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DG: I was always chewing on chewing gum just so my
Jani Schmidt: Yes.
DG: tummy thought I was full.
Jani Schmidt: Welcome back to from first touch to first team. I'm Jan, your host, and today's episode is a little bit different. I'm currently in Germany to visit friends and family and I'm sitting in Frankfurt right now ahead of a big game for SC Freiburg who is currently coming second in the Bundesliga. Hence wearing my new Frankfurt jersey. Being back home gave you not only good memories but also the chance to zoom out and reflect. When I first started the podcast, I honestly didn't imagine that it would reach the level we're already at now, and I want to say thank you to everyone who's been listening and who has been part of the journey. Over the first ten episodes of this podcast, I have sat down with professional footballers who played in Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Croatia, Kuwait, Scotland, and even a few more men and women. Goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, strikers, players who went through professional academies and players who never came close to one. What I expected was that every journey would be completely different. and in the details they are. Nobody's path looked exactly the same. What I did not expect was how much they would agree on. Because when you listen back on the first 10 conversations, some topics are reoccurring. Different players, different countries, different decades, but similar learnings and lessons. So in this episode, I want to take you through three that I found most important. You will hear directly from the guests themselves, and I will add what I see from working with young players every week in Australia. If you're a young player, This is what the people who made it want you to know. And if you're a parent, this might change how you think about the next few years. Let's start with the one that comes up the most. Lesson one Rejection is not the end. It is usually the beginning. Almost every guest on this podcast has been told no. Not once. Most of them multiple times. Released from academies, cut from representative teams, told they were too small, too slow, not ready. And here's the thing that surprised me. When I asked them about those moments, none of them described it as the thing that nearly stopped them from playing football. They described it as the thing that shaped them. I want to start with Will Kennedy, because Will said something in episode one that I've thought about ever since. Will came through the Sydney of Sea Academy and is now playing for the Newcastle Jets in the A League. When I asked him about the players he grew up with, this is what he told me.
Will kennedy: the best players that I played with at 13, the boys that were the best at 13 or even up to 15. The ones that I'm thinking of right now, they're not professional footballers. If that makes sense. And there's so many players, there's so many boys that weren't that impressive at that age, maybe got released from academies and then went and played in NPL teams, but then they stayed consistent and they kept going and they peaked at the right time. I can think of so many boys right now that you thought, oh, it's kind of done for them because at 15 you think, oh, this is the be all and end all. And then out of nowhere, you see them when they're 17, 18, you're like, wow. Where's this player come from? And then, and then boom, they're getting professional contracts as well. So things can change so quickly in football, but also the kids are the best that, that are the best at 13. Most of the time, aren't professional footballers.
Jani Schmidt: Listen then back to yourself if you're a parent or player. The best players at 13 are many times not the ones who make it. And the ones who do make it are often the ones who got released somewhere along the way or are not yet seen. I see this constantly in my work. A 12 year old gets into an academy and the family treats it like the finish line. Another kid misses out and the family treats it like the end of the road. Both are kinda wrong. And will tell you why from the inside. The second story here is from Nicolai Müller. Nicolai played over two hundred games in the Bundesliga and was called up to the German national team. He grew up in the Eintracht Frankfurt Academy and this is what happened to him at sixteen years old.
Nicolai Müller: Frankfurt basically said, yeah, that's not good enough. You're too small to, ⁓ to make it to the under 17s. ⁓ yeah. And that was like, man, a dream comes to a end. ⁓ First of all, ⁓ a couple of tears and disappointment, ⁓ and think, yeah, that's it. And no professional career at all.
Jani Schmidt: Too small, not good enough, dream over. That is a 16 year old's honest read of the situation. And when I asked him what changed inside him after that, his answer was almost disappointingly simple. He said, I do not give up now, so I want to try it. if two or three other clubs say no, then I accept it. But that was not the case. He went to Greuterfurt, then Mainz, then Hamburg, then the German national team. And his first Bundesliga appearance came at twenty four years old. 24. He called himself a late developer and it shows you that the career can be so different and it can happen at a later stage. So don't give up. Now I want to bring in Marcus Eunice because his version of this is different again. Marcus did not get released. His body took the decision out of his hands.
Marcus Younis: remember one fifteens game I had a like a slight at ACL tear, so it was it was like that was a little six month in six month injury that I was out for. Came back from that and then I had a knee condition which took me out for the whole year as well.
Jani Schmidt: wow, yeah.
