How good are "bad" Premier League players?

[faymantaray]

Anyone have any stories of encounters with pros?

How vast would the gulf in skill be if the worst reserve on the worst PL team were to show up at your Sunday league match?

 

[dontcallme]

Anyone have any stories of encounters with pros?

How vast would the gulf in skill be if the worst reserve on the worst PL team were to show up at your Sunday league match?

Lol, they’d batter us.

 

[ljinko888]

I remember seeing clips of Phil Jagielka in training pulling off amazing volleys and pinging balls with pin point accuracy and perfect weight. He was hardly a bad player of course. Very solid defender for many years at club level and played for his country. But he was never considered a great defender and in matches never renowned for playing out from the back. So the fact in a sterile training environment he was doing stuff for fun that would be "best player i've played with" stuff in Sunday League football speaks volumes.

 

[Tucker]

I think at the very top of the game it’s fine margins between the really top players and those that are on the fringes. It might not look like it on the pitch but there’s a rizla between being Harry Kane or being Danny Ings. Now I’m not for a minute suggesting Ings is as good as Harry, not at all. But if Harry hadn‘t had the luck coming through at Spurs, and maybe had needed to drop down to the championship for a regular game, got into the groove of it and perhaps didn’t looks after himself as well as he might. If he’d done his ankles early on, and wasn’t the 100% committed pro that he is, he might be playing for West Ham and being lucky to hit double figures every season. He might even be down in the championship scraping a career at Swansea, or Norwich or whoever.

Good, on his day great, and still out of this world technically, but not top top class. I watched the national league play off final, John Bostock was playing for Notts County, he was considered a top youngster. When we signed him it was a coup, Barca had wanted him he was that good. But for whatever reasons he didn’t go on to be the player he was meant to be. Another former payer of ours featuring yesterday was Alex Pritchard. Again fancied by Barca as a youngster, and again technically outstanding. I remember him being on loan at Brentford, my brother in law (Brentford st holder at the time) used to rave about him. But he gets a really nasty injury and it fucked his career.

There must be dozens, maybe hundreds like Bostock, and a fair few like Pritchard people who either didn’t work hard enough, or didn’t get the luck needed to succeed.

So long story short, if you’ve made it as even the shittest premier league player, you’re probably insanely good and insanely lucky. Likely able to blow any Sunday league player out of the water without really breaking a sweat.

 

[SlotBadger]

Anyone have any stories of encounters with pros?

How vast would the gulf in skill be if the worst reserve on the worst PL team were to show up at your Sunday league match?

One of my current teammates played in the Premier League for a couple of years (7-8 years ago), spending most of his career in and around the Championship.

He was never the worst reserve of a shit Premier League team, but definitely never considered to be anything other than an okay left back for a club flirting with relegation.
The main difference is how he’s so comfortable taking the ball in any situation and how nonchalantly he’ll retain possession. It doesn’t hurt that he can ping 30-60 yard passes on either foot.

He was very one-footed when I watched his matches as a pro, so it always makes me think of our infamous “one-footed” players (often those cursed with being better on their left, mainly).

The gulf in quality is not particularly vast - most likely because quite a few of our other players were at pro teams as youngsters, etc. - but there’s still something which stands out, even when he’s doing something that appears to be ordinary.
Decision-making is the standout for me.

 

[Gassin's finest]

I remember two lads in my year at school. One was called Graham Rennison, the other Andrew Dawson (yes that Dawson). They were both absolute light years ahead of everyone in inter-schools tournaments, represented district, played for local clubs etc.

Rennison signed for York City, was sent off in his first appearance, and never played league football again. Dawson signed with Norwich and eventually joined S****horpe.

So if those lads only ever made it to the third tier, max, then a PL player is probably beyond imagination in comparison.

 

[faymantaray]

He was very one-footed when I watched his matches as a pro

Thanks for sharing, why do you think this was? Less time on the ball?

 

[ralphs bald spot]

Anyone have any stories of encounters with pros?

How vast would the gulf in skill be if the worst reserve on the worst PL team were to show up at your Sunday league match?

