Player Power
When you hear "player power" in soccer, you probably think of a dressing room revolt. Senior players going above the coach's head. A manager losing the group, then losing their job. It's a phrase that carries a pretty specific meaning in the professional game — and almost none of it is positive.
That's not what this is about.
The player power I'm interested in is the kind that builds teams rather than breaks them. The kind that creates genuine investment instead of manufactured compliance. The kind where players show up not because they've been told to, but because they feel like they belong to something they helped shape.
There are two approaches I want to explore. One is about empowering players within the team environment. The other is about empowering them to lead themselves.
Empowering players within the team
Think about how most teams get their identity. The coach decides on a style of play. The coach sets the formation. The coach writes the lineup. The coach delivers the team talk. The players listen, then go and execute — or don't.
Now think about what happens when players have a voice in some of those decisions.
Not all of them — this isn't about the coach stepping aside. But what if, early in the season, you asked the group: how do we want to play? What kind of team do we want to be? What do we want it to feel like to play in this team? You'd be surprised how much clarity players have about this when you actually ask. And you'd be surprised how differently they play for a style of play they helped define versus one that was handed to them.
Team talks are another opportunity. The pre-game address doesn't always have to come from the coach. Give a captain or a senior player the responsibility of setting the tone before a game. It doesn't need to be polished — it needs to be real, and it needs to come from someone their teammates respect. When a player hears "this is what we need today" from a peer rather than a coach, it often lands differently.
The same goes for formations and lineup conversations. I'm not suggesting you crowd-source the starting eleven. But involving players in tactical discussions — what do we think their striker will do when the ball is played wide? what shape do we want in transition? — creates thinkers rather than passengers. Players who understand why a decision has been made are far more likely to execute it effectively than players who were just told what to do.
This kind of shared ownership requires trust in both directions. Players have to trust that their input genuinely matters. And the coach has to trust that giving players a voice doesn't mean losing control of the environment. In my experience, it almost always has the opposite effect. Players who feel invested in the team's identity protect it. They pull each other up. They back the coach — because the coach has backed them first.
Empowering players to lead themselves
The second approach is more individual. It's about helping players take ownership of what they can control — and letting go of what they can't.
A player can't control who the referee is. They can't control the weather, the field, the scoreline at half-time, or how many minutes they get. They can control their preparation. Their attitude. Their communication. Their effort from the first minute to the last. Their willingness to be coached.
That sounds simple. It isn't. Getting a young player to genuinely own their own development — not just nod along when the coach talks about it, but actually feel responsible for it — takes time and consistency.
It starts with the IDP. What do you want to achieve this season? Not what the coach wants for you, not what your parents want — what do you want? That conversation, done properly, changes the dynamic. The player is no longer a passenger in their own development. They have a destination. They have a reason to show up and work.
From there, it's about giving them decisions to make and space to make them. Rolling substitutions where the player chooses when they need a rest. Challenges set for them to work on at home, not because they were told to but because they understand why. Questions asked in the flow of training that make them think rather than wait for instructions.
The players who thrive in this environment are the ones who leave the team and carry those habits with them. They know how to set a goal, prepare for a session, reflect on a game, and move on from a bad performance. Those are life skills. They happen to be built on a soccer field.
Why it matters
The best teams I've been part of — as a player and as a coach — have always had one thing in common. The players were invested in each other. Not just in their own performance, but in the group. They wanted their teammates to do well. They pushed each other in training. They had a standard that didn't come from a poster on a wall — it came from within the group itself.
That doesn't happen by accident. It happens when players feel like they own a piece of what they're part of.
Player power, done right, makes the coach's job easier. Give it a go.
Listen to the full episode: Ep. 49 — Player Power
@LeeDunneSoccer