What makes a footballer pick his best playing position.

[Uncle C]

I have never seen this debated and it didn't affect me as I was never much good at football at school.

But what make a footballer choose his best position on the pitch. I would have thought most youngsters would want to be a striker!

Is it chosen for you by school teachers?
Is it down to skill levels?
Does it depend on height and weight?
Did you follow your favourite footballers position?
Etc

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

Coach innit.

When kids start playing soccerball they all want to be forwards and consequently the 10 outfield players tend to follow the ball round like a herd of sheep. Usually a teacher or whoever can spot the pacy ones and the hard ones and play them where they seem strongest.

 

[British Bulldog]

When I was at school many years ago it seemed to work on the principal of..

If you was good at football you played up front

If you was average you played in midfield

If you was rubbish you got put at the back

And if you was fat you got put in goal.

 

[Mendoza]

Its a weird one, I always thought I was a right midfielder when I was a kid, then I watched Dennis Bergkamp play football and wanted to be like him. He played just off the front striker and I tried to model my game on his.

I then got a break in my Sunday team and got to play upfront, and then I found out I could score goals too, as well as missing the "my wife could score that" sitter

There are so many factors, I guess it is down to the coach, but I guess a kid would take their hero and try and be llike them too

 

[Acker79]

I have never seen this debated and it didn't affect me as I was never much good at football at school.

But what make a footballer choose his best position on the pitch. I would have thought most youngsters would want to be a striker!

Is it chosen for you by school teachers?
Is it down to skill levels?
Does it depend on height and weight?
Did you follow your favourite footballers position?
Etc

I think it depends on various things.

I went into goalkeeping early on because I wasn't very fit and it involved less running around.

I also think there was an element that, I only ever got to play footie with my brother and his friends because none of them wanted to go in goal.

In his biography, Mick Foley talked about how when he was a kid he picked goal keeping for lacrosse because it made him important, and it was on him, he had to make the save (whereas a defending player would have the back up of the other defenders or the goal keeper).

I figure a lot of kids today will grow up wanting to be the dominating creative midfield player because of the glory bestowed on Ronaldo, Lampard and Gerrard, and the importance we put on them and the things they do with regard to turning games around and so on.

I imagine there are many other youngsters who grow up idolising particular players and therefore their positions (e.g. people who grow up admiring John Terry will want to emulate him, and pattern their play on him, so will naturally fit in centre defence).

 

[Wozza]

Depends on the abilities of others in a team too. Ian Chapman was originally a left winger in his school days, but my mate was better in that position, so the coach moved him to left-back.

 

[supaseagull]

I coach under 7's and you can generally get a rough idea of where they could play just by watching them have a kick about. It's amazing how many kids will naturally fall into a certain position. But it's important to remember that they all develop at different stages so where at age 7 a kids could be a prolific goalscorer, they could end up as a right back when they're 16. More often than not, children will want to play in the positions their parents or uncles play in or a particular player plays in.

I've got one lad who can dribble the ball and score goals from anywhere so naturally, I play him up front. However, he's also really good in goal, so he'll play a half there as well.

I've also got another lad who's brother is one of the best under 10's central defenders I've seen, so naturally I've tried him in the similar position and they are very similar in ability although the younger lad who's with me does like to try a few skills so I also play him in midfield!

To be honest, it's not really until the age of 10-11 when their bodies begin developing can you really find true positions but that's the beauty of mini-soccer for younger ages because as a coach, I can be flexible with them.

 

[Father Jack]

I started off in goal as a kid because i got into football later than the other lads think i was 9. I played there for 3 years and at 12 i started in training to play up front. I kept scoring goals so my manager played me there for two years. After that i fell into a centre back position aged 14 because i was one of the tallest and better headers. Since then iv moved into central midfield because everyone caught up with me height wise and since then iv played there but also on the right or left of midfield!! I always idolised Dennis Bergkamp, Zidane and Patrick Vieira but that never made me want to play in the same position as them.

 

[sully]

I found that it was a natural instinct for me to defend rather than attack, though I started out playing on the left wing for my school as I was quite quick and could use my left foot. I would often cover back for people, though, and just drifted into being a full back. I never played in the middle, despite being good with both feet, as I'm useless with my head.

My son has the confusion of playing up front for his club side, but being used as a defender at school because there are better forwards who play for different club sides. He seems to manage both quite well, so will probably end up as a midfielder, if he keeps playing. He doesn't have my ability to use both feet, though, and might as well not have a left foot at all, despite me trying really hard to improve his ability with it!

