
Can too Much Success be a Negative Thing?
Of course not. You can never be too successful as an athlete.
However, success can come with some hidden challenges. Success can elevate expectations, both from within and from others, to overwhelming proportions.
The constant pressure to meet those expectations can interfere with replicating that success. For example, let’s say you have a stretch of five games where you scored multiple goals per game.
Not only may you start holding yourself to a higher standard, but you also perceive that others expect you to perform at that level consistently. If late in a game, you haven’t scored, you may start pressing, overlook an open teammate, or take ill-advised shots.
You may tense up despite having an open look and shoot the ball wide. Each missed chance generates more anxiety and pressure. Even if your team wins, you may feel you failed if you didn’t score your self-imposed required number of goals.
When high expectations become the norm, pressure and the fear of failure follow. The relentless pursuit of maintaining success can lead to physical exhaustion and mental burnout, impacting your health and production on the field.
Managing high expectations in soccer requires perspective and balance. Athletes have many ways to contribute to the team’s success other than scoring goals.
This includes pushing the ball downfield, pressuring the ball, passing to an open teammate, playing with energy, or putting your teammates in a position to succeed.
In this view, positively impacting the game becomes the standard instead of scoring multiple goals per game. Since joining Wrexham A.F.C., striker Paul Mullin has been a scoring machine.
In his first three seasons, Mullin scored 88 goals in 122 games, won three consecutive Player of the Season awards, and played a pivotal role in the club’s back-to-back promotions.
During the 2024-25 season, Mullin’s goal production significantly dropped, with only two goals in 24 appearances. Despite his high expectations, Mullin is unfazed by the pressure.
MULLIN: “It makes me laugh, to be honest! I’ve probably become a victim of my own success. You have a season where you don’t score as many, and all of a sudden, people start to panic, like I’ve forgotten how to kick a ball or something.”
“But as long as we’re winning games, it doesn’t matter if I score or not. If I didn’t score once more between now and the end of the season and we got promoted, I’d still be happy. It’s a privilege to have that expectation because it shows how successful I’ve been before.”
Soccer is a team sport; success requires a well-functioning unit, not a human highlight reel. By prioritizing the good of the team, you squash excessively high individual expectations and better contribute to the team’s overall success.
One way to free yourself from expectations is to break down the reasoning behind the expectation. For example, “How does this expectation help me perform well?” Questioning the logic behind expectations helps minimize their negative impact.
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