how do you deal with it?......

yeah i would luv t oknow this 2, last year i was on the bench every game at least once, i was the most benched player despite being the top scorer and a centre mid,

play ur @$$ off when u get on the pitch and prove to the coach u shouldnt be there

In the first half of this season, i played about 25 minutes of every game. I was pissed off, because i knew i had a better potensial then the other guys out on the pitch. But then i started to do it more seriously, i practised the whole summer in my garden, and now i play every match, not even 1 minute on the bench. I see myself as one of the most important player on the team now.

score a hat trick coming off the bench like i did

Stay mentally tough. James Beattie was a benchy for his team as a youngster. The other players were brilliant and he was not better than average. Always got knocked back, he stayed tough.

Eventually he got his break. He was the only one who made it, the others who were talented never played football professionally and became butchers and bank managers etc.

My advice:

Watch the game, listen to the coach. Watch the players on your team who you are likely to sub on for. Watch the opposition player (s) you are likely to be playing against. Don't be inactive and sulky. Make it an important part of your learning as a player to observe, make mental note of weaknesses and strengths and be fully prepared as you can, so that when you get on for 10 minutes, you can be moe productive than the guy who was on for the rest of the match in that position. Might take a few games, but you'll get more game time (unless you don't ceoncentrate or your coach is a dumbar$e).

It's really tough. Stay positive at all times. Good luck.

Mux, great advice. Welcome to the boards by the way. I've seen a few of your posts already and i'm liking all of them

I generally play all the time for my club team, but now at the university level it's very different. As a player coming off the bench, pay close attention to the advice Mux gave. Also, as a bench player, you wan't to be bringing the energy level WAY up when you get out there on the pitch. Give it your all for however many minutes you can give - that's what a coach expects of you and that's what you should expect of yourself. Yesterday I came off the bench during our uni game and scored a goal. Made me extremely happy and brought the energy level up. That's just what ya have to do. I've been down in the confidence level lately but that helped alot.

Thanks mate.

On that energy thing. When you come on with 'fresh legs' (hate that phrase - let's change it .... 'fresh mind') ... YOU really have a great chance to change the tempo of the game by injecting your energy into your team. Your determination, desire, passion, speed (!), and dynamism, can have a big impact and be infectious on the rest of the team.

What the opposition sees: Player coming on, putting himself about, he's quicker, not tired, he's exploited our LB (or whatever) twice in the space of a minute, he's encouraging his team mates, he's leading by example ... and their condifence will drop, even if only slightly.

What your team sees: Bloody hell !!! Why aren't we playing like that ?? Get the ball to him !!!

It's not a rule of thumb. Sometimes, of course, everyone understands you can come on and just not get up to game speed, or not quite fit in, or not read the play. That's inevitable. Preparation, observation, and THINK about what you're going to do when you go on .... mentally rehearse what you're going to do while you sit on the bench, think about the skills you're gonna use, visualise yourself making the run into space, beating the oppo player, putting in the cross, taking the shot ... and your MIND will be up to game speed. That's more important, your body will follow naturally because I assume you're fit enough to play

If you are active, or inactive, you can still learn, and still be 'playing' in your mind. And they do say, sport is 80% mental. It is, and I could give you plenty of real examples in my experience, but at another more relevant time I think.

There's another thread about best goals you've ever scored, I cant be bothered to find it right now (lazy, sorry, I'm doing something else more urgent), but I put a post inthere from my own experience about coming on as a sub and scoring two goals. Nothing particularly to add in terms of mental preparation, but it is a real example of me joining the game with energy and making that impact we've just spoken about.

http://www.soccerpulse.com/forum/index.php...pic=37867&st=45

Post 58. ^^^ ok I went to find it, I'm not lazy.

Remember, James Beattie never gave up, despite those painful knockbacks and always wondering when he'd get on. I've known it to last a whole season for a player and then the following season, he'll play like a man possessed. He's had the advantage (if you can call it that) of builidng up that desire to succeed and be determined over a longer period. Coach wondered why he never played him the previous season!!

Stick with it, you're not the only person to have this happen, you won't be the last person either, but it's how you deal with it and use the situation to the best of yur ability, that will determine what you get out of it.

Again, good luck (been there, done that)

Great post mux, with great examples also yeah enough said

i remember one time, i was on the bench the whole season, every game i would come on last 10 if i was lucky, scored about 15 goals, but when the other strikers dad is the coach, it can't be helped!

I think you just have to stick in there and if you do come of the bench make sure u show how hungry you are to play and release all the anger/emotions that are trapped inside of you all that time on the bench.
Iv just exprienced being on the bench in my first game but luckily my coach knows me well and i scored a goal in the opening minutes of my next game (which was yesterday). Its like mux said about visualizing, it worked with me, i imagined every night i went to sleep what was going to happen, i couldnt stop thinking about what move i was going to do, which trick and even which dirty foul! I dont think its about proving that you are the best player when you do eventually come on, its about showing how much of a team player you are and how much you can contribute, most coaches should take account of that
anyways hope that helps

yeah ive experienced being on the bench for a whole year whilst i was playing under 17s ( i was 16 at the time). Now in the previous year in the 15s, i was a regular starter,scored a handful of goals, then for the following season, just me and a couple of my team mates from the 15s got selected for the 17s.

