In terms of physical preparation soccer is undoubtedly behind other sports.
That said you must bear in mind some coaches, teams and players have been exceptionally successful without S&C training.
Strength training would make a big difference to a soccer club and some time, some where a club will adopt a proper policy and change the game.
This will take a unique change in the sport though as the culture of the sport does not encourage it.
The biggest factor in soccer though is skill. In my estimation and based on experience, I would think that skill has an approx 70% effect, influence or determination on game outcome, with physical taking up the most of the rest.
In most other sports like NFL, for example it’s the inverse.
This means that bang for buck it makes more sense to buy players who are skillful and develop them physically, invest in skill and whatever money is left over is spent on S&C.
Also, look at the sport. It’s a money driven sport, where logic and due diligence are foreign words, it’s more sensible to invest in the player recruitment, tactical awareness and preparation and use what’s left over for S&C.
And, again look at the pre-season and off-season. There is little time for actual player development - 4 weeks in some cases after the World Cup this year.
I’m talking about EPL Level in this regard, but it’s one of the Gold standards and what people look at for leadership - so unless it’s done there it’s not going to be followed too soon.
Many clubs have gyms, most only recently. Some do strength work, most don’t. Strength work is mostly body weight or very light weights if it’s done and in 90% of the cases managed by the physio’s in a rehab sense, not someone with ‘proper’ S&C knowledge.
People talk about Ronaldo and others. It’s the same with any magazine article. He’s athletic and very lean and has a genetic predetermination, but as regards strength training, I don’t know what he does now, but previously it was limited if even done at all.
My advice is to be very careful drawing conclusions from images and photo’s, foolish at best if that’s your only source of knowledge. Most clubs don’t do proper strength training, mostly as they don’t have the time to fit it into the program and neither have they the expertise.
If you take Charlie’s quote on hockey and apply it to soccer I think he might say something like … “If you’re doing anything, you are already better than 90% of the trainers out there. In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King.”
