What Makes a True Football Professional?

It's a question that's been nagging the back of my head for quite a while: What makes a true professional?

Is it somebody with nail-biting skill and overwhelming ability in his play? Well, that makes Didier Drogba sound like a professional.

Not that Drogba isn't a 'pro.' Hell, he's playing in the Premier League for one of the biggest clubs in the world, in one of the biggest leagues in the world, not in some third division Belgian side.

In all fairness though, Drogba's attitude often appears to be unprofessional to state it mildly. Yes—the coin-throwing at the Burnley bunch wasn't too professional neither was admitting that he often got booked on purpose to earn suspensions to get a break in Jose Mourinho's era at Stamford Bridge.

But let's not have Drogba distract us here. Yes, he's a great player, but we're looking for a true professional.

Nonetheless, Drogba's example has helped us establish the fact that attitude plays a massive role in contributing to the stature of a true professional.

In that case, Stoke City's Dave Kitson stands out because, as he explains in this article, he's managed to keep his feet on the ground—life for him is football, not cars and heavily paid commercials to say the least.

However, Kitson has the attitude, in the sense that he's committed to the game, he's determined to stand out, he knows when he sweats on the pitch—his passion explodes.

That doesn't really sum up a true professional for me yet; Kitson has the attitude, but the ability is lacking.

Let's face it, you can have all the passion in the world, but if you are an Ashley Cole then you're not getting anywhere, are you?

• attitude
• ability

We've worked out two essential qualities in the making of a true professional, now let's explore...

Let's examine a few random players to check whether they have these two qualities:

Craig Bellamy—mismatch?

Clarence Seedorf—got both!

Ashley Cole—got neither!

Moving on, a true footballer needs the heart to succeed, to overcome all obstacles including failure.

Besides ability and attitude, we need reliability—otherwise this show won't get on the road!

You need a player who the manager is willing to bank on, a player who you know will come out on top, nine times out of 10—perhaps a Raul or a Paulo Maldini.

Ability, Attitude, Determination, Compassion, Reliability, Commitment, Leadership and Luck?—that's my equation.

Legends, I'm talking Maradona, I'm talking Pele, and I'm talking Di Stefano—are all legends true professionals? Or, better yet, are all true professionals legends?

At the end of this discussion, I stand where I started—confused!

Did you get anywhere?

Do you agree?

Please let us know your opinion of the true professional.