Footballers are constantly under pressure. For some the burden is so strong and creates such a tight hold on them to express themselves, their talent and potential never comes to prevail. This distress is heightened astronomically when they are chasing a legacy their parents have set.
All over the world, millions of young children want to go and follow in their parents footsteps when they grow up and surmount to the success and riches their bloodline has done already. In football this is no difference, and in fact the scale of pressure is more heavy then people could only imagine till they are out on the field.
It is has never been more apparent the impact society and the media has on the game and players. To put into perspective, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two greatest players of our generation both have son's in the game playing in the youth teams for the respective academy their father's play for. Son of Lionel, Thiago Messi is aged 11 and currently playing for Inter Miami's youth academy and son of Cristiano, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, aged 13 years old is playing for Al Nassr's youth team.
The two children get more publicity then most professional footballers due to the legacy their fathers built for themselves, with the media tracking everything they do in the game despite being years away from seeing whether they can reproduce a semblance of success their fathers are still achieving, with Lionel Messi still being held as the greatest footballer on the planet, noticed by his Balon D'or win in 2023, his 8th time winning the award .
It is likely that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's children will not even come close to laying a glove on the scale of success in which their father's have amounted to, and it would not be the first two players to not meet the heights their father's go to.
Legends of the game such as; Rudi Voller, Andy Cole and Paul Ince have all raised their kids to be footballers, despite the levels of success the three got to in their own right, their son's haven't been able to make the same mark on the game.
If you were to argue about one of the three father's just named whose child should of made somewhat success, it undoubtedly had to be Paul Ince's son Tom Ince.
An academy graduate at Liverpool, Ince has since made five permanent moves, and another four loan moves.
In an open interview with The Athletic, Ince spoke about where things went wrong for him, in what was set to be a career full of illustrious heights for the Englishman.
“I look back and ask if I’ve made correct decisions as far as clubs that I’ve joined, or if it was a better option to stay or go somewhere else. But I can’t go back and change it, you have to look at it now.”
Tom Ince has had three shots in the Premier League since leaving Liverpool; a loan spell under Tony Pulis at Crystal Palace, a brief time at Hull under Steve Bruce and helping Huddersfield Town stay up at Stoke City's expense in 2017/18.
He said, “I think the situation with Inter Milan and Monaco (are regrets). I look back and… it’s difficult. When I had it though, it was a surreal moment. The history with my dad and Inter, us standing there in the San Siro."
The argument is there that the opportunity for him to move to Inter Milan specifically only arose because of the history Paul Ince had with them, but it could also be thought that maybe the idea of having to live up to that as well as being one of the only Englishmen in the Serie A was to much for Tom to fathom about even taking on.
It opens up the idea that if the father is not so successful whether the child may have an easier ride to surpassing the success of their Elder. This was the case for Pepe Reina, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and to bring close to home Frank Lampard.
But across Europe there is a new batch of players, fathered by some of football’s greatest, who are trying to make their name in the sport while juggling the pressure of their father’s success.
While some are performing better than others, all still have a long way to go in their careers.
There is no better place to look upon right now then with the array of talent breaking through at Liverpool right now, which through the media have been hailed as "Klopp's Kids", who ironically include three young and extremely talented players who are children of footballers who have made their trade in Britain.
Jayden Danns (18 years old, Forward)
First on the agenda is Jayden Danns, another scouser to follow in the footsteps of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones joining the academy set up at Melwood aged 8. Danns made his first appearance in a 4-1 win over Luton town in February, setting up a goal for Harvey Elliott a minute after being introduced. In the League Cup final, Danns was narrowly denied a headed goal by Chelsea keeper Djordje Petrovic after coming on in the 87th minute.
He was not to be denied against Southampton, though, as he came off the bench to score twice in front of The Kop. Since his crazy breakout week, Danns has since made a six minute cameo appearance away to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, where teammate Darwin Nunez, nodded in a 99th minute winner in order to keep Liverpool in the title race.
He is the son of former footballer Neil Danns, the current assistant manager at Tranmere Rovers. He began his career in 2000 as a trialist at Blackburn Rovers and went on to play for the likes of Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers before finishing his career at Macclesfield Town.
Lewis Koumas (18 year old, Forward)
Having been an unused substitute at Wembley in the League Cup final, Koumas was named in the starting XI for the FA Cup tie against The Saints and soon made his mark.
Playing on the left of a front three, he dribbled across the top of the box before hitting a low shot that found the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection that found it's way past keeper Joe Lumley. Unlike Jayden Danns, Koumas has not managed to make his mark on the pitch since he opened his account for Liverpool but inclusions on the bench for games like Manchester City show that Jurgen Klopp can trust him to make an impact.
He is able to play out wide, as he did on his senior bow, in midfield or as a striker. He scored 16 goals during the 2022-23 season and has added another 12 this campaign, five for the under-18s and seven in as many games in the Premier League 2 for the under-21s. Koumas has been awarded for his excellent displays the past few weeks by being called up to Wales' Under 21 side for their upcoming set of fixtures.
Lewis Koumas is also the son of an ex-footballer, former Wales international Jason Koumas. The ex Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Athletic man spent nine years in the Liverpool academy before joining Tranmere at eighteen. He was selected in both the 2005–06 and 2006–07 Football League Championship team of the season.
On 12 May 2016, Leon Barton wrote in a blog post for The Guardian that Koumas's talent, often described as "mercurial" was no less than Steven Gerrard's, but described him as undisciplined.
Bobby Clark (19 years old, Midfielder)
The 19-year-old joined Liverpool from Newcastle in 2021 and previously trained with Birmingham City between 2012-14 when his dad was manager.
Clark is a versatile attacking player, who can play across the forward line and in midfield scoring 13 goals with Liverpool's under-18s in his first season.
He got his senior debut with Klopp's team in a 9-0 win over Bournemouth in August 2022, and has featured recently in Premier League wins against Chelsea, Luton, Burnley and Nottingham Forest. As well as coming off the bench during the EFL Cup semi-final and final wins over Fulham and Chelsea. Clark also completed a hattrick of competition debuts in the FA Cup featuring in third-round and fifth round wins against Arsenal and Southampton.
On Thursday night Bobby Clark made his European debut against Sparta Prague, making a 78 minute cameo. it only took eight minutes for Clark to open his personal account for the club in a 6-1 win in the second leg. Following on it only took two extra minutes for Bobby Clark to get his first assist, helping Mohammed Salah getting his 20th goal of the campaign.
Talented midfielder Clark is the son of former Premier League winger Lee Clark, who played for Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham in the 1990s and 2000s.
From the beginning of their professional career it is clear the bags of the potential that the kids have and they are on the right path to surpass the legacy their fathers left behind on the game but to what extent? Only time will tell.
Fantastic read, keep it up
I 100% believe carrying a family name in football comes with added pressure ,no matter the status of the player whose footsteps the player is following. I believe this is very specific to male footballers and their father's as it’s within a males nature to look up to their farther as a role model and trying to impress them and replicate their success can be a tough Challenge.