Is there an excuse for footballers to be one-footed?

Laurencio wrote:

CollieBuddz wrote:I'm going to make my points clear then I'm done with this.

I'm not expecting any player to do anything world class with their weaker foot. You act like everything a top level player does, someone in the sunday league couldn't. They don't, a lot of players ONLY do the simple thing. There's a few players in the premiership who I believe have the technical ability of a top sunday league or saturday league player. They are professionals because of physical ability, positioning, and vision. All I expect is that IF the best option is to play a quick/short pass, or even shoot (there's a lot of strikers who refuse to shoot with their weaker foot and will often waste an opportunity trying to shift to the other side) they do it.

Now from personal experience I don't believe it's hard to build confidence using your weaker foot. I don't think I ever used my left foot until I was 19. The same with my mate who I play football with a lot. We both started training our weaker foot at the same time and in about the same length of time we both became confident using it. Again nothing out of the ordinary. Just if, for example, we're through on goal and the only option is to shoot with the left foot, we can do it and get it on target. The amount of times I'd previously just thought I'd have to get the ball on my right and ended up losing possession was ridiculous. I started scoring much more just because defenders couldn't just show me onto my weaker foot, because I was still atleast a bit of a threat and I could work the keeper. I'd say it took 20 hours (over a few months) to get to that level. It's not as hard as you're making it sound.

A shit shot on goal is better than losing possession.

Going by that, there is NO excuse why a player who plays football nearly everyday can't do that. You agree that a two footed player is better than a one footed player, so what are you arguing against? I'll repeat, I don't want them to train their weaker foot to be as good Beckham's or Valencia's stronger foot(I don't know what you were saying in that paragraph). I just expect a professional to use their weaker foot even if it's just a last resort.

If you argue against that, I'm sorry but you just don't know football.

I never argued against that. As I said there are a million arguments as to why two-footedness is useful. What I said was that it takes extra effort, and because of that some players won't bother because it is more work than they "need" to do. The fact that they are professional footballers doesn't mean that they all are willing to put in the dedication and effort required, that's all. Being a professional doesn't directly translate to relative competence, and professionals will have many excuses. Because it does take extra effort and it does come in addition to what they already do, and hopefully in addition to any extra work you put in, unless you are naturally gifted of course..

In some cases, perhaps even many cases, the club is at fault for not demanding this to be standarized training. In Barca, Inter and Ajax ( That I know of) training your weaker foot is part of the general training regime, and the youth departments have several weak foot only training sessions. In an environment like that it's easier than one where it comes as an additional hour or so on the training field.

SBSP wrote:My dad brought this up earlier today. Surely all professional footballers should be at least somewhat competent with their weaker foot, but there are some players who will almost never use their weaker foot. Why?

CollieBuddz wrote:

Laurencio wrote:

I never argued against that. As I said there are a million arguments as to why two-footedness is useful. What I said was that it takes extra effort, and because of that some players won't bother because it is more work than they "need" to do. The fact that they are professional footballers doesn't mean that they all are willing to put in the dedication and effort required, that's all. Being a professional doesn't directly translate to relative competence, and professionals will have many excuses. Because it does take extra effort and it does come in addition to what they already do, and hopefully in addition to any extra work you put in, unless you are naturally gifted of course..

In some cases, perhaps even many cases, the club is at fault for not demanding this to be standarized training. In Barca, Inter and Ajax ( That I know of) training your weaker foot is part of the general training regime, and the youth departments have several weak foot only training sessions. In an environment like that it's easier than one where it comes as an additional hour or so on the training field.

Fuck it one more post.

Do you believe that a player not wanting to do extra training because they already do enough, or that they just can't be bothered to train their weaker foot is a valid excuse for not being competent with their weaker foot?

If you avoid that question with paragraph upon paragraph of text not relevant to what the thread is asking, can you provide me with a valid excuse for not being competent with their weaker foot.

NZG wrote:Am I the only one surprised that sbsp made a good thread about football??

SBSP wrote:Why so mean?

A footballer should at least be able to bury a chance from 6 yards with his weaker foot. Being one-footed shouldn't be an excuse for missing a sitter with your weaker foot.

Laurencio wrote:

CollieBuddz wrote:

Fuck it one more post.

Do you believe that a player not wanting to do extra training because they already do enough, or that they just can't be bothered to train their weaker foot is a valid excuse for not being competent with their weaker foot?

