u/Last_Commission6982

This is a question I've been thinking about honestly over the last few years, and I still don't really have a definitive answer. I always think it's so important to go after a dream for as long as you can, but there is a time where you do just have to stop and carry your life forward in a different direction.

I understand every single footballer is going to be different for this. I understand there isn't a definitive age where everyone should just stop, but I do believe there's a general range where most aspiring professional footballers do tend to drop off in large numbers (20-23 from what I've seen).

What do you think ? What age or what age range would you say is where it's time to let the dream go ? What was it like in your own experience ?

I do want to reiterate that I will always support anyone going after their dreams, but as someone who used to be in the mix themselves, I do think there's a time for everyone when it just isn't clicking anymore. I'm curious what others think.

One of the biggest things I struggled with from the age of 15 onwards was recurring, small injuries. The issue was that these injuries would either keep coming back or would develop into chronic inflammation injuries (Anyone who has had these understands just how debilitating and tough these can be). I would constantly go to different PT's, I would try all these stretches and exercises I saw online, I would go to what I was told were the best facilities in the LA-area, but nothing worked.

What ended up working for me was something I learned about years prior. When Knees over toes was first starting to gain traction, one of my old teammates got super into it, but I thought nothing of it at the time. It wasn't until years down the line when I just couldn't find a solution to one of my injuries (Patellar tendinosis - Chronic inflammation which comes after patellar tendinitis) that I looked into the training.

I ended up finding a coach who was certified in this type of training and I moved to Orlando, FL for the summer. I had 8 weeks with this coach before I had to go back to the UK, but it was in this time, I saw more development than years of traditional PT and recovery.

Look, the training can be unconventional and uncomfortable as you're getting into ranges of motion you likely haven't tried even with just your bodyweight, but you will see some of the greatest gains you've ever had when it comes to injury recovery. I would highly recommend working with a coach, but you can also find so many of these exercises for free online nowadays.

The core exercises to really build off of are ATG Split Squats, Jefferson Curls, Poliquin Step-ups, Sled Pulls, and Tibialis Raises (Great to pair up with a calf exercise towards the beginning or end of your workout). I still do these exercises to this day and it just makes you an all around stronger and more mobile athlete. There's also a ton of exercises for your upper body too, but the goal here is to really develop from the ground up.

I still have some of my older workout plans, so if anyone is interested in checking it out or trying out some of the exercises, I'll happily send it over to you. I'm not an ATG coach though and want to reiterate how important it is to find one if this is something you're seriously interested in.

There is something about football that no other sport has. Every other sport has something special about it, but what makes football so special is that it is a language everyone speaks without having to say a word.

You have Japanese fans who can't speak a word of English going to Texas and trying BBQ for the first time with Americans they have never met, and will likely never see again. You have Korean fans going to Mexico partying with those who have become a temporary home / family. You have hundreds of millions of fans tuning in for the last ever World Cup for the game's 2 greatest ever players, both simultaneously showing us the ups and downs that come with football.

You watch other sports and are drawn to great players, great moments, or great stories, but with football, you're drawn to something bigger. It is the collectiveness that comes with the sport, the familial ties you feel towards anyone else who watches or plays the game. If there is any sport in the world which does a great job at bringing people together, it's football.

This summer's World Cup is reminding us that this sport comes second to none, no other sport is even close. With the World Cup final being a month away, there is still so much football to be played and I guarantee there will be so many more moments which will further solidify the global dominance of the game.

I also think it's worth noting that this World Cup is properly getting the US on board and we will likely see a huge influx of popularity and football culture driven into communities throughout the country. Once you get the US really going with football culture, we will see an even greater global influx of the game and everything it stands for.

This is the best sport in the world.

There's so many incredible players who have graced the game, but who stands out to you ? who's your favorite ?

I'm not talking about the best of all time because there will likely only be 2 answers. I'm talking about the player you genuinely enjoy watching the most. This can be a player who had 1 great season and then fell off the face of the planet. This can be a player who dominated everyone in their league. This can be a player with a great story. This can be anyone that comes to mind for you.

