Co-ordination – Co-ordination is an obvious important factor when playing football because to kick the ball correctly, good co-ordination is needed. If swerve is going to be put on the ball, the foot must make contact with it in a very specific area. If co-ordination is not at its best then this would be very difficult.
Reaction Time – Good reaction time is essential because football is very unpredictable and as a player I must be ready and prepared for almost anything. At a corner kick, if the ball was to drop in the area, if the attacker has the better reaction time then it would result in a goal but if the defender has the better reaction time then it would result in an imperative clearance.
Agility – Agility is very important in football because I need to have very quick feet to perform skills to get past defenders. It is also vital because the game is so unpredictable, if the ball came to me in an awkward position I would need to rapidly adapt my body to execute to move I wish to do.
Cardiovascular Fitness
Stamina – To play football at a relatively high standard the need for good cardiovascular fitness is crucial (especially when playing in central midfield). If a midfielder was fully fit they should cover approximately 6400m in the first half and 6000m in the second. 28% of this would be at a walking pace and 26% would be sprinting full out. The rest would be jogging at a variety of different paces.
Muscular Fitness
Strength – A fundamental level of strength is important when playing football. Not necessarily being really muscular but having a good muscle to weight ratio is useful to have. The main thing is being able to hold your own, if you can do that then the other factors such as speed, agility and power should take care of everything else.
Flexibility – It is good to be flexible when playing football because it obviously means you can stretch further in tackles or just to obtain the ball. However it also means that you are less likely to attain injuries whilst playing.
Muscular Endurance – Muscular endurance is critical when playing football because the sport is very demanding to nearly every part of the body (especially quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius’) for the whole 90 minutes. If a player doesn’t have good muscular endurance then they are likely to get cramp in their muscles towards the end of the match which would hinder their play and maybe result in them being taken off the field.
