Just saw they’re going to test the relaxed rule in the Netherlands U-21 league, and expand to 2 other youth leagues. Will be interesting to see what happens.
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- Thread starter StumpNewGround
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Those articles are not from Americans. Those articles are from international sources. Glad you admit you can't read or at least refuse to.
They are very much fringe opinions no matter who wrote it. That you don't seem to realize that says a lot.
That's part of what makes soccer so awesome.
Pregame: Go to the pub to start preparing and hangout with friends
Walk to the stadium yelling and singing.
Watch the match and drink good beer
Go to the pub after with friends to talk about the match
European soccer is like SEC football. Lots of loyalty and intensity. S. America's the same but I've nver been there
If you grew up with European soccer you'd get it better. It's awesome. Europeans who don't like American baseball and football say similar things (they're wrong as well).
But, it's not for everyone.
Walk to the stadium yelling and singing.
Watch the match and drink good beer
Go to the pub after with friends to talk about the match
European soccer is like SEC football. Lots of loyalty and intensity. S. America's the same but I've nver been there
If you grew up with European soccer you'd get it better. It's awesome. Europeans who don't like American baseball and football say similar things (they're wrong as well).
But, it's not for everyone.
Its constant flow and action kind of remind me more of hockey as well as basketball.
And I can see that: You’re making the argument that football is nothing but a series of setpieces.
And to a lot of people who love and grew up with soccer that’s perceived as being really boring.
Basketball has setpieces too but at least they’re within the framework of constant motion.
It sure would.
Club/travel soccer is just as expensive as baseball, thus, it appeals to the middle class. That doesn’t explain its popularity.
I’m with the others. It’s just boring on TV. OK in person. I didn’t grow up with any allegiance so I doubt I’ll ever develop one. And the MLS will always lag behind the EPL.
In thread Buy/Sell —
The reason people think it’s boring on TV is their attention spans aren’t great — PLUS a lot of people have gotten accustomed to commercial breaks.
100 Percent Buy.
I'll sell, because that should be the case across the board, for all sports.
Me personally I just didn't grow up watching it or playing it past 2nd grade, so I don't understand the strategy. The pinnacle of it will always be outside the US too. Football is still the big behemoth that prevents any real movement.
I think the only way I'd ever truly get into it, outside my kid loving it or something, is if MSU embraced it and built a program. And I certainly don't see that happening, because the athletes needed for it to truly thrive would be the would-be football players. The truly good soccer players that pay all the money for travel/club soccer head out to Atlanta or Dallas to be a part of those big clubs, think a kid from Madison did that recently.
I'll hold.
I think attention spans are part of it but I think it's more that a lot of people (especially people 50 and up) didn't grow up playing it other than recreationally so they don't really understand what they're watching. It's kind of like when I watch rugby. I understand the bare basics of the game but have no real understanding as to why things happen the way they do.
I heard a good description once. Football is like chess. There are different pieces and each piece can only do certain things. You can also take time between moves to figure out what you want to do next.
Soccer is also like chess. But in this version, every piece (minus the goalkeeper) is the Queen and can move anywhere it wants at any time. Plus, there isn't usually a lot of time to stop and think about your next move.
Pretty good. A lot of what makes it interesting is the clash between the chess and the lightening fast and sometimes random nature of the action.
I'm a rare one, I'm over 50, never played the game at all, and I have loved to watch it ever since we first got an EPL highlight show on a regional sports channel. Where I live that was in the mid-late 90s. I knew how popular it was world wide and I just wanted to see what the fuss was about.
You haven't got a clue what your talking about. I am biased as I grew up playing soccer and played in JUCO also. To state ave. speed, size and athletic ability is complete non-sense especially in a competitive league. Two reasons reasons that our youth fall behind the rest of the world in competitive soccer in the US, $$$$$ and work ethic. It takes a ton of time/touches to become skilled enough to be effective in competitive soccer. Also travel soccer is very expensive and MS has produced some great soccer players over the years on the men and women side but most don't follow so they don't know. I played in the 80's and early 90's and know several who played professional back then and know a few more who had the talent but life took them a different direction. On the lady's side MS has produced 2 athletes that played on National Championship teams that I know (North Carolina and Florida).
There are set plays in soccer but unlike football and baseball where a coach typically calls the play at the time in soccer the players have to acknowledge what is happening on the field at real time to see what is possible, (who's checking to the ball, where is the open space, who's making a diagonal run and where is the defender, etc. etc.
My attraction is, I pay good money for my kids to be out there running around, so dammit I'm going to sit and watch every minute of it.**
I will say, I get the 'it's boring' thing. I used to think that too. I think like others have said, if you have grown up watching a specific team - or alternatively, like me have kids that are deep into it - the game does grow on you as you learn more about it. I like watching it on TV now after several years of watching my kids develop. I can now tell good from bad teams, see strategies and plays developing, etc, and it definitely adds to my enjoyment. I guess it's an acquired taste. I used to not like Scotch either.