I played decentish football we came up against some ex pro's and there touch alone separate's them and if they want to give it out as well they will batter you without the ref knowing - if you play against top players you wouldn't get a kick go down the front at a game and see how quickly they move the ball

 

[SlotBadger]

Thanks for sharing, why do you think this was? Less time on the ball?

He was nearly always played on the left side, so it stands to reason he’d use his left foot more frequently, but he’s decent with his right. I guess he wasn’t prepared to risk fucking up in games that truly mattered.

I’ll ask him if a time arises where I won’t come across as a rude prick

 

[Croftwoodspurs]

For the team I played for we had An ex Wash Ham player by the name of Mike Kean(Kevin Kean dad). He played one game when he must have been close to Sixty, he was head and shoulders above everyone... Just the first touch was ridiculous, not only brought down but able to get pass people.. Also they are just able to ping a pass 40 to 60 yards , inch perfect...

 

[PCozzie]

Had a lad a year below us at school who was with Arsenal as a goalkeeper in one of their age groups (he didn't make it) and every so often he'd play up a year for us, but as an outfield player and he was head and shoulders above anyone in our team (and we weren't a bad side).

Then as an adult our town side got a new manager who brought with him a load of u-18s from the district team he'd left. One of whom was a centre forward who in his first season with us scored 50+ goals. He wasn't around for one game and when we asked where he was, the manager said he was training with England Schoolboys. I left and went elsewhere (couldn't compete with that level) and the next time I saw him, a couple of years later, he was being introduced on the bench for Havant and Waterlooville against Liverpool in the FA cup on Sky Sports (when H&W went 1-0 and 2-1 up at Anfield).

Also occasionally came up against Stephen Clemence in one of the Broxbourne sides in the Herts County Cup at youth level. Way too good for us.

 

[Misfit]

Some of the very best on the planet.

Of the hundreds of millions (250M apparently) who play the game each year, only about (after a quick google-fu so very rough and shoddy estimate) 130K get paid anything to play it. That alone puts them in the top 0.05% of football players. Those who play at the higher levels in the stronger national league systems represent a small fraction of that 0.05% themselves.

I sometimes struggle to get out of a comfy armchair.

Still reckon I could nutmeg Kochesky though.

 

[Ginola+Tonic]

I’ve played against Jason Dozzell, Ruel Fox, Micky Stockwell, Darren Huckerby and Adam Drury when they was all retired pros and just playing for their local teams.
It was just about semi pro level.

It was more their footballing brain rather than their raw attributes that stood out, they was always a few steps ahead.
I was a striker and Jason Dozzell was a centre back at this time, I scored a brace, he was a donkey.

But I must say Mick Stockwell was outstanding, barely moved, but never gave the ball away and controlled the game from centre midfield.

So obviously they’re at the end of their playing days here and the football brain definitely stood out.

 

[Flobadob]

I played at Norwich for a season in the same age group as the Murphy brothers at U16’s. They actually played a year above their age at the time and the saying “one in a thousand make it” was rolled out and everyone just went “well it’s them then” haha. They’d literally go whole weeks without putting a foot wrong in training, they were immense and sooo fucking quick. Jacob is the quickest person I’ve witnessed closed up in my life. Probably actually played with some players in my time that were better than them though, a lot of really talented lads get injured at the wrong time or get distracted by fanny or other things (Me ).

 

[cwy21]

I've heard stories in the US of the career bench players in the NBA absolutely destroying solid college players in 1 on 1. I imagine the gap is pretty similar here.

 

[punkisback]

Played against and with a spur youth player when I was younger. Six years old and running the game against mostly 10 year olds.
someone like Hojberg will look like zidane compare to us.

 

[Yiddo100]

Anyone have any stories of encounters with pros?

How vast would the gulf in skill be if the worst reserve on the worst PL team were to show up at your Sunday league match?

We’d get battered, I have mate who plays national league and recently national league south, so not elite but a decent level. I’m not great at football but I have some basic skills and the level above just from us is crazy. So the level to even the worst premier league player would be bonkers imo.