But if you’re running to the wrong place, speed doesn’t matter. Soccer intelligence matters a lot more. A great player still needs to be athletic and coordinated, but A faster brain is more important than a faster body. Get it meathead? |
Tier 1 athletes have both. Get it meathead? Speed must not run on your family. |
You don't need a stop watch to tell if a player is a fast soccer player or not. Yes, combines are done as form of fitness baseline but they are not used for player selection. |
Yes but . . . if you run a 6.4 second 40, then it does not matter how much soccer intelligence you have. Same goes for overall fitness. If you're not fit, then it does not matter how much soccer intelligence you have. This is why pro, college, high school, etc. teams all have various forms of timed runs that measure these things. |
And if you run a 6.4 second 40 it will show in game. But if you can always get to the ball first it doesn't really matter what your 40 time is. Situational awareness and anticipation can make up for mediocre 40 times. |
First cut in high school is based on speed. Speed only. Doesn't matter who's been on travel team. Skill doesn't matter. Lots of skilled players are trying out. There will be plenty to choose from. Above all, they better be extremely fast.
First cut is based on speed. It's timed. |
But not for recruiting purposes. |
And that is why HS is bad soccer in general. |
Meathead combine dad doesn’t get it. He thinks the rest of us are saying speed isn’t important. As was posted just go get the sprinters off the track team if speed kills. Taking 3 steps in wrong direction because of low soccer iq cannot be made up with a great 40 time. Examples of “slow” athletes at the elite level. Xavi, Figo, Rivaldo, Zidane and Pirlo. My guess is that you likely haven’t seen all of those play. But you would rather have a Lukaku or Yedlin. |
It is not really the 40 yard dash times.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2bb0/bdf11c9dae4600a31ae82011f93b0d359ff1.pdf |
So in summary, starting players were similar to non-starters in the things that the combines measure. So that means there must be another reason, other than 40 times why the players are both selected and are also starters. |
Maybe. But it is fast. |
So is a track meet and it is just as entertaining. |
OP for a real answer contact a strength and conditioning coach at a D1 school. Or an assistant coach at a D1 school. They will respond. |
As long as you admit that speed is important, then we are in agreement. There are basic physical attributes that one must possess in order to play. You must be fit. You must be athletic. You must be coordinated. You must have speed. Etc. Those players you mention above were all more fit, more athletic, more coordinated and faster than the vast majority of men. They were just below-average in speed in relation to other professional soccer players. Just a thought exercise: I have no idea how fast Zidane was at his peak, but let's assume he ran a 5.0 second 40-yard dash. Would he have been a better overall player if he instead ran a 4.4 second 40-yard dash, assuming he retained all his other skills and playing attributes? |