After leaving Fnatic for Excel Esports, Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool has revealed that a select few players on his former team did not take practices seriously, and because of that, he said his job “didn’t feel very fulfilling.”
“Compared to 2019, I would say a small group didn’t really care much about the team practice, and didn’t put any effort into it,” YoungBuck said in an interview with EsportManiacos. “They didn’t really talk during the practice, or gave feedback to teammates or wanted to receive teammates’ feedback.”
The former Fnatic head coach has been quite vocal about his experiences and unhappiness with the team over the past year. He also said that he asked himself, “Am I going to be happier on another team?” to which he answered yes. He also admitted that Excel might not perform as well as Fnatic, since the talent difference between both teams is quite large.
Even so, YoungBuck said that he was focused more on finding a roster with a good team atmosphere, instead of simply focusing on success and winning—something that he has gotten used to over the past four years. Excel’s players are younger, and will be more open to improvement and growing as a squad.
There is plenty of work for YoungBuck to do, since Excel was the worst team in the LEC this past year. There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the possible lineup of the team in 2020, but you can bet that the Six-Star General will be ready and willing to take on a new challenge for his career.