Marcus Younis: Came back from that, broke my collarbone. So I think from the age of fourteen to sixteen I had no football. So those were the years where I was off the pitch but learning so much.
Jani Schmidt: Fourteen to sixteen, no football. those are the
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exact years most family in this country believe decide everything. Listen to how he describes that period now.
Marcus Younis: I survived that being being a kid, you know, you're either gonna make it or break it in that in that position. I think I learned so much and I would never have changed what happened because, you know, became a better person, a a more resilient player as well. I think that's super important being resilient. So it was obviously there was development there when I was thirteen and started fourteens, but then I think the large amount of time I missed was so beneficial because, you know, I mentally I just became more resilient and strong.
Jani Schmidt: I would never have changed what happened. That is a player who lost two years of his development, saying the loss made him the way he is now. Marcus ended up going through the Wanderers Academy, making it to the A League, signing for PSV Eindhoven, and is now playing at Brontby where he has since our recording on the podcast been performing consistently and scoring goals. And you know what? Just this weekend he got called up for the Socceros for the first time. That's a massive achievement. And I'm very proud and excited for Marcus on his next step. Another one that we have to mention on this point is Keely Adamson, who recently came on the podcast and who has had an incredible journey from Northern Tigers, never being in an A League Academy, Who's now playing at QPR and just recently as well got his call up for the Socceroos to play against Brazil. Keely, we wish you good luck and we're very proud and happy for you. One more voice on this topic is from Alexander Fuchs, who came through the eighteen sixty Munich Academy and made his Bundesliga debut with Nuremberg. Alex had knee injuries through his under seventeenth and under nineteenth years and surgery on both hips since. I asked him what kept him going through all of it.
Alex Fuchs: I was like thinking, psychology I can do all my life? Football I can't. So I tried until s until the end. and even after after surgery on both hips, I came back to Sandhausen and had so much fun. I met amazing people. I was so happy playing in in the stadiums again. So I I would really say it's it's nearly always worth it. try it. Try it until the end, yeah.
Jani Schmidt: You heard it. Psychology I can do all my life. Football I cannot. And that's the same thing for a lot of other players that have maybe other interests. Some parts in life we can do for a long time. Football we can't. We have a limited time that our body can do and perform at the highest level. And that is the clearest argument I have heard for why you keep going for the setback years. Not because giving up is weak, but because the window is generally very short and everything else stays available way longer. Zach Zapsford said the same thing in episode nine in a simpler way. Just because one coach doesn't believe in you, the next one might. And Erin Nayler who is cut from her first professional club after three weeks, went on to sign for Olympic Lyon Bayern Munich, shows that the rejection is not the story. What you do in the months afterwards is the real story. On this note, I'm excited to share that after recording the episode with Alex Fox, we stayed in touch, discussed football in Australia, and he's very excited to come over to work with myself and the Eleade team to help young players playing in Sydney, to develop to the next level. I will share some more information over the next weeks, but we are very excited to have Alex on board our coaching team. This is lesson two. The sacrifice is real and nobody really posts about it. You heard the opening of this episode. That was Danny Jojevsky who played Champions League football against Chelsea, Schalke and Ajax. Let me play the full context because the line I opened with was not from his teenage years. It's from five years into his professional career.
DG: I had no money to my name I was 23 years old It was football talking, just waiting for that opportunity. It wasn't the money. I was playing five years professional. It was always, you know, lucky I had supportive parents that were able to afford me
Jani Schmidt: Yeah.
DG: living there. you know, when I'll get paid, I'll s you know, you're learning what you need. Pancakes. You can make pancakes, it's just flour, milk and an egg.
Jani Schmidt: Yes.
DG: Things like this, you're always hungry, you're young, you're always hungry. I was always I was always chewing on chewing gum because it would just you know, little things like that just so my
Jani Schmidt: Yes.
DG: tummy thought I was full.
Jani Schmidt: Twenty-three, five years a professional footballer. Chewing chewing gum so he did not feel hungry and making pancakes just because it was the easiest and cheapest way to eat food. That is not the version of professional football anyone is showing you on social media these days. And it is a large part of why I started this podcast. Here's the other side of sacrifice aimed squarely at the young players listening. This is again Will Kennedy talking about being thirteen to seventeen years old.
Will kennedy: I was very obsessed, I still am obsessed obviously, but I was maybe too far, too far the way where I'm like, if I want to be a footballer, I can't do this. I can't do that completely. Like completely shut it out. I can't go out and even though he's underage, I can't go drinking or I can't go to parties late at night, which is true. There is a massive element of that. where you've got to be sensible, you've got to realize what you can and can't do. And there's times where you're like, oh, well, if this is what I really want, you just can't be like other kids a lot of the time.
