I started playing around 6 or 7 up until my muscle tear around 16. I think it gave me balance but more important is it gave me mental acuity and tactical wisdom. I used to play as a cm, I had to not only see where to make passes, how to find space but also learn how to make decisions and I’ve found that, the way I determine which decisions to make have been influenced by football. Football is such a circumstantial and decision-based game, that’s why players like Iniesta, Messi, De Bruyne etc. are the best among a sea of really talented players, because they not only see things others can’t see, but their decision making and how they reach those decisions is something really worth taking note not just in Football but in life as a whole.

Everyone is talking about physically injuries but for me it was mental. When I was a teen I was so competitive, I wanted play all the time and win all the time. I never quite got to academy level, but my school was one of the best in the region so there was an expectancy on us. And I played Sunday football, which was always way too serious. But by the age of 20 I’d totally fallen out of love with the game and used to get really anxious before games. I only kept going till mid-twenties cos my dad is football mad and I though he’d be annoyed if i quit. I think the amount I played in my teens was too much, that I just got burnout mentally.

I don’t know man. Kids have endless amounts of energy. I remember running around all day, do you even get muscles injuries as a kid? I’m genuinely curious, like can you pull a calf muscle?

Like last year and have had 1 injury

I’ve played for part of the year for about 25 years and running w my current old man league. Im 34 now and I’m just fatter and slower but I’m really lucky to not have any joint problems

Kids that age have LOADS of energy. Also “3-4 matches at the weekend” sounds bad but remember they are playing short games on small pitches it’s not like they’re playing 90mins in full size pitches.

The kid will be fine. It’s quite a lot but not too much in my opinion (I’m no expert but played football for various teams for many years)

started at 6 I think. I played at an youth team of an bundesliga team and it made me hate playing football. As for my body I think I got pretty tall because of it. Got good Vision and tactical thinking. Hope thats english

I like sports science as a hobby, in general, i don’t think children should specialize until they get competitive. I know a lot of top American college systems like to select recruits who play multiple sports, and then specialize once in college. For a child as young as 10, have them play multiple sports, track and field, tennis, wrestling, gymnastics and biking are sports you could have kids do that will complement their athletic performance. Football in Europe has the same advantage as weight lifting had in communist countries such as China, and Russia as they have so much talent and can afford to be super specific all the time with a high intensity, it doesn’t matter if 80% of people burn out, because you will still have hundreds of thousands of kids from the millions who can stay in the system, and from there you pick your top players.

The level of arrogance it takes to believe that you know better than a Premier League’s team youth academy what is best for young footballers… God, how pampered were you? 😂