Many young footballers fail to reach their potential because they are placed in positions that don't align with their natural abilities and instincts, rather than discovering their "root position" where they can truly excel.
Mind Map
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Most young footballers never reach their
full potential because they never
actually play in the real position.
Think about it. You probably didn't even
choose for yourself what position to
play. One day, a coach just decided for
you. Maybe you were 10 years old. You
were too young to have an opinion, so
you just accepted it. And now, years
later, you're still playing that same
position just because that's what you've
always done. But listen, you might be in
completely the wrong position. And that
could be the reason you feel like you're
not improving, like you're always
struggling. Now, forget your actual
position. Because in this video, I will
teach you how to actually identify the
position that matches everything. Your
body type, your natural abilities, your
instincts, your playing style, your
mental strengths. And I won't give you
some surface level advice like if you're
fast, play on the wing, or if you're
tall, play center back. That's the kind
of generic thinking that puts players in
the wrong positions in the first place.
I'm going to give you real analysis to
help you understand your root position,
the position where all of your natural
characteristics align, where you can
play with flow instead of constantly
fighting against your own nature. By the
end of this video, you'll know exactly
where you should be playing. Let's get
into it. First of all, you should start
by reverse engineering yourself. And if
you've watched my other videos, you know
I talk about reverse engineering a lot.
But let me explain exactly what it means
in this context. Reverse engineering is
the process of looking at the end result
and working backwards to understand how
it was built. In football terms, it
means looking at who you are now as a
player and tracing back to your earliest
instincts, your purest reactions to the
game before any coach told you what to
do or where to play. This is crucial
because your childhood instincts reveal
your natural position better than any
physical test or tactical analysis ever
could. So, here's what I want you to do.
Close your eyes for a moment and think
back to when you were a child, before
you had a position. Before you
understood formations or tactics, what
did you naturally gravitate toward? Did
you want to go in goal? Did the idea of
diving to catch the ball with your hands
excite you? Did you enjoy being the last
line, the person everyone depended on
when everything else failed? If that was
you, there's something in your nature
that craves that pressure, that
one-on-one mental battle, that role of
being the guardian. That's instinct. Or
were you the kid who loved to tackle?
Did you get excited when someone was
dribbling toward you because it meant
you could win the ball back? Did you
naturally position yourself between the
ball and the goal without anyone telling
you to? If so, your instincts were
telling you something. You're built for
defending, not because you're slow or
too big to attack, but because your
brain finds fulfillment in the defensive
side of the game. Maybe you were
different. Maybe you were the kid who
always wanted the ball at your feet in
the middle of everything. You didn't
want to be stuck on the wing. You didn't
want to wait up front for passes. You
wanted to be involved in every play
connecting everything seeing the whole
field. You drop deep to get the ball if
your teammates weren't giving it to you.
That's a midfielder's instinct that need
to be central to control the rhythm to
connect defense to attack. You can't
teach that. Either you crave that
responsibility or you don't. These
instincts don't lie. Your natural
inclinations were revealing your root
position. But most players ignore these
instincts because a coach said, "You're
tall, play center back, or you're fast,
play on the wing." And over time, you
convinced yourself that's who you are.
You'll never reach your full potential
in a position that doesn't fulfill you.
Imagine if Messi had played as a
fullback his entire career. Could he
have done it? Probably. He might have
even been good at it. But would he have
become one of the greatest players of
all time? Absolutely not. Because the
fullback doesn't align with his
instincts, his natural positioning, his
need to be central and create. Messi
belongs in that false nine attacking
midfielder, inside forward area. That's
where his instincts, his body type, his
decision-making, his dribbling style,
everything comes together perfectly.
That's his root position. And you could
see it even in the clips as a kid. He
would be at the center of every play.
Now there are players who can perform in
different positions. Look at Valverde or
Kamovvinga. He can play as a central
midfielder and sometimes even right
back. But watch him closely. No matter
where he's positioned on the team sheet,
he always fulfills his needs in one
specific area of the pitch. His instinct
is box-to-box midfielder. You can move
these players around tactically, but
they will still play in their natural
way. Now, I know not everybody had the
luck to play a lot of football as kids.
Maybe you started late. Maybe you didn't
have access to pickup games or street
football. Maybe your early football
memories are just structured team
practices where you were told exactly
where to stand. That's fine because I'm
going to give you practical discovery
methods that you can use right now to
identify your real position. Method one,
play multiple positions intentionally in
smallsided games. This is the most
powerful technique you can use and it's
accessible to almost everyone.
Small-sided games are perfect for
position discovery because they force
constant position rotation. There are no
fixed positions in these games. One
moment you're defending, the next you're
attacking. Then you're in the middle
linking play. This fluidity is exactly
what you need. Here's what you do. Find
pickup games, footsole sessions, or
small-sided training games. And instead
of just playing, be intentional about
experimenting with different roles. One
game, focus on defending. Position
yourself deeper. Make it your priority
to win the ball back, to stop attacks,
to be the first line of defense. See how
it feels. Do you enjoy the challenge of
reading attacks? Do you find it easy for
your physical abilities, or does it feel
like you're never comfortable? Next
game, play as a creator in the middle.
Drop deep to receive the ball. Try to be
the connection point between defense and
attack. Focus on making passes. Another
game, push high as a forward. Focus on
getting in goalc scoring positions. Try
also playing wide. The beauty of
small-sided games is that they force you
to experience all of these roles
organically. You can't hide in one
position because the game demands
constant adaptation. Pay attention to
your sensations during and after these
games. And just as importantly, which
roles felt like you were forcing
yourself, your body and mind are giving
you feedback. Listen to it. But why
smallsided games work for this better
than 11v11? In 11v1, positions are too
defined. If you're playing right back,
you're stuck there for 90 minutes. You
can't experiment. You can't feel what
it's like to be a striker or a
midfielder. But in 5v5, positions are
fluid. You might defend a counterattack,
then immediately be the one making a
forward run. You might start a play
deep, then finish it in the box. The
game forces you to experience multiple
roles in a single session. And because
small-sided games are less formal than
team matches, there's less pressure. You
can experiment without feeling like
you're letting your team down. You can
try being aggressive in attack, even if
you're normally defensive. You can drop
deeper even if you usually play forward.
As you play these games in different
roles, pay attention to this thing. When
the game gets very chaotic and positions
break down completely, where do you
instinctively position yourself? Your
instincts won't lie when they're given
the freedom to express themselves. Now,
the second technique is properly
activating flow state. And this might be
the most powerful method for discovering
your true position because flow state
reveals who you authentically are as a
player when all the mental noise
disappears. Here's something incredible.
Japanese neurologists performed MRI
scans on Neymar's brain while he played
football and compared it to amateur
players and other professionals. What
they found was shocking. Most players
showed massive activity in the
prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain
responsible for conscious thinking and
decision-m. But Neymar's brain was
almost silent. This is flow state. His
body was moving effortlessly,
instinctively, without conscious
thought. And in this state, his natural
positioning, his movement patterns, his decision-m,
