Attitude is so important
He says it because it is true. Virtually every single scout of the multitude we have interviewed (and we have the footage of some of these interviews as a free gift if you register on our website) put ‘attitude’ as one of their top three attributes in a player, and if you think about it, it’s not surprising. No scout wants to recommend a player into a club who has a bad attitude, no matter how good a player he is. It reflects badly on the scout, and you can guarantee that as soon as that bad attitude becomes apparent, the club will not have anything to do with him.
Another young lad may not be as good a player, but if he has a great attitude, the club is very much more likely to “have him in to have another look”. Read what Sir Alex Ferguson says about this in his wonderful book, ‘Leading’ - “If I had to choose between someone who had great talent but was short on grit and desire, and another player who was good but had great determination and drive, I would always prefer the latter.”
Attitude is not just about having the right attitude on the pitch, either. It’s about more than that. It pays to have a good attitude with regard to all parts of your life, and if you do, you will enjoy a much better quality of life overall.
If you watch a game of schoolboy football at any level, the players with the best attitude stand out. They are often, but not always, one of the best players on the pitch. They are enthusiastic. They work hard. They have great body language. Their heads never go down. They are vocal on the pitch and full of encouragement for their team mates. It pays dividends if you are like this in every single match you play, because you just never know who is watching. There may be only a few ‘mums and dads’ watching as far as you are concerned, but one of those supposed ‘dads’ may be a scout who has the ability to realise your dream and get you scouted.
So always play every match with a great positive attitude.