The difference between Professional and Non-League Players

I put it to you that the standard of players in, for example, the Blue Square South are no different to those playing in League 1. Now, when I say standard, I am mainly sighting technical ability. I concede that their mental and physical attributes my differ, however, technically there is little difference. Yet, SI seem to rate the abilities of the vast majority of players playing in the Blue Square Leagues as being technically well below that of their league counterparts. If this were the case, why are so many league clubs signing players from the Non-League?

As a case in point:

Mid-way through last season (in the real world this is) Bromley (Conference South) sold Gareth McCleary to Nottingham Forest for around 20k. Gareth McCleary subsequently went straight into the Forest 1st team squad; helping them to gain promotion.

Whilst this is just one example, this sort of success story is becoming commonplace. Just look at the number of non-league players that have been signed by league clubs this summer.

Returning to the story of Gareth McCleary, his in game statistics were very low before his transfer to Forest, yet miraculously when the updated database was released with 8.02 (and his transfer to Forest was complete) his stats had skyrocketed (he is still underrated by the way).

The crux of my argument is that the technical standard of players in the Blue Square Leagues should be raised significantly in Football Manager.

Anyone who is closely involved with the game will reiterate that the two major differences between non-league players and professional players are:

- all round physical fitness

- decision making/reading of the game.

I sight the number of ex-academy players in the non-leagues as proof of the high standard of their technical ability. These players were most likely released by their professional clubs because they lacked one of the two attributes I outlined above.

To rectify this, I propose that the technical standards of non-league players be brought in line with their professional counterparts. However, there should still be obvious differences in terms of physical and mental attributes. This would, I believe, result in League clubs (as happens in reality) buying Non-League players if they have the propensity to develop their mental and physical game to a professional standard.

If you've reached this point, thank you for reading.

I would be glad to receive feedback.

nudge/bump

sometimes it happens. not too up with steve finnans career to date but he started non league didn't he?

but these are exceptions to the rule. some players are just technically gifted from on early age but i dont think the whole standard of the non leagues should be raised.

I feel that the technical standard of non-league players, in relation to their professional counterparts, is much much closer than SI are making out. And yes, there are "exceptions to the rule," but these are the players who jump up several leagues like: Steve Finnan, Jermaine Beckford, Gareth McCleary and alike. The rest of the players playing in the non-leagues, for the most part, would be able to make the same jump if the mental and physical aspects of their game were up to standard.

fitness is very important for a footballer so those stats should be a lot higher for pros but i would imagine technical ability would be similar for a league 1/bsn player. the physical stats of course have a massive influence in soccer thats why a talentless player with good fitness can earn 100k+ in england easily.

technical ability would be similar for a league 1/bsn player

I agree. I believe this should be represented in the game.