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How To Find Your BEST Position in Football — Transcript

by Efford Elite · 3,471 words · 494 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00You might be playing in the wrong
0:01position in the game of football and
0:02have no idea. You see, a lot of players
0:04have always played there and so they
0:05think that's the right place. Or their
0:06coach put them there when they were
0:07younger and they never changed. Or it
0:09might just be that your favorite player
0:10plays that position and so that's where
0:12you think you should play. But the
0:13position that you choose should actually
0:15bring out the best qualities in you as a
0:16footballer. So in this video, I'm going
0:18to show you seven of the things that I
0:19would look at to help you find your best
0:21position. And the ones at the beginning
0:22of the video are going to be quite
0:24obvious, but as we progress through the
0:26video, they're going to get a lot more
0:27harder to notice. and it may be that
0:28thing that reveals your best position.
0:30The simple goal here is to help you find
0:32your best position so that you have the
0:33best chance of signing for a
0:34professional club. Let's jump straight
0:36into it, which leads us to the first
0:37thing we need to look at, and it's you
0:39need to stop trying to play based off
0:40who you like. And you need to look at
0:42the qualities that you have as a player.
0:43You see, this may sound like an obvious
0:45one, but it's an important one. You see,
0:46you don't want to just play like the
0:47player that you like. Let's say I like
0:49Cristiano Ronaldo, and I'm all the time
0:51I'm driving at defenders, and I I want
0:53to play like that, but I don't have the
0:54skills and ability to do that. And so in
0:56training, I practice those things all
0:58the time, but it's not necessarily
0:59showing up in my game because I don't
1:01have the same qualities as Ronaldo, even
1:02though he's my favorite player. And so,
1:04yes, this is a mental thing, but we need
1:05to adjust this because this shapes the
1:07way that we approach our position. You
1:08see your favorite player, Ronaldo, he
1:10does Ronaldo chops and stuff like this,
1:12and he's highly recognizable and it's
1:14really exciting to watch, but that
1:15doesn't necessarily mean that that's the
1:16best position for you, winger or
1:18striker, whatever it may be. So, the
1:19first rule is don't just choose a
1:21position that's the most exciting or
1:22gets the most recognition. You always
1:24have to ask yourself the question, what
1:26are my best qualities and what can I
1:27bring to the game and go is one of the
1:29best example of this. You see, he became
1:31one of the best midfielders in the world
1:33simply because he understood his role in
1:34his team and the qualities that he
1:36brought. You see, he wasn't a goal
1:37scorer or anything like this, but he
1:38found his role in his team by being the
1:40best at winning possession, covering
1:41space, and by protecting his defense. He
1:44wasn't trying to be like Cristiano
1:45Ronaldo or a player that he looked at on
1:47TV that was the most exciting or
1:48recognizable and trying to score goals.
1:50He found his role in his team by those
1:52three things. You see, his work rate and
1:53his ability to protect his defense made
1:55him exceptionally well at being a center
1:57midfielder. So, I want you to forget
1:58about your favorite footballer for just
1:59a second, and I want you to focus on
2:01what you're genuinely good at. Which
2:02leads us to the second thing, and is we
2:04need to identify our best technical
2:05abilities. Three of them. Think
2:07dribbling, receiving the ball in a tight
2:08space, and then be able to get out of it
2:10with ease. Think passing, receiving the
2:12ball on your feet, and switching the
2:13point of attack to your teammate. Or
2:15even think about tackling, being able to
2:17read the attacker's intentions and
2:19stealing the ball for your team. And
2:20what's really important here is that
2:21you're judging these qualities in
2:22matches and not just in training alone.
2:24You see, what you have to remember is
2:25that different positions require
2:26different technical abilities. And what
2:28you're really good at can already start
2:30to point you closer to where you're a
2:31good fit. And a great example of this is
2:32Kevin De Bruyne. Like I just showed you
2:34before, you might have that role where
2:36you receive the ball on your feet and
2:37you're able to effortly put the ball to
2:39where you want it, switching the point
2:40of attack. And this is exactly what
2:41Kevin De Bruyne had. You see, he's
2:43exceptional at the ability to pass the
2:45ball, weigh the pass, and stuff like
2:47this, setting up his teammates for
2:49goals. And so because he has this great
2:50technical ability, he fits right into a
2:52creative midfielder role. Your best
2:54position should give you ample
2:56opportunity to use your best technical
2:58abilities in game. And this was only two
3:00out of the seven ways I'm going to help
3:01you find your best position. And as we
3:03go on from here, they're going to get
3:04less obvious. So now that we have your
3:05technical strengths down pat, and we
3:07understand how that helps you find your
3:08best position, what we have to
3:09understand is that football isn't just
3:11technical and there's also a physical
3:12aspect to the game of football. And so
3:14your physical abilities do influence the
3:16player that you are. Which leads us to
3:18the third thing that I would use to help
3:19you find your position. And it's all
3:21about identifying your physical profile.
