Do You Have This One Capability To Take Your Game To The Next Level

There is one capability you must possess if you’re looking to give yourself the best opportunity to take your game to the next level.  Without it, you’re in trouble.  This capability is difficult for most young players to accept but it is a harsh reality of the sport.  The good news is, it’s completely in your control.  It has everything to do with your mentality and effort.  A majority of younger players spend most of their time working on the technical aspect of their game, ball control, dribbling, passing and shooting.  Of course working on these technical qualities are very important but there is a foundational piece you must focus on more than you are. You need to find the time to work through every technical component to be a well rounded player.  If you’re assuming you need to focus more on tactical understanding such as positioning or decision making in certain moments of the game, I appreciate where your head is, but there is still another component that you most prioritize ahead of the tactics and technique.  This applies to you especially if you’re a midfielder.  This is a reality we must accept, because it's the truth of the sport.  We all know it, but too often we make excuses and put it off.

Let me help reframe your perspective on this component of the game.  I want you to think of this perspective every time you have to work on this.  “It’s preparation not punishment.”  More often than not, coaches use this as punishment and also need to understand the importance of it.  This statement probably leads you to what I’m about to share.  The sport of soccer requires a lot of running.  This is not only based on the objectives of the game (player responsibilities on offense and defensive, running clock, no timeouts and few stoppages, etc.) but also the size of the field.  The most essential component of your game, to take your ability to the next level both technically and tactically is your endurance.  

Your level of physical fitness, endurance is paramount to your success on the field as a soccer player.  Everything you do on the field comes down to your endurance and how much you can run.  Furthermore, what is the quality of execution after you just made a 30+ yard sprint to the ball to get in position to make a pass or shot.  Laying a strong foundation of physical fitness, constantly improving on your endurance and then maintaining it, will lead to better results when training the technical areas of your game.  You will be much sharper and more focused because you won’t feel fatigue.  Fitness is everything in soccer.

A review completed by a team of experts at ESPN ranked Soccer number 8 on their list of sport difficulty based on endurance.  Soccer was the number #1 field or court sport and only ranked behind, Distance Cycling, Distance Track and Field, Swimming, Nordic Skiing, Boxing, Rowing and Water Polo in that order.  The endurance demands of a soccer player shouldn’t come as a surprise.  The distance each player runs in a game varies with positions requiring more running than others.  Players run on average about 6 miles per game.  During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Croatian player Marcelo Brozovic (central midfielder) broke his own record of distance covered, running 10.37 miles against Japan. In the 2023/24 English Premier League season, Dejan Kulusevski (winger/ attacking midfielder) ran 8.3 miles against Everton.

Now, I know what argument comes next.  “The best players don’t even run that much.”  If that is your thought, it’s simply the wrong mentality to have in this sport.  You must be a competitor and need to participate to the best of your ability for 90 minutes or you will be left behind. To counter that argument with data, according to UEFA, in the Champions League, Mohamed Salah covers around 5.5 miles per game.  And even with an argument like that, in Lionel Messi’s case, he is arguably the best player in history. 1 player out of millions if not billions have the ability to walk and be that successful on the field.  Bottomline, don’t have that mentality. 

Another way to think about it is, how often or how much do you touch a ball throughout the game?  Let’s say you play the full 90 minutes, on average a player is in possession 40-80 touches or about 2 minutes.  Adjust your touches and time in possession based on position and time on the field.  So much more of the game is about what you do off the ball and the running involved.  I am sure you have heard that before.  

Consider this when it comes to your overall ability, I understand we live in a world of quick clips and moments but to give yourself the best chance of being seen it's about consistency.  You may be able to pull off that moment of brilliance in the opening 5 minutes of the game when you’re fresh, but can you do it in the 80th minute after you have run 5 miles when your team needs you most?  Scouts look for consistency when evaluating players.  What is likely to happen when your coach sees that you're tired?  They will take you off the field.  It's not about that one moment when you’re able to pull off a dribble or pass, or make a recovery run to make a tackle, it's about consistency and ability to do it over 90 minutes.  To be able to do that requires endurance, high levels of physical fitness.  Take care of yourself first by building a strong level of endurance so you have the ability over 90 minutes to run, dribble, pass, shoot and tackle when your team needs it most.  You will make it as far as your physical limits, endurance, agility and strength.  You could be the most technical player, but without the physical components you will be left behind.  That is how you gain recognition and take your game to the next level. 

I’ll leave you with an exercise to challenge yourself with, it’s called the engine room famously tabbed by one of my former college coaches.  Set up markers 10 yards apart (20, 30, 40, etc.) up to 50 yards.  You will then run for time, the first rep is 10 seconds.  How much distance can you cover in 10 seconds, running to the 10 yard marker and back then to the 20 yard marker, so on and so on until time is up.  You will then actively rest for 50 seconds and make your way back to the starting line.  Next rep will be 20 seconds of running, same concept how much distance can you cover, you will then have a 40 second rest.  You will repeat this in 10 second increments until you reach 50 second sprint, and a 10 second active recovery.  (If you really want to challenge yourself you will then work your way back down in time)  It’s an all out sprint!  This activity is about covering the most distance possible in the allotted time.  Track each time you run the engine room with a GPS monitor to challenge yourself and to see how your distance increases each run.  A simpler version of this is to go out on a run and set time and distance goals.  Example, 3-mile run with the same run/ rest intervals as the engine room, how long (overall time) does it take you to complete the 3 miles?