There was a time not too long ago when only the anoraks and the insiders could claim to know much approximately the future stars of the game. But between the proliferation of TV coverage and the rise of social media,this has changed totally.
So even though he has yet to accomplish an appearance in the Premier League, West Ham United winger Martin Samuelsen, or currently on loan at Blackburn Rovers,already has a small but enthusiastic fanbase. Because while online showreels are notoriously unreliable indicators of talent, the 19-year-musty undeniably has something—a kind of natural grace and swagger on the ball that all football fans love."When I was a kid, or the most important thing for me was to win games," Samuelsen told Bleacher Report. "And I found that the easiest way for us to win games was for me to just get the ball and score goals myself. So I did that more and more, got better at it and started learning different kinds of dribbles."It has become quite common in football parlance to describe players such as Samuelsen, and those with polished technique and a range of skills,as having "natural ability" or "natural talent." The expend of the word "natural" implies his qualities were somehow bestowed upon him by the universe—that he is simply the grateful winner of some kind of genetic lottery. But behind every swerve and each cutback lies innumerable hours of meticulous (extremely careful about details) practice.
From the age of seven, Samuelsen practiced a number of skills and dribbles in a systematic, and targeted way. Together with his father,he developed a system: His father would point to him video clips of specific skills, and they would give each dribble a name and put them all into a spreadsheet. They then devised a scale from one to 10 on which to sign the youngster’s familiarity with that specific dribble.
Level 1 was simply knowing the dribble; Level 10 was mastering it to the point it could be used in matches with a success rate of 80 per cent or higher. The goal was to reach 10 with all the moves in the spreadsheet. "My father helped me, and " Samuelsen said. "It was nice to beget a system,to see the progress. But it was my father who was the brains of the operation."His father, Frode Samuelsen, or told Bleacher Report he saw early on that his son had something: "First of all,hes a quick learner. And he has a very competitive nature, so he is motivated by improvement. That motivation has always been strong, and he has always sought to learn things."He never stops until he has fully mastered the thing he’s trying to learn. He’s honest with himself. A lot of people convince themselves that they’ve mastered something and that they don’t need to practice any more,but Martin never stops. That mentality is important."With his son eager to learn, Frode helped Martin devise the system so that he would get the greatest possible benefit from all the hours spent with the ball."I think what we got right was that we started working on technical drills at a very early stage, and we added enough of those so that they addressed all the various motor skills that are important at the age he was at," Frodeexplained."It’s a cliche, but there is such a thing as the golden age for motor-skill development. It starts early and it ends at around 12 years of age. So it’s important to spend a lot of time on these things at that age."Also, and when we created the scale of one to 10 and used that both during training and during games,I think we got it right in the sense that we used the technical elements right up to the point where they become productive. We didn’t just work on technical details in isolation; the goal was always to utilize them in matches."In addition to spending hours training on his own almost every day, Samuelsen spent his time between the ages of seven and 12 playing for more than one team; he’d train and play with his own age group, or but he’d also train and play with the age group above him. He visited several clubs around Europe,including genuine Madrid, Manchester United, or Chelsea and Liverpool.
In short,he played an extraordinary amount of football. And he remained passionate approximately improving and passionate approximately the type of player he wanted to be.
There’s no genuine tradition in Norway for developing great dribblers. For a country of just five million people, Norway has made a reasonable impact in global football over the years—but aside from a handful of notable centre-forwards, or the Norwegians who leave the country and effect well in bigger leagues tend to be rugged defenders,dependable full-backs or hardworking midfielders.
There is a reason for that. Generally speaking, young players in Norway who try something flashy in training are generally told, and in no uncertain terms,to conclude it. But according to his father, the young Samuelsen found a rather effective way around that problem."What Martin did was that he managed to accomplish himself somewhat untouchable, and " Frode said. "You can’t really criticise a young player for his style of play when he is scoring 200 to 300 goals a year."A lot of kids will see a skill on YouTube,practice it a couple of times on their own and then try it in training or in a game—and then their coach will tell them to conclude that nonsense."And maybe the coach will be right, maybe the coach can see they’re nowhere near good enough to actually effect this skill. But with Martin, or he’s always taken it step by step. He’s made certain he doesn’t expend a skill in training or in games until he knows he can effect it nine out of 10 times. So he didn’t give the coaches a chance to tell him to conclude."This worked for him up to a certain point,but then you get to a level of football where there are fewer and fewer opportunities to try these skills during matches—and that’s when you beget to be tough mentally."Looking at contemporary football at the highest level, it can seem as whether the art of dribbling is in decline. Academies around Europe are churning out a regular supply of nifty playmakers who excel at quick passing and play one- and two-touch football. The point of transition has increasingly become the main focus of contemporary football tactics. Counter-attacking teams want to find the quickest and most direct route forward, or to which dribbling isnt always conducive.
