Soccer Interview

Soccer Interview
Sharing Experiences
To get started:
- What are your needs?
- How do you plan to get ready for it?
- How will you organize your time to achieve a
better performance?
Free talk about your ﬁeld
What makes a good soccer player?
A commonly asked question amongst the football
community is what makes a great soccer player?
What did Pele have? What did Maradona have?
How can I become like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel
Messi? There is no magic formula but there are key
qualities that every top soccer player must possess.
What are the top 5
attributes you would like
to see in a footballer?
1. Technique
Football is often referred to as a universal

language that is spoken globally. Technique is the
vocabulary of football and it’s the base from which
all soccer players are created. Soccer technique
can be split into 3 main areas which must be
mastered to be a top player.
Which are these 3
main areas?
What do they
mean?
● Ball mastery & control – The ability to collect, control and
manipulate the ball with both feet, legs, chest & head.
● Dribbling & running with the ball – moving the ball in
different directions at varying speeds with the ball in full
control.
● Body movement & shapes – How you move your body
efficiently with and without the ball to maximise impact with
balance and coordination.
What could be the second attribute?

2. Mindset
Mindset is a very broad area with many
contributing factors so again this is broken down
into smaller segments. It is a key ingredient in a
footballers make up and often determines which
level you play at because the higher up the football
ladder you progress, the more important the
mindset becomes.
What do you have to say about:
- Passion and drive;
- Mental toughness;
- Leadership;
- Coachability:
- Self-motivate;
- Responsibility.
● Passion & Drive – The ambition and hunger to succeed.
Often it is said that you either have it or you don’t. It’s that
fire burning inside that comes to life on the football pitch.
● Mental toughness – In times of adversity, how does a
player react? There are many highs and lows in a football
journey and this trait often distinguishes those that can
handle the pressure and make it to the top.
● Leadership – This is measured in different ways. You have
leaders that organise and are vocal like John Terry or Tony
Adams and those that lead by example like Steven Gerrard
or Lionel Messi. Either way will work and it is a great asset to
have.
● Coachability – As a player you need to be able to accept the
feedback from coaches and teachers who are there to help you
improve your game. How do players react or respond to
instructions, criticism and suggestions? Are they open to learning
new things?
● Self-Motivate – You hear stories about elite players staying back
for extra training or spending hours upon hours mastering skills
and techniques. This self-motivation to always want to better
themselves by continuously learning and mastering can be a
measure to the success of the player.
● Responsibility – Football is a team game but each player has a
set of responsibilities both on and off the pitch. Does the player
take ownership of these responsibilities and carry them out or do
they shy away?
3. Game Intelligence
How often have you heard people saying words like “great
vision”, “tactical awareness”, “footballing brain”, “composure on
the ball”. These expressions constitute game intelligence and
is probably one of the most difficult things to coach because
football is random. You can’t predict the outcomes and you
can’t cater for every scenario that is created on the pitch. To
simplify, game intelligence is measured by the decisions and
the speed at which they are made by a player on the pitch.
● Spatial Awareness – Players need to quickly visualise and
understand the pictures that are created on the football pitch. Where
are the players standing or moving and what are the distances and
spaces in relation to the ball? How quickly can you create these
pictures to help you make a decision as to your next move?
● Risk assessment – What happens if I run into this space or if I pass
a ball into that space? Are you able to make the right decision that will
have a positive impact for your team and minimise the risk. Just as in
life, previous experiences help you make these decisions and football
is no different. That is why you train and practice to help make those
decisions but there are added elements like creativity, logic and
taking a chance which will give the edge.
4. Team Player
Is it true there is no “I” in “TEAM”?

Football is a team sport where you win together and you lose together. There have
been many occasions where you could say that one player above all others is the
reason for a team’s success such as Diego Maradona’s time at Napoli in the
1980’s along with recent successes of Ronaldo and Messi but they all relied on
their team mates to help bring that success and they will all acknowledge that. As a
collective and harmonised unit, the team will generally perform much better so it is
key for a player to be able to operate to their maximum ability within this
environment. Saying that it can often be the individual that does something special
in a game that raises the level of the team. It could be a superb bit of skill, a great
goal or a great tackle. The effort that you put in will generally rub off on others so
there is no excuse for not putting in 100% effort.
In football the old saying, Together Everyone Achieves More is very true but the
individual plays a big part too and that balance must be found.
5. Physique
At the professional level footballers are now seen as athletes.
Their bodies are built and conditioned like top level athletes
and this athletic ability can often set a player apart from
others. At a younger age this element is far more difficult to
judge because a soccer player’s body will develop at different
stages which could be behind or ahead of others. In the early
years, a player’s physique should be one of the last factors to
look but when you do, these are the areas to focus on.
● ABC’s – Agility, Balance & Coordination are vital because there are so
many movements that happen in a soccer match. This is with and
without a football as you dribble, jump, turn and place your body into a
variety of positions.
● Power & Strength – This is not the size of the individual but is more
about how effectively you use your body to win a physical battle.
● Speed – This is not only straight line speed but it is the speed at
which you accelerate, decelerate and how quickly you can change
directions with and without a football at your feet.
● Stamina – As your body fatigues, your control, focus & decision
making becomes impaired which are all critical in a match situation.
The ability for a player to deal with the constant stop, start nature as
well as endurance during a game to keep moving will be examined.
What would be your 5
motivational
slogans/sentences ?

Soccer Interview

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Soccer Interview

Football is often referred to as a universal

What could be the second attribute?

Is it true there is no “I” in “TEAM”?

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