3:22You see, there are certain positions in
3:24the game of football that are more adapt
3:25for certain physical traits. Like I'm
3:27extremely fast with the ball and so
3:29that's why I became a winger because for
3:30the winger position, you're going to be
3:32having lots of space down the wing to
3:33run into. And so I'm going to be able to
3:35use my physical trait, which is speed,
3:37acceleration, explosiveness to beat
3:39defenders and to help my team. Like
3:40she's 5'3 and would never be a great
3:43goalkeeper. and her favorite player may
3:45be Joe Hart or something like this, but
3:47it doesn't necessarily mean that she
3:48should be a goalkeeper because we're
3:49looking at her physical traits and she's
3:51not as tall as she should be to be a
3:52professional goalkeeper. So, we're going
3:53to pay attention to her physical traits
3:55that she has right now so that we can
3:56kind of gauge where she can be in the
3:57future. And what's really important
3:58about this part is that we understand
4:00that different positions have different
4:01demands on the body, physical demands.
4:04Like for example,
4:06a center back is going to have different
4:07demands than a striker or winger.
4:09They're not going to have to run and
4:10sprint as much as a winger would. I
4:13mean, for example, when I was playing
4:14professionally, I was hitting 30 to 35
4:17higheffort sprints basically per game.
4:20But a center back who's a little bit
4:21more thick, heavier, taller, and bigger,
4:24they're going to be really good at the
4:25center back position, but they're not
4:26going to be able to do what I do as a
4:27winger. But I want to make sure that you
4:29understand this. Don't let your physical
4:30attributes right now dictate, [music]
4:32you know, the player that you're
4:34supposed to be. You might be a young
4:35player and growing. You might get
4:36bigger, taller, or you may gain some
4:38weight, something like this. And that's
4:39necessarily a bad thing. So I don't want
4:41this to completely define your position
4:42and your role as a footballer. And a
4:44great example of this is Alfonso Davies
4:46at Vancouver White Caps. He was playing
4:48as a wide attacker, so as a winger, but
4:50when he moved to Bayern Munich, they put
4:51him more as a left back because he was
4:53really great at accelerating his
4:55abilities to recover after a run. And
4:57they use those things to benefit the
4:59team. And so yes, there are a few
5:00positions that your physical traits can
5:02match. For example, a winger could
5:03probably play a fullback as well because
5:05there's a lot of running speed and
5:06acceleration involved. But that's why we
5:08have the other things that are coming up
5:09that are less obvious that are going to
5:10help you really define what your
5:11position is. And that being said, your
5:13physical attributes and your traits
5:14don't necessarily tell you that you need
5:16to play exactly that position, [music]
5:17but they do help you explain how you're
5:19going to be actually effective in that
5:20position. And that's why it's so
5:22important that we talk about it. But at
5:23this point in the video, here's where
5:24things are going to start getting
5:25interesting. You see, two players can
5:26have similar technical traits and
5:28physical traits and still be suited
5:30completely for different positions.
5:31Which leads us straight into the fourth
5:32point, and is that you need to
5:33understand your natural tendencies as a
5:35player. You see, let's say we have this
5:36situation right here. One player would
5:39dribble at the defender, look up, and
5:40find an accurate pass to a player in
5:42order to beat that player. Another
5:44player will look for tight combinations,
5:47beating that player with a teammate
5:49nearby. And then you have a third player
5:51who would lead closer to maybe a winger
5:53or an attacker or even an attacking
5:55midfielder who would dribble that player
5:58and beat him with tight ball control.
6:00This is how you're going to look at your
6:01game and pay attention to your natural
6:02tendencies as a player. Like, are you a
6:04player who naturally feels calm and
6:06composed under pressure and even demands
6:08the ball on your feet, likes to hold the
6:10ball up combined with teammates nearby
6:12and just feel the pressure of a defender
6:14and still feel composed? Or are you more
6:16of a player who tends to notice [music]
6:17the space in behind and then you're
6:19spinning in behind to receive the ball
6:20in the space? Or are you a player who
6:22likes to close down space and then
6:24tackle the ball, winning the ball back
6:25for your team? Well, it's important that
6:27you're noticing your natural tendencies
6:29cuz this is going to give us a sneak
6:30peek into what position we might favor.
