The Surprising Truth About Professional Football that Amateurs Don't Realize... 

This is such an amazing video!! Keeping it so transparent and real. You’ve been an inspiration of ours since before college and now being able to partner with you is such an honor! 🙏🏻

"the worst day out on the field is still better than the best day in an office." i feel attacked. 😭

I played a charity match with some ex english championship players, their head was constantly looking around, great first touch, simple passing and always in the right position. It taught me loads and was a brilliant learning experience

These are all 100% true. I’ve been playing professionally in Brazil this past year. The average player here doesn’t even make R$3000 (600 usd) it’s insane. A lot of them need part time jobs in the off-season. And while this has been a dream for me, the reality of a pro footballer is not what is shown on TV

I never played at pro level or anything like it, but when we occasionally got drawn in the cup against a team from a higher level, yeah, speed was the difference, not 60m sprinting speed, just the speed at which things happen, speed of thought. And the teams I'm talking about would be 20 levels below the very highest pro level. You watch a top game on tv and you don't quite get the speed, because everyone's at the level so it looks normal, but if you ever get yourself a seat near the touchline at a pro game, where you're close enough to nearly smell it, the pace of play is bewildering, and it's relentless, and a player who is off that pace will stick out like a sore thumb.

The politics is so often ignored. When I was a kid I was a good goalkeeper, I was in the Academy for a club who were in the second tier of English football at the time and was routinely playing 1 or 2 age groups above my own. However my parents were very keen on me not getting carried away and stressed the importance of education, so I worked hard at school and got good grades the whole time, because I understood that there had to be a backup plan. When I was about to turn 18 the club started talking about offering me a professional contract. My intention was to study for a Computer Science degree with the Open University (for non-brits, the OU is an online/remote University where you can study part-time for a full degree), during my spare time. The club refused to allow this. They literally wanted to write a clause in to the contract that would prevent me from undertaking any higher education. Their argument was that they wanted young players to be completely dedicated to football, and wanting to study in my own free time showed I wasn't willing to show the level of dedication required. Multiple other clubs I spoke to had the exact same attitude. Ended up signing a contract with a club in the third tier who did allow me to pursue education in my spare time, and it's a good thing I did because 2 years later I was out of the game completely. A couple of fairly serious injuries, as well as simply running out of talent, meant my contract wasn't extended. The only clubs who had any interest in me were in the lowest tier of the professional game in England, and one club in the second tier of Icelandic football, and so I chose to stop playing. The politics of the professional game are vile, and do so much harm to youngsters trying to break in to the sport.

Am not a Man City fan myself, but I remember hearing someone (a coach perhaps?) remarking of Phil Foden that he never sees Foden without a ball at his feet, even outside of training or in downtime--always kicking around hotel corridors and in his garden at home, rather than playing COD or bingeing Netflix or what have you. To the point it annoys and confuses other footballers around him. That gave me pause and made me realise the singlemindedness it takes to stay in a top side.

I’m a season ticket holder at Liverpool and my season ticket is in an excellent position but one day I let a friend have my ticket and I took a cheaper ticket at pitch level. What a scary experience the pace that ball moved at wow… if one makes a mistake in possession, let it just bounce away from you by half a foot then you have lost it!Within two seconds the balls on the other side of the pitch. There’s no way you can compensate or rectify an error. One thing you didn’t mention was the physicality and aggression. We are not talking Sunday league aggression, but the sheer physicality of very fit, physically strong people out there and they knew exactly how to use their body shape and weight like martial artists to unbalance, lever or otherwise fight for the right to play. Thank you for the video. And if it’s worth anything, I like a good strong European style, hard-working defender and I like nothing more than seeing a ticky-tacky getting booted up in the air. Keep going stay injury free. Best of luck young man. Liked and sub’d.

Played in Europe. The difference between the div 2/1 and 3/4 is massive. Players are bigger, more skilled, and not sure if this was listed as I didn't watch this whole video but "calm". Being calm on the ball is important. The 3rd div play can do what the 2nd div player does but the 2nd div player will do in a calm manner with a better first touch and will make better choices.

Makes Jamie Vardy's story more impressive. Sheffield Wednesday youth system and released at 16 years of age. Went to work a normal job and played with the Stocksbridge Park Steels on weekends. I vaguely remember in a documentary that Vardy was released because of his size (too small). The one thing he had going for him was his speed. I guess he picked up on the speed of play with Halifac Town and Fleetwood Town.

