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.
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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,
decision-m,
everything was purely instinctive. This
is why flow state is the ultimate
position discovery tool. When you're in
flow, you can't fake who you are as a
player. Your conscious mind steps back
and your instincts take full control.
You naturally move to the areas of the
pitch where you feel most comfortable.
You make the decisions that come most
naturally to your brain and body. If
you're playing in the wrong position,
you'll never consistently enter flow
there. Your brain knows something's off.
But when you're in your root position,
flow comes naturally and frequently. To
trigger flow, you need the right balance
between challenge and skill level. Your
skills could be lower if you play in an
unnatural position. You could try
different positions and then see which
one activates flow easily. But when the
challenge matches your skill level
perfectly, that's when most players
today can't access flow state because
their brains are in the wrong position.
Before you can use flow to discover your
position, you need to prepare your brain
to actually enter flow. First, reduce
over stimulation. Cut back drastically
on short form content. I don't care if
you tell yourself, "I only watch it for
football tips." That content is designed
to fry your attention span. It's too
fast to teach anything meaningful and
it's destroying your ability to focus
during matches. I even do short form
content. The thing is, I try to get you
to watch my long form. Second, replace
cheap dopamine with real fulfillment.
Instead of scrolling, play football
outside, read, pass time with your
family. When you engage in activities
that require sustained focus and provide
a genuine satisfaction, your dopamine
system starts to reset. Third, reconnect
with reality. Get outside. Put your feet
on grass or sand. Get sunlight on your
skin. These simple actions retrain your
brain to find joy in the real world
instead of artificial stimulation.
Stick with these habits and within
weeks, your ability to enter flow will
dramatically improve. Now, here are
specific techniques to trigger flow
before and during matches. Do the
morning reset every morning. Go outside
and get natural sunlight. Close your
eyes and just observe your thoughts for
5 20 minutes. You're not trying to shut
your mind off completely. That's too
hard and unnecessary. Instead, think of
your mind like a river. Most people get
swept away by their thoughts. But if you
step out of the river and just watch it
flow, you start recognizing patterns.
Then do the spawning method. 1 hour
before your match, find a quiet spot.
Close your eyes and tell yourself, "I
have just spawned on Earth. Nothing
exists except what is happening right
now." Then shift into visualization, but
not just watching yourself play well.
Feel everything. The ball at your feet,
your body weight is shifting, the sound
of contact, the voices of teammates. See
yourself executing perfectly. Now, as I
said before, when you play in different
roles while in flow state, pay attention
to where flow happens most naturally and
frequently. In which position do you
enter flow easiest? Where does your
brain go quiet and your body just move?
Where do you feel most present, most
alive, most yourself? That's your
position revealing itself. Now, let me
introduce you to something very
important. The concept of your root
position. Most players think about
positions too specifically. They say,
"I'm a left winger," or, "I'm a
defensive midfielder," or, "I'm a right
back." But this is too narrow. This is
thinking about tactical positions, not
your fundamental nature as a player.
Your root position is different. It's
the core area of the pitch where
everything about you, your instincts,
your body type, your decision-making
style, your natural movements all align
perfectly. Think of it like a tree. The
root position is the trunk. The central
identity of who you are as a player. And
from that trunk, branches extend. These
branches are the tactical variations you
can play depending on what your team
needs. Let's say your root position is
central midfielder. That's your trunk.
That's your fundamental identity. But
from that route, you could play as a
six, a defensive midfielder who sits
deep, breaks up play, and starts attacks
from the back. Or you could play as an
eight, a box-to-box midfielder who
covers ground, links defense to attack,
and arrives in the box. Or you could
play as a 10, an attacking midfielder
who operates between the lines, creates
chances, and gets forward. So once
you've identified your route, you can
start exploring the tactical variations
within it. And here's a framework that
will help you find the exact variation
that's perfect for you. The ikyu method
for football. Ikiguy is a Japanese
concept for finding life's purpose, but
it works perfectly for position
discovery. It's based on four questions.
What are you good at? Identify your
strongest natural abilities. Are you an
elite dribbler, a precise passer,
exceptional at reading the game
defensively? Next, what do you love
doing? Think about what brings you joy
on the pitch. Do you love controlling
tempo from deep? Does scoring goals give
you the most satisfaction? Does winning
tackles make you feel alive? Passion is
everything. What does your team need?
Consider where you can make the biggest
impact. Maybe your team is desperate for
a creative playmaker. Maybe they need
defensive stability. Find the gap you
can fill within your root position. What
will get you noticed? Think
strategically about visibility. Which
variation of your root position will
showcase your talents most effectively
to coaches and scouts. But remember, the
eeky guy method only works within your
root position. Don't use it to
contradict what your instincts have
already revealed. You now have the
tools. Reverse engineer your childhood
instincts. Experiment intentionally in
smallsided games. Track your flow state.
Identify your root position and use the
eeky method to find your perfect
variation. Stop forcing yourself to be
something you're not. Stop playing a
position just because that's what you've
always done. Find your root. Play to
your nature and watch everything
transform. Hit the protocol and take action.
action. [Music]
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