6:32So, what I want you to be doing is
6:34looking for patterns in your match, not
6:36necessarily in training or something
6:37like this, but when the pressure is on,
6:38the coaches are there, your fans are
6:40there, your parents, whatever it may be,
6:41that you're noticing what you do and
6:43what you like to do in the game. This is
6:45what we call your natural [music]
6:46tendencies. And a really great example
6:47of this is Rodri. Rodri is not a player
6:49who likes to sprint down the field, you
6:51know, do stepovers and and attack the
6:53the goal. [music] He's a player who uses
6:55his time, his, you know, his ability to
6:57control the tempo of the game, to keep
6:59possession of the ball, to control space
7:01in front of his defense in order to make
7:02an impact in the game. You see, his
7:04ability to be [music] patient and to
7:06anticipate using the power of
7:07anticipation is what controls a game
7:09[music] and allows him to be such a, you
7:11know, huge differencemaker for his team.
7:12And so, sometimes your natural
7:14tendencies [music] as a footballer are
7:15the best way to find your position
7:17because that's going to link to what you
7:18like to do and the way that you tend to
7:20do things in the game. But knowing your
7:22strengths and tendencies is not always
7:23enough because there's another thing
7:24that happens when [music] two players
7:26play exactly the same position but they
7:28have two different jobs. Which brings us
7:29to the fifth thing and it's the
7:30understanding of there's a difference
7:32between position and role. You see two
7:35players can play striker for example and
7:36I'll give you Lukaku. Lukaku is a big
7:39strong attacker [music] and he uses his
7:40size and strength in order to bully the
7:42defenders and hold the ball up for his
7:44team. So as the ball comes in his role
7:46in the team is to hold the ball and
7:48allow the wingers to come up and support
7:50him. But Killian Mbappé plays the same
7:52exact position. He's a striker, but
7:54instead of holding up the ball, he's
7:56always anticipating in the space and
7:58trying to receive the ball in behind
8:00because he's using his strength, which
8:02is his speed. But so we need to
8:04understand the difference between
8:04position and role because two players
8:06can play the same exact position, but
8:08have [music] two different jobs. Lo
8:09Messi under Pep Guardiola when he's at
8:11Barcelona would actually move from like
8:13a winger into a false line position.
8:15because of the way that Messi played the
8:17game that allowed Barcelona used the
8:18striker position differently than for
8:20example Real Madrid today how they're
8:22using Killian Mbappe. You see Messi in a
8:23false line position and Mbappé as a
8:25striker who's running in behind are two
8:27different roles inside of the [music]
8:28same exact position. And so the whole
8:29point of this is that finding your
8:31position is only half the answer. You
8:32see, you have to understand also your
8:34role and your job in that position once
8:35you find it. And now at this point that
8:37we understand different roles in jobs
8:39and what that even means, we need to
8:41answer the question that you're already
8:42having. How do I know whether a role
8:44actually fits me? And this next one is
8:45probably one of the most important
8:46tests, which leads us to the sixth
8:48thing, and it's finding out where you
8:49impact the game most. Let's say you're a
8:51really fast winger and all the time
8:53you're beating players down the line and
8:55firing in crosses, which will results in
8:58really dangerous threats for the other
8:59team. Or let's say you're one of those
9:00players who wins all the headers off of
9:02a goal kick or all the balls that come
9:04into the striker. You're very physical
9:06and every single ball's coming out of
9:08the air, your teammates know that that
9:09ball is yours. This would be the way
9:10that you impact the game most. Think Van
9:13Dijk versus a player like Neymar because
9:14we all know those players who are
9:16extremely physical. They like to use
9:17their body. They're not scared to use
9:19their head. But there's also players on
9:21the other side who are really flashy.
9:23They actually back up or they'll let the
9:24center back take the ball. And so
9:26there's a difference. We need to
9:27understand where you're impacting. And
9:29we don't judge our impact on our ability
9:31to score goals, make assists, or numbers
9:33like that. We like to look at things
9:35like defensive contributions, your
9:36ability to win a header, how many times
9:38you're making runs into the space.
9:40Because when you're making a run to the
9:41space, you're pulling the team and
9:42making it wide. Your defensive work
9:44rate, how many tackles are you making,
9:45stuff like this, because things like
9:47goals and assists aren't the most
9:48accurate way to, you know, weigh your
9:50impact. We like to take into account
9:52things that you're in control of. And a
9:53really great example of this would be a
9:54player like Thomas Mueller, who famously
9:57he always described himself as an
9:58interpreter of space. You see, he
10:00understood that his strength was not
10:02necessarily speed or dribbling or
10:03something like this, but his ability to
10:05position himself in space, have great
10:07movement, and great combination play.