Prior to the pandemic, I participated in a trial. In my mind, I truly felt like a professional already. I was astonished by the limited autonomy players had, as it primarily involved adhering to instructions and patterns, repeatedly executing simple tasks. It felt like clockwork-every 5 to 6 seconds, all heads turned towards the coach, who relentlessly bombarded us with instructions, leading to a state of overwhelming overload.

My six a side team has recently had an ex-premiership player playing for us. We’re awful, but needless to say he’s outstanding. His speed, footwork and dribbling are a sight to see. Since he’s joined us though, we’re playing like crap. No one tracks back, we have no shape, and we don’t play like a team anymore. We just rely on this fella. That said, it’s an honour to be able to play with a guy like that and he’s a lovely, humble bloke.

I'm currently playing in step 4 of the English league system and just turned 23. I will be a professional footballer by the age of 26. I played with a player called Danny newton who was signed at 26 for stevenage. If he can do it why cant i. I dont care about all the other factors i will be a professional footballer. In four years ill come back to this comment and i will be a professional footballer and thats a god damn certain. Ill see you in four years when I'm a professional footballer.

when I played with Juve at 14-15 (I was the worst, in the bottom but I was there) Giorgio Chiellini came to speak to us kids. He was so humble, vs we expected some super high level intense superhero guy. He told us that its all training, and sacrifices: like missing out on a night out of pizza and beer with friends because of training the next morning. I got my shoes signed by him, and to this day, I will never forget his words, and his calm, humble, yet immensely grounded and powerful energy. Grazie Giorgione, and thank you for the video

I once played with an ex pro who quit because he prefered to put his chips on education. It was an eye opening and humbling experience. The guy was so more efficient in EVERYTHING and he was always ahead of everyone. His kicks and passes even sounded different while everything he did seemed natural. Living in Brazil, we have a huge inequality so you often see people from middle and upper classes do well but eventually quitting because they prefer the certainty of a good paying job. While poorer kids will give all they have to try and be successful. I was raised in the middle class and mostly played in school and with friends of the same social class. This dude I played became a dentist and 2 friends of mine who actually went well in trials quit because or early injuries. One of them quitting because of a serious knee injury had him starting on the classical guitar and becoming a virtuoso.

As a former semi pro, I can confirm all of this is true. I just couldn’t deal with the pressure of constantly having to worry about performing at the highest level and getting threatened to be relegated to the bench whenever my performance dips as well as figuring out where I’m gonna play next season and dealing with the low average salary. This is why I ultimately gave up and switched to do sth else because I realised it was not what I wanted out of my life

Played football at the highest youth level in Germany in the 90th, but for a small club. When playing the professional clubs the biggest difference for me was that their players would do tactically fouls. We were quite naive in comparison and generally tried to play fair, while they usually used every trick possible to get an advantage.

Incredible video Matt and I couldn’t agree more with many of your points! I found it particularly interesting when you talked about the “Winning vs Development”, because I feel like a lot of young amateur players want to train like professional footballers, when the goals of these two are completely different and therefore the training should be adapted accordingly 🤔⚽️

I've played a few times with people that shortly were professional players (Eredivisie, 3d string guys as you call them, bench players) and they were indeed far ahead of everyone else here: more speed and consistency, far better positioning and precise passing. Spectacular to play with. Make a good run and you know you will get the ball. I'm a terrible soccer player btw, but I love the game. Jaap Stam comes from around here. I heard of guys that played him when he was retired and he joined a sunday league team for a while. He was ridiculously good. He was never hailed (and often critised) for his passing in the Netherlands and seen as just a very good defender, but once you see it up close, it was impossible to get past him as an attacker and he would put out pixel-perfect cross-passes across the entire field without any effort at all. That makes me wonder how good of a passer Frank the Boer or Van Bronckhorst (considered as great passers) is. What you said: at the top level they are all extremely good. And the best players (Messi, Zidane, Mbappe, Modric, Van Basten, Cruijf, Bergkamp, etc.) are out of this world.

3:00 As a kid, I wondered why sometimes a 18th-place team beat a regning champion. As I got older, I realised it was an error in perspective. If you illustrate it as a bar graph and only use the 1st league, then the heights of the bars in the above example are 20 vs 2 (a ratio of 10 to 1). 'How could they lose?' But when you add all the professional teams in leagues below, let's say 60 more teams, the ratio is suddenly 80 to 62 (1.3 to 1). Still, the champion should win but the opposing team is not that hopeless anymore.

