“I was kicking balls before I could even walk . . .” How many times do we hear footballers rolling out this old chestnut when they are talking about the extraordinary talent they think they have been blessed with? Well it certainly wasn’t like that for me. I was 6 when my dad took me along to play for my local team and I was about as far from a child prodigy as you’ll get. I didn’t have a Scooby what was going on and while I did show some talent, it was more for sitting down and building sandcastles than chasing the ball.

However, after a year or two I seemed to get quite good – at football, not sandcastles – and from those humble beginnings I’ve ended up earning a living playing the game, and at a decent level, too.

But I was never a high-flyer as a youngster. In fact, when the scouts from the borough side came, I didn’t get a look in at first. After a while I got my chance, which led to county football and then a place in the Germany youth team. Along the way there were always players who were much more talented than me. But the majority of them never made it as pros. So what defines being “good enough”?

Well, for a start you can’t rely on talent alone. You need to know how to use it and that requires mental strength. You can’t underestimate the significance of mental strength in football. On the one hand it can enable talent to shine, but on the other it can make up for a lot of technical and physical deficiencies.

A lot of guys I grew up with had bundles of natural ability but lacked focus and ended up nowhere. We’ve all met the bloke down the pub who tells you who he had trials with when he was younger, all the big names he played alongside and how he was just as good but the other guy got lucky. The reality is, there is so much more to it than that. Children develop at different rates and, growing up, you’ve got a big advantage if you’re bigger. But if you’ve relied on that along the way, you’ll soon get found out when you get near the top. Then you’ll have to work, and young guys who’ve had it easy don’t always want to do that.

There’s the pressure of the big-game environment, too. Plenty of young players will dazzle on a training pitch, but stick them on the big stage and they can’t hack it. And you won’t get many chances to prove yourself.

But that’s not to say that it’s all over if you get bombed as a teenager. Steve Finnan, whose place I took in the Fulham side after he was signed by Liverpool, got released by Wimbledon at 16 and dropped down to nonLeague level before working his way back up. Now he’s a Champions League winner.

There are exceptions, of course – those whose pure talent alone will have been obvious enough to carry them to the top. But they are a minute proportion. I’m talking about the likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard and Cesc Fàbregas, and less obvious ones, too, such as Mikel Arteta at Everton. I’m not saying they don’t have mental strength as well, but these are the individuals who, even to me as a fellow Premier League player, make the game look so easy.

At the other end of the spectrum there are those who seem to have made it in spite of their ability rather than because of it. I’d be lying if I claimed I’d never come up against players who’ve left me wondering how they manage to get paid to play. I won’t name names, but “couldn’t hit a barn door” doesn’t even come close.

However, in all of this there is one crucial thing to remember, which is that football is a team game. He might be one of the best in the world, but you’d never get anywhere if you had ten Ronaldos running around. A successful team is about the sum of its parts and like anything in life it takes all sorts. OK, so the flair players will always stand out, but if you can do a job, you’ll go a long way.