10:09You see those three things right there
10:10are his way of impacting the game and
10:12it's not necessarily thing like speed,
10:14dribbling, goals, assists, something
10:15like this. So now at this point we've
10:17identified your strengths, your physical
10:18profile, your tendencies, your position/
10:21role, stuff like this. But there is one
10:24more thing that we need to discuss and
10:25it's something that happened to one of
10:26the greatest strikers that we've ever
10:28seen. Which leads us to the seventh and
10:29final thing is that your position today
10:31is not necessarily going to be your
10:33position that you choose tomorrow. You
10:35see, through training, your technical
10:37ability, your physical ability, all
10:39those different things, your game is
10:41going to change and mold as you get
10:42older and older. When you move from one
10:44coach to another coach, different
10:45tactics, different understandings of the
10:47game, your favorite position in the
10:49position that's right for you is going
10:51to change. And you need to be okay with
10:52that and you [music] need to be ready to
10:54move and mold and shift with that
10:57change. And so my biggest advice that I
10:59could give a young player after all of
11:01my professional experience, 10 plus
11:03years, 200 professional matches, is that
11:05you need to be okay with finding another
11:07position in a neighboring role. And when
11:09I say neighboring role, I mean maybe a
11:11fullback into a winger or a winger into
11:13a striker because you have those traits
11:15already. Speed, [music] you know, maybe
11:17your ability to finish on goal, maybe
11:19your ability to remain calm and composed
11:21under pressure. And so you can actually
11:23take those traits that you have and move
11:24them to a neighboring role. And so I
11:26don't want you to label yourself as a
11:28winger too early or a fullback too early
11:30or I'm stuck as a center midfielder too
11:32early. You need to be okay with shifting
11:35a little bit [music] until you find the
11:36right position for you. And earlier I
11:38mentioned that we could learn this from
11:39one of the best strikers we've ever seen
11:40and that's Tyrion. You see before Tyrion
11:43was at Arsenal he was playing as a
11:44winger [music] and he felt extremely
11:46comfortable there. This was when he was
11:47playing for Monaco and at Juventus. But
11:49when he got to Arsenal under Arsa
11:51Winger, Arsa Winger moved him to a
11:53[music] striker where he became one of
11:54the deadliest and most proficient
11:56finishers and strikers [music] in the
11:58world. And yes, Tyion Ree, he had
12:00initial doubts. He didn't think that he
12:02could play that position at first that,
12:04you know, his ability to hold the ball
12:05that he was in England and that the
12:06center backs were really strong and that
12:08he wasn't going to find a place in that
12:09position. You see, for Tyrion Reed to
12:11play as a winger, he understood that he
12:12had to be really fast, [music]
12:13explosive, and he had those things. But
12:16for a striker, traditionally, you need
12:18to be bigger, stronger, and the ability
12:19to still hold the ball up for from all
12:21those big center backs. And Tyrion Reed
12:23didn't feel like he could do that. But
12:24like I mentioned before, once you find a
12:26coach and as you get older, they will
12:27shift the way that you're thinking.
12:29Tactics may shift and they're going to
12:30give you a different understanding of
12:32the position and role. And so Tyrion
12:34Enri fit right into the striker position
12:36after a little bit of work. And this
12:37change allowed him to truly use his pace
12:40and his momentum and his strengths for
12:42the game. And so before we end this
12:44video, I want to give you guys an
12:45actionable way to actually test and find
12:47your favorite position. So preferably, I
12:49would like you to sit down with your
12:50coach or someone that you trust and I
12:51want you to map out two or three
12:53positions that you feel comfortable in.
12:54For each position, I want you to ask
12:56these specific questions. First, am I
12:58consistently able to use my strongest
13:00qualities? Second, am I making a
13:02positive impact on my matches? Third, do
13:05I understand the tactical
13:06responsibilities? And fourth and final,
13:08what weaknesses would I need to develop
13:10to succeed here? And I want you to look
13:12at these questions and ask these
13:13questions over multiple matches, not
13:15necessarily over one good performance or
13:17one bad performance or one good action
13:19[music] or something like this. And so
13:20at the beginning of this video, you were
13:21just trying to find your best position.
13:23But now you understand everything that
13:24goes into it. And so if you enjoyed this
13:26video, go watch my video on the seven
13:28reasons that good players [music]
13:29disappear. Cuz you might find your right
13:30position, but you might not understand
13:32why you're not showing up in games. So,
13:33go watch that one right there, and I'll
13:35see you over

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