I'm curious to see the answers to this question and what people might think. For me, the player that comes to mind is Moussa Dembele (Former Spurs midfielder). I genuinely think it's hard to come across a player who consistently dominated the midfield more than him. Almost anyone who talks about him also says just how difficult it was to take the ball off him. What a player.

I've been thinking about which performances have been the standouts in this summer's World Cup. We're officially at the 15 game mark with France - Senegal and the tournament's already produced some great games.

For me, the standout has definitely been the US and how they played against Paraguay (even despite the score, they played really good football) in their 4-1 win. I also think Sweden - Tunisia was a great game, as well as Netherlands - Japan.

What's been the standout performance / game for you so far ?

With the World Cup almost being 15 games in, what has been the biggest surprise to you so far ? I already think there's been some major upsets and a few huge games which have set a strong tone for the competition early on.

I believe the US beating Paraguay 4-1 (and playing relatively good football) is up there. I think Spain tying Cape Verde has gotta be up there, and I think Australia beating Turkey 2-0 is a big one too.

I'm curious what others think. Feel free to share your opinions below !

Everyone who follows sports just saw the Knicks secure their first championship in 53 years. It's one of the most anticipated and celebrated wins I can remember in recent sporting history (Man... I wish I was in NYC this weekend). It's got me thinking what the equivalent of this is in soccer.

The first team that genuinely pops into my head is Manchester United whenever they win a title again. They have one of the largest fanbases in the world, they used to be a heavyweight, and they haven't won a title in almost 15 years (Yes, 15 years versus the Knicks 53 is a huge difference, but it's still been a while).

Honestly, maybe it's even Arsenal. They both won a title this year after a very long time. I'm curios what others think. Add to the discussion if any team comes to mind.

In one of Messi's greatest ever performances, one unconventional stat stood out... in the World Cup Final, Messi checked his shoulder 676 times. Yes, this isn't the metric that won Argentina the World Cup. However, this one small metric is just another indicator of how great Messi is (and also how important it is to check your shoulder).

When we dive deeper into the data, we find that Messi had an average of 0.34 scans per second, a 32% critical scan rate (nearly 1 in 3 receptions, he already knew what was around him before receiving the ball), and a 90% forward pass completion rate (28/31 forward passes).

The most revealing data point from this information is that his 3 failed forward passes all came when he didn't make a critical scan. Every time he had the necessary information (from scanning his shoulder), he made the right decision. When he didn't, the forward pass failed. This is what game intelligence looks like at the highest level.

This example is a perfect indicator of why it is so important to practice things like checking your shoulder, especially for those who pick up the ball in the midfield. Knowing what's around you is essential if you want to perform at the highest level. You have to be able to make split decisions based on information you collect in a split second. One of the most important things you can develop is the ability to efficiently and effectively scan the field. As you train this more and more, you will be able to identify what's around you and make those in the moment decisions, just like Messi (Well maybe not quite like Messi, but you get the point).

I wanted to make a post around one of the things which I personally believe led to so much of my growth as a player. When I was around 5 years old, I played my first ever game of soccer and this game introduced me to a teammate who I happened to really connect and click with. I was super lucky because he also happened to live just a few houses down from me (even though this match we played was a good 20 minutes away from where both of us lived at the time). This first season brought us super close and we became best friends, someone who is still to this day (20 years later) one of my best friends.

The reason why I'm making a post about this is because this one individual is a huge reason why I had any of the success I did in soccer. From that first game onwards, we would play soccer outside of our houses almost every single day. It didn't matter if we just had school, it didn't matter if it was raining (We were also lucky enough to grow up in SoCal, so this was rarely an issue), it didn't matter if we had a few games that same day. We were always playing. I attribute so much of my technical development to the thousands of hours we put in together. Something that made it so strong on a development standpoint was that we were both very competitive. I would learn how to do an around the world, and then 10 minutes later, he would pick it up. He would hit a top bins shot, and then 5 minutes later, I would have scored an even better one. I would beat him, and the next game he would beat me. This helped me develop what I believe is one of the most important parts of sports (and this translates to anything in life)... the hatred associated with losing and the strong desire to win.