If you avoid that question with paragraph upon paragraph of text not relevant to what the thread is asking, can you provide me with a valid excuse for not being competent with their weaker foot.

Mostly you can't expect people to do more than they need to, there are lazy SOBs in all walks of life, so I don't really expect every professional to put in that extra effort. Which is why I don't see why being a professional footballer mean we should expect the, to do more than they need to. However if I was a manager then no, I would not find it a valid excuse and I would expect at least that level of dedication. A manager that doesn't demand at least last resort weak foot ability isn't doing his job.

NZG wrote:Am I the only one surprised that sbsp made a good thread about football??

ahlycotc wrote:

NZG wrote:Am I the only one surprised that sbsp made a good thread about football??

No, I'm surprised he made a thread.

SBSP wrote:

Jelavić7|EFC wrote:

SBSP wrote:

I don't get why you're laughing at that? The guy has obviously had cancer or something.

Cam wrote:SBSP's dad should join the forum

CollieBuddz wrote:

Laurencio wrote:

Mostly you can't expect people to do more than they need to, there are lazy SOBs in all walks of life, so I don't really expect every professional to put in that extra effort. Which is why I don't see why being a professional footballer mean we should expect the, to do more than they need to. However if I was a manager then no, I would not find it a valid excuse and I would expect at least that level of dedication. A manager that doesn't demand at least last resort weak foot ability isn't doing his job.

I can't fucking resist, I'm starting to think you're trolling, if you are then you're fucking brilliant.

To summarize:

You don't see the logic in SBSP's dad expecting players to be competent with their weaker foot. But if you were a manager you'd expect players to work at being competent with their weaker foot.

I don't understand the levels players have reached with their stronger foot through training it. But players are lazy SOBs that can't be bothered to do extra training.

You posted an objection to the the OP. But you haven't posted any excuse for a player not being competent with their weaker foot. (Apart from some bullshit about "You can't expect professionals who have to get to work at about 9/10 and go home at 2/3 to do extra work).

That is just brilliant that you typed so much about the above points. Absolutely fantastic.

Laurencio wrote:

CollieBuddz wrote:

I can't fucking resist, I'm starting to think you're trolling, if you are then you're fucking brilliant.

To summarize:

You don't see the logic in SBSP's dad expecting players to be competent with their weaker foot. But if you were a manager you'd expect players to work at being competent with their weaker foot.

I don't understand the levels players have reached with their stronger foot through training it. But players are lazy SOBs that can't be bothered to do extra training.

You posted an objection to the the OP. But you haven't posted any excuse for a player not being competent with their weaker foot. (Apart from some bullshit about "You can't expect professionals who have to get to work at about 9/10 and go home at 2/3 to do extra work).

That is just brilliant that you typed so much about the above points. Absolutely fantastic.

Actually I was puzzled by the logic because it claimed that being a professional should automatically mean that they should be competent with both feet. I wasn't objecting, I was asking why this was the case. I see the claim as only being possible in an ideal setting where all professional players are dedicated and willing to do the extra work required, or lucky enough to be under coaching which includes it into training. To expect every professional footballer to do that is simply unrealistic. Just like expecting every employee in any given business to put in extra hours and to be dedicated enough to do so, is unrealistic.

Obviously not all of them are lazy SOBs, some are. Others may be hindered by poor management, poor coaching or excessive training schedules. Others yet again may spend a considerable amount of extra time on specializing their natural foot to achieve a high level of accuracy. Some are content with having worked hard enough in the past to become a professional and are comfortable with simply maintaining their ability.

CollieBuddz wrote:

Laurencio wrote:

Actually I was puzzled by the logic because it claimed that being a professional should automatically mean that they should be competent with both feet. I wasn't objecting, I was asking why this was the case. I see the claim as only being possible in an ideal setting where all professional players are dedicated and willing to do the extra work required, or lucky enough to be under coaching which includes it into training. To expect every professional footballer to do that is simply unrealistic. Just like expecting every employee in any given business to put in extra hours and to be dedicated enough to do so, is unrealistic.

Obviously not all of them are lazy SOBs, some are. Others may be hindered by poor management, poor coaching or excessive training schedules. Others yet again may spend a considerable amount of extra time on specializing their natural foot to achieve a high level of accuracy. Some are content with having worked hard enough in the past to become a professional and are comfortable with simply maintaining their ability.

