Andy Moran issues important plea to Irish underage coaches

Andy Moran was called up to the Ireland senior squad this week.

His ability has been evident from his early teenage years, but there were also times when his bright future in the game wasn't so obvious.

That's because, like many others, Moran's height worked against him in his earliest footballing days.

The midfielder told the Potters' Pod that small players can be cast aside before realising their potential, especially when managers are taking under-12 matches too seriously.

“I think at that age, I think a lot of people and managers can take football too seriously and be really worried about winning at under-12s.

"So the smaller lads will just get cast aside a little bit.

“You could probably say that happened to me a little bit. It’s something I’ve spoken to about with people.

“I’m lucky that I got somewhere and managers at that age kind of brought my love back for football, because that’s what lost it for me, because I was losing my place in teams to bigger lads.”

While Moran acknowledges he was fortunate to encounter progressive coaches at the right time, he now reflects on the harder times from a different perspective.

The tricky midfielder believes that his height forced him to read the game better and become more technically accomplished.

“To be honest, I think it helps you being that small," he continued, "because you have to be so much better than everyone else to just kind of be even.

“It teaches you. I’m never going to be one of the biggest lads on the pitch, so I need to play where I can… if I am finding myself in a duel, I’ve done something wrong.

"So I need to make it so people can’t even get close enough to me to push me off the ball.

“At that age, if you can develop stuff like that, all the technical stuff that helps you stay out of stuff like that, I think it makes you better in the long run.

“There are so many players that you have seen that were small as a kid and it’s probably helped them.

"Eventually it all evens out. Everyone grows at different rates."