When you have someone around you 24/7 who is pushing you to learn new things, who is constantly supporting you in your ups and downs, who is forcing you to grow just due to the fact that he himself is learning new things at such a fast rate, you become a better individual. You are your environment and you are most similar to the people you're closest with.

If you can take one thing away from this short post, it's that your environment either forces you to grow or allows you to stay the same. It doesn't matter if you're young or old, your environment is everything. If you're lucky enough, you will have a friend like this from a young age, but this advice applies to any stage of life you're in. I hope whoever comes across this post is happy with their environment, but if you aren't... what's stopping you from changing it ?

With the USMNT's first game of the 2026 World Cup under 24 hours away, it's a good time to reflect on what they've achieved up until this point. The big question I've been thinking about is what their greatest accomplishment has been... I think in this area of the world, it's always been the US and Mexico, but I mean on a more world stage. What is their greatest accomplishment ?

I would love to hear other's opinions as I've been trying to figure this out myself. Also, who do you think is the greatest player the US has ever produced ? and why ?

I want to share something which helped me a ton when I was younger. One of the biggest problems I faced as a player was my tactical understanding of my role on the pitch and how to operate with those around me. I was almost always an 8 or a 10, so where I struggled the most was how to position myself alongside my other midfielders.

Technically, I was always a great player, but if you don't have a strong tactical understanding of your role on the pitch, you are hurting your team. My coaches would always give me advice and pointers on things like when to step, when not to step, when to stay back, when to swap with my other midfielders (given certain situations), etc... but I just wasn't able to really connect the dots.

There was one thing that ended up helping a ton with this issue, and it wasn't even on the pitch. It had to do with me watching film. What I would do is I would pick a player who was a standout in my position and analyze a few of his full games. You would still watch the whole game and those around that player (as you can't just focus on a single player during the game or you won't understand the context behind his decisions), but your main focus would be on that player. The player I would always watch was Dele Alli (This was when he was first breaking onto the scene, and anyone who knows about him knows how quickly he broke into being one of the best midfielders in the Prem).

I would watch his games and analyze his movements off the ball. How did he face up attackers ? How did he track back ? How did he force attackers into uncomfortable situations ? How did he position himself defensively ? I get that Dele Alli isn't the best player to reference defensively, but my main position was a 10, so he was a great player to reference for me as an individual. I would of course watch his movements on the ball. How many times would he check his shoulder before receiving the ball ? What types of turns did he use to beat defenders ? How did he interplay with his teammates ? I would write all of these things down to gain a strong understanding of what he did well. I would then go watch other players and analyze how they operated. Two other great midfielders at the time were Yaya Toure & Kevin De Bruyne. These are two very different players, but also great to analyze because of this exact fact. You are able to identify what makes each player the standout football that they are.

Another thing as well (if you're struggling to find your specific role in a certain formation) is to analyze teams who play your formation. How does the team move as a whole ? How do they keep their structure ? How do they work together (on and off the ball) when they're attacking ? when they're defending ? This was another thing I did to understand how to fit into the formation I needed to. Of course, you do have to develop adaptability on the spot as each coach will be different and have different tasks for you, regardless of the formation, but these are genuine resources which will help you.

I hope this offered some value. If you're a midfielder like me, you need to check out old Dele Alli, De Bruyne, and Toure footage. You will learn so much about how to dominate in those positions.

I think one of the most important things throughout your career can come down to small moments which made a massive impact on your life. A perfect example of this is pieces of advice which stuck with you, something that you consistently came back to in hard moments.

I'm curious what this piece of advice was for you ? If you're coming across this, I would love to hear the best piece of advice you ever received, and how it changed the trajectory of your career, and even your life.

I get advice isn't necessarily going to magically change someone overnight, but the right advice at the right time can really help you get out of negative mental blocks, or approach situations through a new lens, or even help you identify solutions to long-standing problems. I would love to hear from others. It doesn't even necessarily have to be life-changing advice, just something that stuck with you. Something you still lean on even today.