Soccer Question

[RivaDawg]

I’m an old dude with virtually no experience with soccer. My only soccer knowledge comes from the little they talk soccer on the Dan Lebatard show podcast, threads on SPS, and Ted Lasso.

With the qualifying for the World Cup upcoming, what is the best way to learn enough about soccer to be able to watch and enjoy the qualifying games and the World Cup (assuming the U.S. men’s team qualify)?

 

[msubrave]

Ball goes in goal counts as 1 goal. Team with most goals wins.

 

[The Maroon Pug]

Tbh, youtube a lot of good tutorials, strategies, and formation explanations.

I'd start watching Premier League, Bundasliga, MLS, USL, etc. Most of those leagues you can get on ESPN+.

Get a feel for the rhythm for the flow of the match & which formations tend to be more offensively explosive, ball control, or defensive steel curtians.

If you want me to explain the offsides penalty, give me a few days to write an essay for you.***

 

[patdog]

Watch Premier League games on NBCSN and NBC on Saturday & Sunday mornings and early afternoons. You’ll learn a lot and see the best quality soccer in the world. Liverpool (my favorite), Chelsea, Manchester City & Manchester United are the teams to watch.

 

[dahmer17]

Learn to watch the action away from the ball.

 

[Bill Shankly]

I’m an old dude with virtually no experience with soccer. My only soccer knowledge comes from the little they talk soccer on the Dan Lebatard show podcast, threads on SPS, and Ted Lasso.

With the qualifying for the World Cup upcoming, what is the best way to learn enough about soccer to be able to watch and enjoy the qualifying games and the World Cup (assuming the U.S. men’s team qualify)?

Watch club soccer from Europe. The teams at the highest level in the top leagues would destroy almost any national team. I don't even like to watch international soccer anymore. My club, Liverpool, always seems to get somebody hurt playing for their national teams ever dang window. My advice would be to pick out a single team and the league it plays in and really focus on them. I'd suggest Liverpool and the EPL. The top leagues are The English Premier League (top to bottom hands down the best), the Spanish, German and Italian leagues are right there. The French League is a step down but does have one fantastic team. Top teams: England; Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea: Spain; Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid; Italy: AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan; Germany: Bayren Munich, Borussia Dortmund. The French team is Paris St. Germain. There are others that are close: Leicester City, Tottenham, and Arsenal (Arsenal is actually a top level club going through some hard times) in England and Ajax in Holland come to mind. Get yourself a subscription to Peacock and you can watch nearly every EPL game. You could even pick a not so good team and follow them then. I also like Crystal Palace and, God help me, Norwich City. I think that picking a team that you can watch week in and week out is the key to actually understanding how the game really works. That goes for any sport really.

 

[patdog]

I didn't realize what a scam international soccer is until I started watching the Premier League. The level of play is just so much higher in the leagues than even the final 8 of the World Cup or the Euros. I'm OK with still having those tournaments, but enough with interrupting league play for inferior friendlies, qualifiers and nations league matches. It's putting way too many miles on players' useful lives for a ****** product.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

I agree with most of what you’ve written with one exception.

I like the Nations League and how UEFA has tied it into European & World Cup qualification places.

 

[The Peeper]

Best advice I can give is to just watch the Sports Center highlights, that way you don't have to sit and watch 90+ minutes (you never know exactly how long it will be) and maybe see a goal or two, be exposed to officiating worse than the SEC shows us, and a bunch of fake falls/dives worse than the NBA or that women's basketball player from Oregon took.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

No doubt international soccer is crap compared to club play. It’s like watching Olympic basketball and NBA where you have a collection of super talented players but they just lack the timing and teamwork to be really good and the product almost seems stale just because that’s not who they play with regularly.

 

[Smoked Toag]

I'm the same as you, and it didn't take. I tried HARD a few years ago to get into soccer when my son was playing it. I thought he might get into it, so I wanted to learn the ropes, so I tried to watch the EPL. Anyways, long story short, he quit soccer and went to football, and I dropped it.

I know a couple of people will downvote the hell out of me and label me as another murican soccer hater, but they'd be wrong, I really, really tried. I'm a pretty good case study for someone who knows nothing about it, trying to pick it up. Just seems to me like they just ran around the field for no reason at all, and eventually got a shot at a goal, and if they made it, it was a miracle. I never saw the appeal. Good exercise, I guess.

I think I'd do better if I had a local MLS team nearby.

ETA: Not to mention that youth soccer is THE BIGGEST American youth sports racket there is. Worse than travel baseball. Made even worse by how cheap it is to actually play, like the rest of the world does.

 

[idog]

how's that?

I'm the same as you, and it didn't take. I tried HARD a few years ago to get into soccer when my son was playing it. I thought he might get into it, so I wanted to learn the ropes, so I tried to watch the EPL. Anyways, long story short, he quit soccer and went to football, and I dropped it.

I know a couple of people will downvote the hell out of me and label me as another murican soccer hater, but they'd be wrong, I really, really tried. I'm a pretty good case study for someone who knows nothing about it, trying to pick it up. Just seems to me like they just ran around the field for no reason at all, and eventually got a shot at a goal, and if they made it, it was a miracle. I never saw the appeal. Good exercise, I guess.

