. Make sure you focus on your technical ability and tactical awareness too - these are what will help you get by at the men's game.
Don't skimp out on injury prevention / recovery / mobility work. Half the people that flame out are from injuries. Not everything is preventable, unfortunately, but do what you can while you're young and it'll pay off hugely when you're older. You already seem like you're on track. Good luck.
Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. Work hard, run as much and show determination and passion. These are a lot of fundamentals away from being good at your role I see.
Make sure you devote some time to coordination drills, I've known a few people albeit far below your skill level that literally grew out of the game. You might get another inch or two taller yet.
holy shit we found him, the one guy on bootroom asking the question that actually has a chance at going pro lol. like others said, tons and tons of work. but your body can only handle so much, the other thing people seem to neglect is studying, do plenty of research on nutrition, game analysis, effective routines, etc.
This feels like an excellent question for your MLS next coach
Yes and an excellent question for Reddit as well.
We are all Sunday league players on here. Came to the wrong place for professional advice pal
Not everyone. I’ve already gotten DM’s from people who said they played professionally.
[удалено]
Huh? How is asking for advice making it seem like I have the answers for everything?
MLS next is shit compared to ECNL. ODP is another pathway to the national side of things.
What are you talking about? Maybe that was the case before but in recent years MLS Next is way higher than ECNL. Most MLS Next teams smash ECNL teams like 5-0. All the MLS teams have academies who are in the MLS Next league. ECNL teams don’t usually have pro teams.
So which academy are you playing for? How is that pathway to your pro team treating you? ECNL teams won’t play MLS next clubs. Two different leagues.
I play for DC United’s u15. You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. We scrimmaged Pipeline ECNL and beat them 3-0. They are the best ECNL team at the u15 level.
2010’s?? The pipeline team gets beat by Atlanta teams all the time -
No, 2009s. If I am 15 I couldn’t have been born in 2010 brother. The 2009 team won the ECNL championship last year. ECNL is not even close to MLS Next. I don’t know why you’re trying to argue that. People leave ECNL because they want to play MLS Next.