So now that the scenario is set,i was pretty much a benchy the whole year, the starting 11 were very strong, but i could not break through, trained my ass off in training etc. But i just did not get the break. Partly because the coach wasnt aware of players training hard, he had this starting 11 in his mind for every week, they were quality players...

even if they didnt turn up to training, theyd still start. Of course this pissed me off something bad. At times you feel really low, once you get on the park, you've got no confidence to play. Come semi finals, few players got injured, i got my shot, played all the semis and even the grand final.

Even though i didnt play too well, i believe the key is patience. As for keeping your confidence, get together with mates during the week, and have a serious game of football,and just try and match it to what will happen in a real game( pretend its the last 20mins you get on etc)

Or just be involved in school football, cause i believe that helps alot as well

I have never had this problem of being on the bench consistently but one of my best friends this season was on the bench every game occasionally getting the last 5 minutes of some matches and it made him pretty depressed almost to the point of quitting the team. in the end he stuck it out and played a few of the last matches for the full 90 minutes. so i believe the key is to just be patient and try your best in training.

Mux- that was a quality post up there and i would just like to congratulate you on becoming a respected sp member in the short time you have been here. keep up the top posts mate.

I just spent the last game of my highschool career on the bench. It sucked- I'd played every other game that season. But I do what I'd like my teammates to do while I'm on the field- I cheer for my team, yell at the refs, and work my ass of in practice. I try to keep everything positive and be the best player during practice.

^WOW good stuff mate, is James Beattie that guy hu kept on headbutting Gallas this season i think.

just work your butt off in practice, and your time will come. show the coach that you deserve to be out there because you work hard in practice. also, make sure you are respectful, on time, and prepared. coaches dont like players who are smart alecs all the time.

believe that you can be better than those on the pitch......work hard and show that your commited...dont complain(it shows your proffesionalism)....thing will work out

No, you should complain, just not in front of the rest of the team. And don't get whiney or annoying about it. But if you are put on the bench, ask why, then after a couple of weeks of hard training, say you think you could do a job for the team and that you're desperate to get back into the team. That shows you're willing to work and want to play for the benefit of your team, which in turn, shows your professionalism.

Oh, and listen to Mux, he gets it spot on:

i have been on the bench last couple of games and it pisses me off! I mean im one of the best players in my team and im striker... First my coach says to me that i should challenge the opposite defenders and try to get in to the box (cause i love to dribble) then when i do that he says that i have stop dribbling and i have to keep passing the ball all the time. but i didn't listen him and now i start nearly every game on the bench.

when youg et the chance in a game show your stuff. and dont complian for playing time makes it worse...

Mental preparation, eh?


...maybe thats the trick.

lots of good players had to spend alot of time on the bench.
In the world cup robinho didnt start one game!:poke:

what you dont do is just pout and act all pissed in training just because you dont get time. you prove to the coach that you deserve to be there. i mean, you arent on the bench for no reason. last season, i played only about half (sometimes more or less) a game. from january until march of this year i trained every day for 2 hours working on every aspect of my game and it paid off soo goddamn much. now i start and play 90% of a game, and always getting comments on how much my game has improved.

bottom line is if you want time, train train train

well i was bench for my u-16 team
for most of the season since i was the youngest being 14
and then i started to improve everything
and now im one of the most important players of the team being a midfielder and defensive player
and in that season the last 6 games i scored 4 goals so if i can do it so can you
so yeah if i were you
i would give it all i got and show everyone that i have the potential to be better

Thought i'd like to shoot an update here to say things DO get better. I last posted here in Oct. 2005, which was my first year of university footy. I was a bench player, at the most. I didn't dress every game at all (I think I played maybe a total of 6 or 7 out of 15 games that season).

The next year, and my current year - I started every game. So work your butt off; what you give into this, you get out of it in different ways. Every minute counts!

i think it depends on the coach. last year i was on the bench being a sophmore for highschool. and we were a first year team and i was one of the few that have played for awhile. and i complained to her. and she said that made my spot worse.

and one other thing mate, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. practice is your proving ground. go all out at pratice wear you get to play.

I think the key here is not so much "complaining" (horrible choice of word there) but you need to ask your coach for CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Just simply ask what you need to improve on in order to gain more minutes on the field.

on the topic as well...
its hard for a keeper when your a sub, the first choice takes the whole 90 minutes and the sub only gets in when first choice is injured/away its impossible. sometimes the sub keeper only gets a game or none. so do i have to work even harder? and if i do how do i do that? its not like a keeper needs pace and i sprint faster than him.

in practice, if you have shooting just make sure you impress more than the 1st choice, try not to blame others if you make a mistake. that was a major fault of our keeper this year. he would make some really bad decisions then blame a player who was a mile away.

I'm on the bench all the time, probably because I'm assistant coach.

Yeah, Mux's advice is the best one, analyze the game before coming on, and then make the most of your chance.

Just keep your head down and train the best you can, put in extra hours and improve. If the coach can see that you are a better player (and is unbiased) than the other choices, it is inevitable that your chances will come. Your attitude on the pitch is also important, control your temper and don't get too selfish during play, pass when there is no chance of a shot or a cross. Also, study how your potential team mates play and imagine yourself in that team, what role you will play and how you will complement them.

Sometimes coaches don't choose the better players simply because they aren't able to fit into the system. After all, 11 players working in sync is better than 11 individuals.

If all else fails, well, hope that luck comes your way.