Jan Schmidt: I I mean, you would even be like, oh, my friends are going to the movies until 930 PM. You're like, no, I can't go. I have a game next day. well, maybe.
Will kennedy: Yeah, yeah, which like I don't think like yeah, that is probably
too far, especially as a kid. But that just that was just a reflection of my obsession. just that's it's all I wanted to do was to be a footballer.
Jani Schmidt: That is the honest version. Yes, the sacrifice is real. Yes, you will miss things your friends are doing. And also a fifteen year old who has no life outside football is not automatically closer to making it. Now there's a version of sacrifice that only shows up once you have actually made it and I do not think young players see this one coming at all. Marcus Yunis was twenty years old in Denmark at Brentby. This is what that actually looked like.
Marcus Younis: So tough. I think people realise, you know, you're twenty years old, living in a foreign country, you're on different time zones to your parents, you know, and family, so you can't even talk to them. The best time to talk to them is at training. And then when you're at training, when
Jani Schmidt: Yeah.
Marcus Younis: you finish training, they go to sleep. So there's that, and then there's the weather as well being an Aussie. And then it's
Jani Schmidt: Yeah.
Marcus Younis: you're training in zero degrees with snow and rain and wind. You know, then you finish training upset 'cause you didn't get to train with the full squad and then you're you're by yourself at home and then you fight against yourself and your own thoughts because that's ⁓ who you're only with, you know? It's you and your own mind. So that was ⁓ super challenging Environment for me. I wouldn't change it because, you know, things happen the way they did I think ⁓ that was just a massive learning curve and it was ⁓ it was very tough, I can't lie. It was very tough.
Jani Schmidt: That is a professional contract in Europe. The thing every kid listening to this says they want. But the reality is moving far away from home, finding a new place, and when football is everything, it can be a very challenging time. So make sure that you build your life for football, but ensure that you have a life outside of football that keeps you happy and grounded. And Alexander Fuchs added something else that reframes what his rear period was actually for.
Alex Fuchs: have to come back strong and it's I know everyone says it, but it's so true. I think you have to do something extraordinary. Like all the other guys, they are training every day and you can't I was not physically not so strong and during my rehabs I trained very hard and so I could I could gain more muscles and even you set new standards for like for mental toughness and resilience and it really helps you in the games because you know what you have done to come back and it gives you a bit of a advantage to know that.
Jani Schmidt: That is sacrifice, sacrificing spending time with your friends, doing something else that's maybe more enjoyable. Because he said everyone else is training, you cannot. So you have to find the thing they're not doing and do that instead. Nicholas Olson in episode ten told me he had roughly four weeks off in eight years. Four weeks in eight years. And when I asked Nicola what he would tell an Australian kid today, this answer started with enjoy it. Love the game. Only then the dedication, the sacrifice make sense.
Jan Schmidt: if a young Australian player would sit in front of you today and they say, I want to make it professional Nico, what is kind of the advice and maybe roadmap you would give them?
Nicolai Müller: Enjoy it, know, enjoy it and love it, love the game. That's for me the most important thing because you have to love it. You have to love to work hard, to give everything. To make it happen, there is a lot of sacrifice. You need dedication, you know, like to put everything to make it happen, your dream. That's the bigger thing. ⁓ there's always a bit luck in this game as well, the right moment, right timing. good example. My first Bundesliga appearance was 24 years old. That's where I played my first Bundesliga game. I was a late developer. Everyone knows my journey, but it's never too late. There's great examples, even in Newcastle. and there's so many boys that played NPL football but they won the premieres this year. it's amazing. There's always a chance.
Jani Schmidt: so if you're a parent listening and you're worried your child is not sacrificing enough, ask a different question. Ask whether they love it enough that the sacrifice does not feel like one. Being in Germany has reminded me how big football is in Europe and how much more players and especially young players here are watching football. Professional football is nearly on every single day and it is on at a time that is doable. Friday night, Saturday from 1 pm up until 8 pm at night. Sundays during the week there's Europa League, Champions League, Conference League. So players in Europe get to watch a lot of quality football live in the stadium or maybe even at home. That's massive. And you can't underestimate how subconsciously players are picking up parts of watching professional footballers and the learnings from it. Here in Germany, a whole city leaves and breathes the club. The home game on the weekend is massive, and I will definitely experience that again with Frankfurt today. Thousands of people heading to the stadium to support their team, which ultimately decides the emotional state for the rest of the weekend. And what does that mean for young players? They're watching live football week in, week out, watch their idols perform on the big stage, and subconsciously learn while enjoying the game. Throughout the podcast, multiple casts, unprompted, pointed at the same thing. Not training harder, not a specific drill, just watching football. Will Kennedy again and pay attention to what he is actually claiming here.