 

[RM-Taylor]

When I was younger (I mean like 10), I used to play as a striker. Used to be good with both feet, although stronger with my right. I think I chose to be a striker as my idol was Andy Cole at the time. Unfortunatley I had to stop playing as I inherited a dodgy right knee (both my mum and dad have it).

 

[pasty]

Dunno about pros, but for me it was age. The older I got the further back I played!

 

[Munkfish]

I loved to tackle, and get stuck in, but was never tall enough to play centre back, so right back was the answer, since i was a kid i have always played in that postion and bloody love it, although it is the easiest postion to play by a mile.

 

[The Large One]

Depends on the abilities of others in a team too. Ian Chapman was originally a left winger in his school days, but my mate was better in that position, so the coach moved him to left-back.

I played against him for my school team against his, and he played central midfield for his school, usually because the kids who are best are put in the most influential positions. He was so evidently miles better than everyone else, it was embarrassing.

 

[Scotty Mac]

used to play up front, then when our teams keeper left in about under 12 ended up in goal. been stuck there ever since, except for the odd appearance at centre back which is probably where i most enjoy playing, even if i cant run anymore

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

I always played centre midfield from a really young age. I had (and still have but not to the same extent now) a far superior football brain to most other kids. I always played there 'cause I could read the game really well meaning more often than not I was the one with the ball.

As I got older I started playing sweeper for similar reasons, however, I soon ended up miles behind some of the kids physically so found my game harder. From there I went to right back with occasional games in midfield.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

I can read the game well and am strong in the air - or certainly was as a nipper. Therefore I was always centre back. I also talk a lot so it made sense to have me at the back organising people.

Then when I started playing mens football at 15 I was quite physically fit and decent at passing so moved to defensive midfield where I could get more involved and get on the ball more.

When I was at uni I went up front because everyone else was rubbish and I was in charge.

 

[Skint Gull]

I've always wanted to play centre mid and to be fair because of my reading of the game that's probably my best position. Unfortuntely from a personal point of view an ability to read the game also means the manager can say: Stu, can you play Centre/Left/Right Back today cos so and so isn't here!

To be fair i'd love to play for a team where I could play just off a quick striker and not have too many defensive duties. One day maybe!

I think once most kids reach about 12 they know their best position and it just depend on how good they think they can be and who else competes for that position in that team. When I played from age 9 to 18 I mostly played wide left as there was a lad who was better then me in an attacking centre midfield role. When I was younger I knew I was never gonna be a pro but wanted win medals and play with my mates so I played wide.
Nowadays if I didn't get to play centre mid regularly I'd go and play for someone else. I know it's my best position so i'll play for whoever needs me to play there, so long as I play most weeks i don't care who that is. Luckily my lack of fitness is compensated by the fact my team has 2 of the fastest wingers you'd ever see at Sunday football so that makes my life a shit lot easier!

I guess my mindset is similar with NFL too. I love that more than footy nowadays and if i was to pick where to play at that i'd love to be a Safety, again due to my reading of the game. However I think my 40 yard time would probably put paid to that and i'd probably end up being a Linebacker which would probably be just as much fun!

Oh and like you say Pasty, I fully expect with age that the older I get the more i'll be playing centre back!

 

[SNOOBS]

At a really young age -
Goalkeeper - Fat kid or anyone that wants too
Left back/left mid - anyone left footed
Centre Back - Big kids
Right back - Smaller ones
Centre mid - the ones that actually have an idea
Strikers - The managers son

I used to play centre mid when I was younger. Since then I've played sweeper for a few seasons and did nearly all the time for my clueless school teams defence, as I read the game quite well (although being one of the smallest) but now I play CM again for club n college.

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

At a really young age -
Goalkeeper - Fat kid or anyone that wants too
Left back/left mid - anyone left footed
Centre Back - Big kids
Right back - Smaller ones
Centre mid - the ones that actually have an idea
Strikers - The managers son

and...

left back/left mid - the back up right back/right mid.
right mid - arrogant quick one who styles his hair like Ronaldo and is just as much of a cock.
second striker - the quick one who does most of the work but has to pass to the managers son.

 

[BensGrandad]

When I was younger playing at Victoria Park in Worthing I had the ball so I chose where I wanted to play and then the Bonnettis came along and Peter always played up front, coz he was good at it.