I think I'd do better if I had a local MLS team nearby.

ETA: Not to mention that youth soccer is THE BIGGEST American youth sports racket there is. Worse than travel baseball. Made even worse by how cheap it is to actually play, like the rest of the world does.

what's the overhead for one travel baseball game? a single select soccer game costs about $85 for three referees. certainly for a team with 15-16 players splitting it that's not too bad for a weekend tournament of 3-4 games but we tend to add in a per diem and hotel cost for the coach as well.

IMO the best way to get into it is to coach it when your kids are young. it'll help you learn the game. i would recommend watching the US teams and turning on EPL soccer on saturday and sunday AM. try wtching casually instead of forcing it. just like football games, soccer games can be enjoyable or a bore. enjoy the good games with more intent and skip the slow ones. catch the big ones with good teams against each other.

 

[The Maroon Pug]

Understand that. I didn't get heavily invested in watching soccer until I was in Munich a few years ago and got to see a Champions League match between Bayern & FC Porto, which was wild. Seeing the match live completely changed my view of the sport.

To dahmer17 point, it's easier watching a match in-person to see all the action away from the ball and watch a play unfold.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

It strikes me as a sport you had to play to enjoy watching. Similar to baseball. Boring as **** if you don't appreciate what is going on. I tried. Went to several FC Dallas matches and coached a kids team. Still can't watch it for more than 10 minutes.

 

[The Peeper]

I was the same way, my kid played travel soccer for 5 years and we played at every venue from Atlanta to Memphis to Dallas to Baton Rouge to Pensacola and all in between. I was at Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis more weekends during that time than at my own house. Maybe it was because I never played it but I tried to get into it and instead grew to loathe it more and more every game during that time, its just not an exciting spectator sport to me at all and I always feel like I've got lots better things to be doing for a couple hours. I was the same way about ice hockey until I went to my first match and for whatever reason I really liked it from the first quarter I watched it. I don't like it on tv but in person its great even though its just like soccer except on ice

 

[Smoked Toag]

It strikes me as a sport you had to play to enjoy watching. Similar to baseball. Boring as **** if you don't appreciate what is going on. I tried. Went to several FC Dallas matches and coached a kids team. Still can't watch it for more than 10 minutes.

I followed the Tanner Tessmann story for a while, but I just checked the roster and it appears he bolted for the Italian league.

 

[Dawgg]

Also, not for nothing, but almost all of Mississippi State’s soccer games are on the SEC Network and/or the ESPN app.

If there’s a penalty that can be called, either State or the team they’re playing will commit it at some point during the game.

 

[dog12]

I’m an old dude with virtually no experience with soccer. My only soccer knowledge comes from the little they talk soccer on the Dan Lebatard show podcast, threads on SPS, and Ted Lasso.

With the qualifying for the World Cup upcoming, what is the best way to learn enough about soccer to be able to watch and enjoy the qualifying games and the World Cup (assuming the U.S. men’s team qualify)?

Step 1: go to YouTube
Step 2: type "ronaldinho" into the search field
Step 3: click on any link and watch the magic

I had zero admiration or respect for soccer . . . until I saw Ronaldinho play.

Ronaldinho played in the World Cup for Brazil.

 

[o_1984Dawg]

Premier League, Premier League, Premier League. Best league in the world with the best American tv coverage. And has the most casual American fans by far. The whole thing revolves around the Big 6 clubs. You can dive in on one club or just casually follow different ones depending on who is competing for what.

Pick Chelsea if you want an American star and don't mind a Russian Oligarch owner.
Pick Liverpool if you want a likeable coach and players and don't mind a fanbase that's really in love with themselves.
Pick Manchester City if you want the best, most expensive team a billionaire prince from Abu Dhabi can buy.
Pick Arsenal or Tottenham if you are really enjoying 2021 MSU Football.
Don't pick Manchester United.

Oh, and for USA games, go the extra mile and watch the games that are on CBSSN/Paramount+. Their studio coverage has been excellent compared to the established crews at Fox and ESPN.

 

[Bill Shankly]

It strikes me as a sport you had to play to enjoy watching. Similar to baseball. Boring as **** if you don't appreciate what is going on. I tried. Went to several FC Dallas matches and coached a kids team. Still can't watch it for more than 10 minutes.

I never played it and I love it. We had a couple of soccer balls back in PE in high school. We used them for dodge ball.

 

[Bill Shankly]

Liverpool vs Manchester City @ Anfield this Sunday, 10:25 AM on NBCSN. If it's a close game you won't see a better atmosphere in any sport world wide, except when Manchester United visit Anfield. City are a mega rich man's toy, just like Chelski. The real clubs (big ones) in England are Liverpool, United, and Arsenal. That doesn't mean they aren't wealthy. It just means that they are expected to turn a profit. City and Chelski don't have that problem. It must be nice.

 

[patdog]

Yeah. Do that with football games too. Don't waste 3-1/2 hours watching a game with only 4 or 5 touchdowns.