Will kennedy: I don't think I've met someone that's been, it sounds silly, but someone that's been as obsessed with watching football as me from like, from like my teammates when I was younger. Like I'd know everything that's going on in the
Prem because I was the biggest Chelsea fan.
Jani Schmidt: Think about what he just said. Everyone around him who made it was obsessed with playing. That was the baseline. That was not the difference. The difference for him was that he watched even more football than everyone else around him, and what he believes gave him a big advantage to understanding the game even better and being more advanced. This is something I say to almost every family and player I work with. You can train five times a week and still be missing a layer of the game. because the game is not only a physical skill. It is a reading skill and you learn to read it by watching people who are better than you in your position over and over. And this is not just something players do when they're young and dreaming. Marcus Younis is a professional right now and I asked him whether he still watches other football during the season.
Marcus Younis: being at home as well by yourself, you know, when you're cooking, you can chuck chuck the football on or if you're sitting down eating dinner, you chuck the football on or doing something. You know, I always had the football on and it was good being in Europe, you know. You had you were on so much better, you know. You either go at nine nine PM, watch a game and
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, it's it's way easier.
Marcus Younis: go to bed, whereas in Australia you gotta wake up at three, four in the morning. You know, I was watching the Champions League final the other night, first five minutes I went to bed. I couldn't do it. I went back home, went to bed.
Jani Schmidt: Yeah, I know. It's tough. Always at the football on, cooking, eating, whenever. And notice the honest part at the end. Being in Australia makes us harder. A hundred percent. There is no doubt about that. Three in the morning for a Champions League game is a real barrier, and I'm not going to pretend it is not. Marcus admitted he lasted five minutes of the Champions League final before going back to bed when he was living in Australia. The other side of it is though, the recording exists. The highlight exists. The full match replays exist. The barrier is smaller than it feels. And important part is that you make time to re-watch them. Use it. Rewatch the games, rewatch your own game. Even go and watch the A-League. There's parts that you can pick up from these professional players that you can help your own career and the way you're playing the game. Zach Sepsut in episode nine said it in a slightly different way. Watch what the bros do when the ball is nowhere near them. That is where the information is. And there's one more angle on this, and this one is for the parents, from Nicolai Müller.
Jan Schmidt: What was your dad like when you like you were training, you were playing, did you guys discuss because you said he was initially your first coach. ⁓ What was that like?
Nicolai Müller: Yeah, he actually he gave me advice and he watched all the training session when he when he drove me so my mom she was sitting in the car or had some coffee with other parents and but my dad actually watched it the session he gave me feedback after every every training but it was actually more like helping or what I can do better not all you have to do this and this and this so was and not not not pressure at all.
Jani Schmidt: His dad watched majority of his session and gave feedback after many of them. But the feedback was framed as help, not instruction. Not you have to do this, you have to do that. More like here's what I noticed and this is what you could do. That is the version of an involved parent that works. be present, watch, engage, but don't add pressure. If you're driving to kid to training two, three, four times a week and you're sitting in your car on your phone. There's something available to you there, but ensure that it's not direct information. It is asking questions and having an open conversation to understand what your son or your daughter is seeing when we're playing the game. So these are my first three lessons I share with you that I took from the first 10 episodes. One, rejection is almost universal and it usually arrives before the breakthrough, not instead of it. The best 13 years olds are mostly not the ones who make it. so stay patient, stay consistent, and your time will come if you really put all your energy into it. Two. The sacrifice is real and is bigger than what social media shows you. But it works when it comes from loving the game, not from fear of missing out on it. 3. Watch football properly, not as a fan, as a student of your own position. If there's one thing that connects all of these guests, it is that none of them had a straight line. Not one. And every single one of them was fine with that by the time they looked back on it. So today is the moment where I encourage you to listen back on the first episodes as there are more learnings and advice to gather Next week we'll have our next guest on and if you have a guest in mind you would like to hear from, don't hesitate to reach out to us with your recommendation. If this episode was useful, send it to one player or one parent who needs to hear it. Thank you for listening. Thank you for supporting the podcast. And remember, enjoy your football journey.