9:05 Love how he says eat the right way as he's going through a box of oreos haha

Thanks for sharing your valuable insight about the ups and also the lows of a pro football player. The psychological aspects of being a pro athlete are always overlooked because oh well they make money running after a ball, jumping high, throwing a ball, etcetera. I always dreamt about being a pro football player but at youth level where I live it was so competitive, that at 15 years of age I realized that I would never happen and it crushed me. I quit football to focus on studies and got to a PhD level. Now 20 years after coming to terms with that sudden realization, I still love playing football so much. It's just with an amateur side but it's like I'm a 10 years old kid again.

One thing I like about Matt is his level of integrity! I LOVE the fact that you could (as a content creator) self-promote or project a particular storyline, but you choose to always provide information or entertainment in a PURELY CANDID EXPRESSION. I'm sharing this video because I know kids who wanna go pro and I think this video is a very honest peek into the adventure and the future they think they want. I wish you more life brother!!!

💯💯💯💯💯 Matt. Most amateurs or people think a pro must dribble past 5 or more or use speed and shoot brilliantly. They forget mastering the intensity of basics and game situation

Awesome video. I am a volleyball athlete from Panama and could really relate with what you mentioned along the video. Really appreciate you shared your experience.

Played a few seasons in the USL between 2012 and 2017 - agree with all of these but the boredom aspect was INTENSE for me, even as a somewhat introvert. I had never realized how much I relied on my close friends & family, then I signed my first contract and overnight I was literally alone for 90% of the my day. It eats some guys up, mentally, to the point where it affects their ability to play the game. I was lucky and got walked into a big youth club that let me coach and grow in that direction. Kept me busy and gave me some much needed added cash

Interesting. About the day of european professional football players, it has to be said that many of them if not all are required to take a nap after lunch. And when you're young, it's quite difficult to get used to it : you don't feel like sleeping after lunch... But when you realize that all the best players actually do it, you start to comply and then discover that the human body actually does have a sleep train at about this very hour of the day. Then, having a wife and family is very much appreciated by staff because it helps in the day to day life focusing unto responsabilities, including those related to game preparation. Maturity stuff.

Thanks for the incredible insight and i agree with everything you say, hopefully you can make more of these video’s because me and other young players can learn a lot from this and will not go crazy when something happens, because we already got warned 😊

It's amazing how similar the experiences are for soccer players (and sports people I guess). No wonder the game brings so many people together. I was just going to watch like the first 2 mins of this video but now ended up Subscribing to the channel. With every line I kept thinking "this is really what it is. It is what I experienced. This guy has just done my video" Could have really used Stafford when I sent my highlight video to Liberty University. Oh and that bit about how fast and simple the game is at the highest level... Mindblowing!

Always appreaciate a straight-forward insider point-of-view. Thanks for the video.

A brilliant video! I've always been fascinated by the transition journey from enthusiastic amateur to full-on professional. This video gave me a real insight. Thanks!

I didn't expect to learn much from this but your truths were very compelling. Your point about being "good enough" but being recruited to a team that is not suited to your qualities was very telling. The professionalism in players is not always reciprocated by professionalism from coaches. I look forward to your take on that. Great production values- nice presentation style and a World Class insight into the life of a professional footballer. Really well done!

Amazing video! Out here in Spain for a trial, and I'm currently seeing the difference between local ballers, and First Divison Academy Club. The difference is real.

Thank you so much for the insights! Amazing video! Keep up the good work and good luck staying on the grass and being fit to play!

This is absolutely incredible mate. I'm a fan of the game and it's so nice to get a behind-the-scenes real talk light on football, from the ground up.

This was very informative and beautifully presented. Love from Jamaica 🇯🇲 ❤

With our club, former pro players are some of our coaches, even a national team coach. At Magnus FC, we’ve shared this video with our players. Good truths! 👍👍

Thing I’ve always wondered myself: with all that free time, do players spend additional time trying to improve/develop individually? Watching video of your performance and of rivals (systematically, not casually)? Personal trainers looking into the details of your game, what to work on, why you performed well/badly last game (specific details: positioning, rival leftie or rightie, etc etc)? Great video btw. I’ve played with many professionals and I had the exact same experience you describe (pace, simplicity, etc.)

