So, everyone’s got an opinion on these young footballers, right? Especially lads like Lewis Dobbin. You see a flash of skill, a goal, and suddenly, he’s the next big thing. Or he has a quiet game, and folks start murmuring. I got a bit tired of that, the quick judgments, the hype train, and then the equally quick criticism.
I decided I wanted to do it differently. My own little project, you could say. I picked Lewis Dobbin, not for any massive reason other than he was one of those promising Everton youngsters you hear about, and I figured, why not? My “practice” was simple: actually watch him. Not just highlights, not just MOTD clips. I mean, sit down and properly watch the games he played in, when he got his chances.
So, I started doing that. When he was on loan, I tried to catch streams if I could. When he got minutes for the first team, I’d focus a good chunk of my attention on him. What was I looking for? Not just the goals or assists. I was looking at his work rate. How did he track back? Did he show for the ball even when things weren’t going his way? What was his body language like after a missed chance or a bad pass? These little things, you know? I even started jotting down little notes. Sounds a bit daft, maybe, but it helped me see beyond the surface.
It’s funny, this whole approach, it reminds me of something completely different. Years ago, my brother, he got really into baking. Sourdough, the whole shebang. He bought all the gear, the fancy flour. His first few loaves? Absolute bricks. Hard as rocks. We all had a laugh, of course. But he kept at it. He didn’t just chuck the recipe if it failed once. He’d tweak the hydration, change the proving time, small adjustments. He read forums, watched countless videos, not just the “perfect loaf” ones, but the ones where people showed their mistakes. He was practicing the process, not just chasing the perfect Instagram picture of a loaf. And eventually, his bread became pretty darn good. He learned by doing, by failing, by observing closely.
And I kind of feel that’s what you gotta do with young players. You can’t just look at one or two performances and make a final call. It’s a process. For Dobbin, I saw moments of real promise, that burst of pace, some clever touches. I also saw times when he looked a bit lost, or when a decision didn’t come off. But the key thing I noticed, or at least, what I chose to focus on, was whether he kept trying, kept working. Did he look like he was learning?
My little observation “practice” didn’t make me a scout, far from it. And I still don’t know if Lewis Dobbin will be a world-beater or a solid pro or something else. But it did change how I watch football, especially young talents. It’s less about instant judgment now, and more about appreciating the effort, the small steps, the sheer difficulty of trying to make it at that level. It’s an ongoing thing, this watching and learning. There’s no real “done” to it, just like my brother still sometimes makes a dodgy loaf, but he understands why now.
