Too much too soon?

Search for Xavi Simons on the internet and you will get hundreds of thousands results, videos with over fifty thousand views and twitter accounts fawning over him. You would be forgiven for thinking this is quite a high profile person.

In fact, Xavi Simons is a twelve year old boy. A twelve year old boy with a lot of talent granted, but someone who surely should not be exposed to such scrutiny?

There is a Daily Mail article online (forgive me) from January this year about how a host of clubs are

"tracking" him and have been in contact with the boy's father. Not only is that just plain wrong on a footballing level, but for me it is morally wrong. 

Named after his Dad's favourite player 

I'm not convinced that a twelve year old is ready to receive such attention. It reminds me of the stories of Sonny Pike who was once heralded as England's great new talent. This was over twenty years ago, before the age of Facebook and Twitter, but the young lad struggled to cope with the pressure. Pike was shoved into the spotlight and it was detrimental to his football career. This was a kid who just needed to enjoy doing what he was good at - playing football! 

I have no doubt that in these times players are better looked after and better prepared for the attention that comes with being a young footballer. At Barcelona, Xavi Simons is in a great place and I hope his family is not lured in by the financial riches other clubs may offer him to sign for them. In the long term where is better for your football education than La Masia? 

This is not just an isolated case either. Young footballers in England receive a lot of attention on social media. 

There is a boy who signed for a a category 1 academy from the club I coached at. He came to us having arrived from Germany just days before,  instantly we knew he was not going to be with us very long. He had joined the club he is currently with within a year. Brilliant for everyone. 

His father keeps us updated with his progress (unlike the club) and we are very grateful, but even without that it would still not be difficult to keep track of how he was doing anyway. The boy has an Instagram account with thousands of followers. 

You can see from his updates that he is excelling. He is an under thirteen, like Xavi Simons, that plays several years above his own age group. He has even been on the bench for the under eighteens this season. He regularly goes away to tournaments and wins awards. 

On every post, comments such as 'you've made it', 'baller', have the potential to feed his ego but are relatively harmless if he has a level head and his club will make sure a player with such potential will not let him get carried away. However, he has already been subjected to comments such as 'you faked your age', amongst more claims that he is making it all up (he is not). 

He should not have to deal with that. At some point, someone may wind him up on the wrong day and he could get himself in to some trouble. 

Someone who has impressed me with the way they have kept them self under the radar is Marcus Rashford. Obviously not on the football scene, where he is one of the biggest talking points in a season that has been ridiculous enough in England, but how he has managed himself (or been advised to) off of the pitch. 

Just takes everything in his stride

When a young England player bursts on to the scene the media are always well prepared to pounce and make a story out of these young adults for the wrong reasons. Jack Grealish, Jack Wilshere - maybe it's in the name - are just two examples of players who have struggled under the spotlight. Aside from his new contract we have heard little of or from Rashford away from football, which can only be a good thing. 

It is no surprise that with every new challenge he has taken it in his stride, a reason why he deserves to go to the European Championships. Theo Walcott was famously taken to World Cup ten years ago at seventeen having not yet played for Arsenal, but this feels entirely different. Rashford may not play in the tournament in France this summer but his place in the squad is absolutely on merit. 

Hopefully he will be used as a shining example for young players to follow. Stay focused, keep your mind on producing consistently and good things will come. What surprises me is the rush everyone is always in.  People make poor decisions based on wanting to do things far too quickly and young players leave environments where they were thriving because a bigger club offers them huge financial incentives. 

In an ideal world, young players will be allowed to develop in their own time and not impacted by false expectations. It is simply unfair on these children. And that is just what they are, children!

Kick It Out have launched a campaign to tackle football-related discrimination across social media and raise awareness of the impact of online abuse.

Visit the ‪#‎KlickItOut‬ microsite here for more information! http://klickitout.org

Here are pictures of me and players from my under 7s side supporting the campaign! you can take part by printing off a sheet from this link:http://klickitout.org/…/We-need-KlickItOut-because-Print-Ve…