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24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer

Have you ever wondered what makes a footballer great? Do you dream of being a great footballer one day? Well, what is it that makes one a great footballer? I’m sure there are many opinions and suggestions to these questions and I sure would love to hear your thoughts by commenting below. But first, I’d like to submit to you what I believe.

The 24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer

I’ve played this game most of my life and continue to study the game as a coach and think there are a few things all great footballers have in common. First and foremost all Great Footballers understand and train their Game, Body & Mind on multiple levels. And, here is my list of those levels or what I call the “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer”:

Your Game

1. Marking – your ability to track and apply pressure on your opponent.
2. Positional Play – your ability to consistently be a step ahead of your competitor.
3. Ball Control – your technical ability to hold, secure, distribute and attack with the ball.
4. Intercepting – your ability to dispossess the opponent and transition play.
5. Tackling – your ability in taking the ball directly from your opponent.
6. Heading – defensively or offensively, your ability to play with your head.
7. Attacking – your ability to penetrate and threaten your opponents goal.
8. Shooting – your ability to hit the target and score!

Your Body

1. Food Intake – eating healthy and wisely.
2. Fluid Intake – consumption of correct type and quantities.
3. Speed – explosive and consistently outpacing your competitor.
4. Strength – the capacity to overpower your competition.
5. Stamina – capability to sustain performance.
6. Power – combination of speed & strength of movement.
7. Agility – your ability to change direction of force with minimal loss of speed.
8. Flexibility – limit risk of injury & increase range of movement.

Your Mind

1. Communication – how well you listen to, instruct, guide and help teammates verbally.
2. Confidence – your personal belief in your abilities.
3. Aggression – your attitude and competitive nature.
4. Understanding – how well you know and study the game.
5. Reading the Game – your thought process and ability to impact the game tactically.
6. Awareness – your vision and foresight to capitalize or reduce pressure in the game.
7. Preparation – your ability to concentrate and perform consistently at high levels.
8. Composure – your capability to recover mentally from performance lapses or manage high stress situations.

Now, the question is do you agree with these key elements? What else would you add, subtract or expand upon? Last week we discussed Marking, Food Intake & Confidence that you can read more about here:

Marking To Protect Your Net

Good Fuel Makes A Difference

Switch On Your Confidence

As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here.

What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share? Feel free to make a comment below.

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