Thanks for the detailed insight

The youth club I coach for has a few retired EFL players and we have a coaches match several times a years. It was eye opening. I was good, but never played with the best before. I could keep up mentally but physically I was just always a half second away from being able to get a clean shot off, or finding a perfect passing corridor. I was able to make an impact, but it was humbling.

Just like to let you know that i stumble upon your video and totally like your video format and detail breakdowns of whatsit like to be a proffesional footballer... It is very detail the way you explained it. Keep doing what you are doing and all the best!

Eye opening and insightful video thank you ❤🤝🏾

This is your best video yet, Matt. I played in the PDL many years ago and didn't realize how prominent of a role politics played in the opportunities available. You've explained how so many factors go into moving to that next level - and many of them have nothing to do with you as a player. This is an important topic that is often ignored and can be detrimental to a player's mental health. Success should happen at the intersection where skill meets opportunity, but not always. Just have to work hard, enjoy the moment, and take what you can. Great video!

Its intersting to me that the first thing he discribed is actually how it feels like to play in europe in your youth. One touch football is practice all the time. And for two touches, you learn to control the ball with your weak foot and do so so that the ball lands in such a way that your body shields it. Then you pass the ball on in one touch. Thats how we train in germany not even at a good team, its just how we train and how we should play.

Best video I’ve watched from your channel Matt 🔥❤️

An excellent, informative and very well-presented video. Well done that man.

Thanks for always inspiring us bro! Well said.

Thanks, it shows a very different side to the whole “sunshine and rainbows” that is portrayed normally. But hey like you said at the end, it’s still an incredible career to have.

This was such an amazing insight. Never been seen before on the internet. Great job, brother.

Always great content.

I used to play pro hockey and I can relate to so many things what you listed here. I think its important for people to understand both sides of pro sports. Nice video!

Really appreciate you making this video.. well thought out! 👏🏻👊🔥

Fantastic video for the eyes of the uninitiated...It answers a lot of questions about the Beautiful Game I've been asking myself for ages...Thanks, Sir....

a few things i'm hearing from this video relevant to young players, or like me a dad who's begin to train his kids: on top of the physical and technical upkeep, mental aspect of the game is really important, they need to think 3-4 steps ahead. Also while focusing on player development at a young age, better to not be pigeon-holed to a certain style of play and instead be adaptable to different coaching styles.

And Messi is….. 10 steps ahead?

that's really good content right there, man. congrats from Brazil 🇧🇷

I’m very glad to find discover your channel. I’ve seen how Chelsea players done training. I was very surprised. The training session was much shorter than I predicted.

Loved this video. Amazing

One of the best videos I’ve seen you make 👏

Really interesting stuff!!

Fascinating insights. Thanks 🙏 ⚽️

Please Matt make a video explaining your career and how you made it pro to inspire me and other footballers

Great video as always. I got goosebumps at the end! I was a very average club footballer in Ireland but hitting the onion sack in a farmers field on a Sunday morning felt like I was in heaven, so doing it as a pro must be unreal.

such a great vid!!!

It doesn’t get more real than this. W Video man 😎👌🤙

the fourth point is so brilliantly described by the TIFO video why do 50% of transfers fail. The amount of things that have to go right for a player to be deemed a success is surprising.

I relate to what you are saying at 11:00. When I was studying percussion at university it took my a couple years to realizing playing crazy complex music came down to practicing dropping a stick slowly in a very relaxed & controlled manner haha

Matt, I've said it once and I'll say it again, you are extremely underrated in terms of youtube.

You have the best videos you really dive in deep👌

This video is incredible.... I don't think people realize the GEMS being dropped in this one...THANK you.

thanks man. that's really interesting

Amazing vid!!

Great video man, usually football is shown as glitz and glamour all around. It's good to show how grounded and ready to eat shit you have to be. It requires dedication, skill and a fair amount of luck.

Awesome video. You touched on some many important things. I made it to semi-pro level. I Wish I saw this video like 18 years ago 😂

That was so amazing. Extremely interesting. You're a very conscious person. Same in tennis. I was watching some amateures playing tennis and I couldn't believe how fast they played. Now imagine a pro in tennis. You can not understand the right speed on tv. Also very interesting the facts about the training, simple drills, money and free time. Nobody talks about it.