Are you obese or crippled?

Laurencio wrote:

CollieBuddz wrote:

Are you obese or crippled?

No, and no. Is there a particular reason as to why you are intent on launching personal attacks all the time?

CollieBuddz wrote:

Laurencio wrote:

No, and no. Is there a particular reason as to why you are intent on launching personal attacks all the time?

Woah woah, stop being so offensive. There's nothing wrong with being obese or crippled.

It's just the way you idolize what footballers can do really does come across as someone who possibly has not been able to play the game. When you said, "The majority of players can do things with their stronger foot that we can only dream of" you just sounded like someone who laps it up every time a commentator sees free kick or something and says "there's not many people in the world that could do that". It's wrong. That's just commentators over-hyping the situation because that's their job.

I've seen a sunday league player who scored from a corner in the pre-match warm up. We said he was lucky and all that. Then in the game he did it again but this time it was plum in the far corner. No keeper in the world would've saved it. This lad scored screamer after screamer most weeks. Unfortunately he was a bit of a psycho, he wasn't very fast, fit, or agile. But when he had space he could do what he wanted. He honestly had the ability in his right foot that a lot of professionals couldn't dream of.

The fact that you can't comprehend that just strikes me as someone who hasn't played the game, but I can tell you're passionate about it so I just thought maybe you weren't capable of playing.

No offence intended.

Laurencio wrote:

CollieBuddz wrote:

Woah woah, stop being so offensive. There's nothing wrong with being obese or crippled.

It's just the way you idolize what footballers can do really does come across as someone who possibly has not been able to play the game. When you said, "The majority of players can do things with their stronger foot that we can only dream of" you just sounded like someone who laps it up every time a commentator sees free kick or something and says "there's not many people in the world that could do that". It's wrong. That's just commentators over-hyping the situation because that's their job.

I've seen a sunday league player who scored from a corner in the pre-match warm up. We said he was lucky and all that. Then in the game he did it again but this time it was plum in the far corner. No keeper in the world would've saved it. This lad scored screamer after screamer most weeks. Unfortunately he was a bit of a psycho, he wasn't very fast, fit, or agile. But when he had space he could do what he wanted. He honestly had the ability in his right foot that a lot of professionals couldn't dream of.

The fact that you can't comprehend that just strikes me as someone who hasn't played the game, but I can tell you're passionate about it so I just thought maybe you weren't capable of playing.

No offence intended.

I said that the players who play in the top leagues can do things with their natural foot that most can only dream of. This is not actually an overestimation, it's the truth, that's why they are professional footballers at the very top to begin with. Fitness isn't all that separates the best from the not so good, actual ability does play a fairly big part. I don't idolize footballers and to suggest that I do is ridiculous and completely unfounded, I respect the fact that many of them have put a lot of work and dedication into becoming a professionals, but I do not idolize them.

I don't "lap up" everything commentators say. In fact I'm highly critical of commentators, mostly disagreeing with them and finding their analysis of situations and ability to be highly inaccurate and simplistic.

What a specific sunday league footballer can do is irrelevant to the discussion. I never said that every professional player out there was better than every non professional player out there at everything.

CollieBuddz wrote:

Laurencio wrote:

I said that the players who play in the top leagues can do things with their natural foot that most can only dream of. This is not actually an overestimation, it's the truth, that's why they are professional footballers at the very top to begin with. Fitness isn't all that separates the best from the not so good, actual ability does play a fairly big part. I don't idolize footballers and to suggest that I do is ridiculous and completely unfounded, I respect the fact that many of them have put a lot of work and dedication into becoming a professionals, but I do not idolize them.

I don't "lap up" everything commentators say. In fact I'm highly critical of commentators, mostly disagreeing with them and finding their analysis of situations and ability to be highly inaccurate and simplistic.

What a specific sunday league footballer can do is irrelevant to the discussion. I never said that every professional player out there was better than every non professional player out there at everything.

It is an overestimation. Stop thinking ability is JUST technical. Like I said earlier, a LOT of players are at the top level because of positioning, vision, athletic ability, and tactical discipline.

How is it irrelevant to the discussion when I changed the topic of the discussion? I decide what I want to talk about.

We've already discussed the OP and came to the conclusion that there is no excuse for a professional to not be competent with their weaker foot. You conceded in that debate.