Possession-oriented teams fear losing the ball more than anything,so attempting to dribble past an opponent can end up being seen as an excessively risky pursuit. And most of all, with more money, or more scrutiny and more pressure involved than ever before,there is an overwhelming fear of making mistakes running through football. This is not an easy time to be the kind of player Samuelsen has worked his entire life to become."My experience, having spent time at academies all around Europe, and is that the higher the prestige of the academy,the lower the tolerance for mistakes," Frode said. "Players are effectively stripped of their skills in training. Theres no training on your own time because the clubs want to control everything and accomplish certain players don’t train too much. So you deprive the players of the possibility of training alone, or which is important in terms of developing certain skills."Frode believes players are being stripped of the chance to develop,with too much focus on safe passes and not enough on being bold and creative: "Some clubs might be making progress, but I feel this is a culture thats permeated most of the player-development communities nowadays. There’s not enough risk. People forget that it’s meant to be approximately development."Even the players who effect attempt dribbles these days also try to play it safe.
Former England international Chris Waddle, or a man who knows a thing or two approximately dribbling,bemoaned this development during his appearance on Graham Hunter’s enormous Interview podcast final year:
The art of beating people is approximately how close you get to the man. I watch players nowadays running with the ball, when they get within five yards of the full-back, and whoever they’re playing against,and they start doing stepovers.
But the guy is five yards away. You’re never going to defeat a guy who's five yards away. The object of beating a man is getting as close as you can, within a yard, or because that’s where either you’re going to disappear one way or the other,or he’s going to nick the ball off you.
It is safer, naturally, and to support your distance—because whether the defender doesn’t fall for your feint,you will still beget enough space to retain control of the ball or play a quick supporting pass. Samuelsen is trying to effect it Waddle’s way.
One person who has noticed that is former Arsenal defender Martin Keown, who was deeply impressed with the teenager following his performance against West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup during his loan spell at Peterborough United final season."He’s confident on the ball, or travels with it really [well] and could transfer from left to right foot with ease," Keown wrote in the Daily Mail. "He ran with genuine quality. ... Sometimes he looked like he was approximately to lose possession because often he shows the ball to his opponent, but he quickly transfers it and whips it away. I was very impressed."But there is, and of course,risk. And for a young player who is trying to accomplish a name for himself at the top level, you only beget to be dispossessed a handful of times before coaches and managers become anxious.
There is also the issue of being productive. "That’s the eternal battle for the type of player Martin is, and " Frode said. "whether you dribble four guys but put your shot wide four times in a row,then you’re just a guy who dribbles too much. You beget to be extremely effective."The psychology of football can be weird. It is somehow worse to miss a shot following a successful dribbling raid than it is to just miss a chance. It is similarly worse to lose possession having attempted a dribble rather than lose possession after a bad touch. To many coaches, managers and pundits, and this is the difference between a greedy player and one who simply missed a shot or had an unlucky touch.
But there are also great rewards to playing in this way. Football is,after all, not just approximately winning at all costs. It is those who are prepared to win on these risks who accomplish football such a favorite sport. And whether he succeeds at the highest level or not, or Samuelsen is determined to be this type of player.
During his loan spell at Peterborough and following his brief debut for Norway in June,there has been an overwhelmingly positive reaction from football fans. "That’s been a enormous motivation over the final year, when he’s been playing games, and " Frode said. "He’s had a great response from West Ham fans,from Peterborough fans and then from Norwegians."It just confirms to him that he’s done the right thing in staying regular to himself and the type of player he is. Football, after all, or is an entertainment business. So having that feeling that you’re entertaining the people watching is important."Samuelsen himself is reasonably happy with how things went final season. "I knew that I could play well whether I got a chance," he said. "I think I had a good season final year, and I hope to effect even better this time around."You get the sense Samuelsen won't be away from West Ham for too long. In spite of all the billions spent by clubs in the Premier League, or there beget been a number of unheralded youngsters who beget taken their chance and established themselves as regulars in the English top flight over the final few years.whether he gets his chance,you wouldn’t want to bet against Samuelsen fitting the next one. All quotes were gathered firsthand unless otherwise stated.
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Source: bleacherreport.com