I’ve played at every level ,, and calmness and a relaxed state of mind is key 🔑

Great Video!

truth is you always have to be maturing and improving to make it sometimes it seems impossible but it’s always possible you just have to believe and give in we can make it happen

great source of knowledge

As a musician who turned pro recently - not full time yet - this is very similar to my experience. The simplicity, the level of rehearsing, the tiny details making a major difference, your attitude and how you support the artist or the band is so important, and the fact that most people who are great amateurs are simply not cut out to be pros - and that's NOT a judgement. The sacrifices are insane. Only become pro in anything that's purely passion driven IF you cannot live without doing it SO MUCH that you HAVE to get paid to do it. Period. Otherwise, you won't achieve it and will be miserable. You do NOT need to get paid to achieve happiness and success in your passion, be it football, music, motorsport, cooking or anything else! Most pros in any such field, just like me, had a terrible childhood and grew up to be made great from an early age, and left to defeat that pressure-induced trauma doing what we love and reconciling with it. I don't blame people for quitting. I starved 3 straights months. I injured myself. As a drummer, I can burn up to 1700 calories in 3 hours which is roughly equivalent to the average pro footballer, too! Pretty crazy. I'm not on that level yet as concert length increase as you go up the ladder. But being a pro in any passion field, is insane. It's being in the top 2% of most successful people on the planet. So I don't care that I don't get paid a lot right now. I'm PROUD!!!!

This is what impresses me about Messi so much. During his career he made all of those top, top professionals, literally the best out of the best in the whole world, the top 0.001%, to look like an absolute amateurs. His level of performance is insane, impossible.

This video is SO GOOD!

really good video - applies to other sports too!

Spot on about everything you said.

Nice video. Only one thing I got an issue with. Regardings Beckham; it's not "brutal and cutthroat" to be sold to Real Madrid. You're not exactly "gone" when you get sold into a team with Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo Phenomeno etc. 😅

I hope you do talks at high schools or something along those lines; all careers need this run through. Awesome watch buddy!

I was in the RAF and in the early 90’s we played a friendly against Doncaster Rovers. As a team we were extremely fit guys and we had a couple of RAF PT Instructors play and train us. We won the friendly 3-2 but this was at the beginning of their season and we had played about 7 or 8 games already. We played another game about 2 or 3 weeks later and they destroyed us. It was something crazy like 3 or 4 nil and it was possibly the hardest I’ve ever worked on a pitch. And these guys were in the fourth tier of English football. Two great games but a real eye opener on how good even fourth tier players are.

Once saw Richard Dunne playing 5 a aside on the pitch beside me during his off season. He didn't leave the centre circle. Everything went through him and no one could even get close to him. He was so far ahead of everyone else on the pitch that it was extraordinary to watch. I personally played against professional players before. They are multiple levels ahead of even the best amateurs. Their reading of the game, their first touch and their anticipation means that they are leaving non-pros in the dust.

Such good content! Unfortunately RU-vid and Instagram is full of "get pro quick" scammers taking advantage of young peoples dreams but I just stumbled on your channel and everything you say is so true and real. I played amateur level in Germany (6th tier) and everything you say is relevant there as well.

Great video ❤

I remember as a youth, I played against a semi-pro (lower non-league UK team) player in a local charity match. He was immense, no one could touch him. This same player would be lost in the professional football leagues. The chasm of ability in the football world is mind blowing.

As an ex pro footballer This is a brilliant video about the pro game and its spot on. Well done you. (and how often did the boss say that? 🤔)

Interesting to me as an older person never involved professionally in the game but even l can can see how the game has transformed in my lifetime. When l was younger quite a lot of players were smokers, did not really bother about training and were far more focussed on drinking and impregnating the impressionable. The modern game is truly global, much faster, better technically and tactically, more competitive, the players bigger, stronger and are genuine athletes. I think also they are on average much more educated. This transfers into a much more focussed learning culture.

All of this is just so accurate from my experience

Terrific insights, thanks for sharing. Although coach is called like that because work to develop players and this leads to winning

I remember my first Semi-Pro trail… I went through such an emotional roller coaster and I questioned if I’ve ever played the sport! The coach said that he knows my talent because he has seen me play and dominate in my position. Then suggested that I play defense LB/RB and that was the position that I signed on for despite playing RW/LW my entire career.

Good thing you started this to supplement playing

Really eye opening content.

2:03 there it is. One may possess all the technical and creative wizardry in the world, but the most important ability to develop is being able to read the moment and knowing when to employ that wizardry.

So grateful for your transparency, it inspires me to always become a better player, even as an amateur older player at 47! ⚽️🙌