| It totally depends, some players mature well and get to their logical "peak" from 26 plus (up to their early 30's) whilst others peak very early and then tend to have shorter careers.
A lot of that depends on the type of player they are. If they are a speed demon reliant on their pace over the first five yards, then once they've suffered a few injuries and maybe played a lot of games before their mid 20's they may struggle to ever get their form back.
Then their cheif option is to re-invent their playing style. I'll give you a small example. England main forward (goalscorer) used to be a guy called Alan Shearer who was very strong and pacy as a young man. He suffered a couple of very serious injuries and eventually remodelled his play. He'd lost his pace, so he bulked up, became stronger at his team play and with his back to goal, holding up the ball for others.
So you just can't tell. Pace and awareness may make you great young player, but wisdom comes later and if the player doesn't have the intelligence to change later in their career it may not be as long as it originally looked like it might be!! |