I can get behind this. Things generally happen for a reason, and the reasoning behind baseball and soccer being the most 'travel/club' intensive is not ALL because middle class white people want to find something to be good at. A lot of it also is due to the fact that the sport(s) demand it nowadays. Golf is another example of this, tennis too.
I guess you could also say football (like QB) and maybe basketball 3-point shooters are the same way. But it certainly seems like you can get away with size, athletic ability and toughness in those 2 sports a lot more easily, at least in the youth to high school levels. But the payoff is certainly a lot better there.
But the more I think about it, the more I think soccer is more like football/basketball, than baseball/golf/tennis. Seems like more athletic ability than precision. I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt, but I think it's somewhere in the middle of the money-grubbing programs, the desire to simply win and develop American soccer, and the actual training needed.
OG Goat watch the 1:35 mark of this video when Ferreira scores his first goal. To the average viewer that doesn't look that impressive. As a former striker I can tell you that is a unbelievable first touch where he flicks it to himself to set up the shot. He knew where the defender was and where he needed to strike the ball for a shot. Mastering that flick doesn't happen overnight, it is from literally thousands of touches a day. I asked a Liverpool coach once how many touches a day their players make, he stated minimum (light day) 7000 touches, 10,000 plus is normal. That is CRAZY dedication.
The next goal to pay attention too is at the 4:50 mark. This is an extremely talented young 19 year old and his first men's international goal. He makes it look easy but I assure you it is anything but that. His first juke of the goal keeper was great but I promise you he had failed at that same mark many times before mastering faking a keeper out. Second he had to fake out the defender, he knew if he pulled the trigger the defender would block the shot therefor he had to get the defender to commit and then take the shot. This kid has a very bright future ahead of him.
If someone states there is very little skill involved in the sport they are just simply uninformed. It is a highly skilled game that these professionals sometimes make look easy.
That made me think of this one from Mbappe in the WC final. His header, the chip back to him, and then the finish with a volley. Incredible skill on display.
Somebody I work with said all soccer players do is just run. I could only shake my head at the ignorance
Soccer is real time creative problem solving. Until you can appreciate why that is, you probably miss a lot that the sport has to offer.
I can recall explaining some very basic things to my FIL, like why a pass that went to nobody and out of bounds was a good pass, but the outside mid did not make the overlapping run he should have.
I admit to the same ignorance, in the true meaning/sense of the word. It seems like they just run forever, waste energy, and never make any progress. Certainly is great exercise, though, and it's why I had all my kids play it when they are young. Tons of movement.
However:
Not understanding soccer does not make one stupid, like you tend to imply here. Sometimes it's just boring. Sometimes is the lack of trying. But let's not delve into this area where you're stupid if you don't love or appreciate soccer. That's another self-created elitist type bubble to attempt to prove to yourself how above the masses you are.
If soccer was so complicated and strategic, it wouldn't be easiest sport in the world to play. Like I said in post #54, I'm not seeing this 'skill' that needs to be developed over and over and over and over with unlimited reps, like say baseball, golf or even a football quarterback.
From my vantage point in my small corner of the world, it seems that most kids, if left to themselves, would opt out of soccer for other sports, especially football (both tackle and flag). Middle-class parents tend to push it on them, because, like we've discussed before, they can pay and get them on a club team and I guess that makes them feel like they are succeeding. So maybe it's just not as interesting as football? And plus many of the parents are just scared for their kid to play tackle football.
But I'm open minded. Exactly how is soccer more problem-solving than football, for instance? Soccer 'plays' seem to me about like a basketball 'play', sound good in theory but it's usually more of the athletic ability of the player that determines success.
me saying that until you understand the nuances of the game you won't appreciate it got equated to stupid? wow
kids are gravitating to soccer in greater numbers these days because soccer has adopted small sided play that makes it more exciting. Football has some 7v7 to counter, but baseball is not scalable short of field size adjustments that help a little with clover picking, but it is losing ground to soccer.
To answer your last question, here is an easy example. Football has a playbook. If I'm #2 WR, there is a pretty good chance that if I learn the playbook, execute crisply, and get my timing right, I can be as effective as the #1 guy short of maybe height/speed, whatever, but my tactics will be fine.
Soccer, there is no playbook. The ball is moved around constantly trying to probe, find weaknesses, and create open space to play the ball into. All the while, the other team is moving around freely to disrupt. Short of offsides, and a few spacing rules on set plays, there are no formations or movements that are illegal (e.g. too many men on the line, not enough men on the line, moving before the snap, illegal dude downfield). There are literally infinite possible moves and countermoves. There is more value in having played together and understanding the tendencies of other players on your team, so the #2 midfielder, as opposed to just coming in and running the routes, like football, must really understand his teammates tactics and techniques to have a chance at being as effective as the #1. If football is a handbell choir, soccer is jazz.
I'm not knocking football, it has merit and is fun to watch, but mostly because you just "know" how it is played.
So, if I'm following, it really is like a backyard game then..........however, the strategy lies with a team playing together for a long time. That said do MLS and EPL players get traded all the time? Seems this might be why college soccer never caught on in a big way. I know these clubs have what is called 'homegrown players' or something like that. Makes sense when thinking about it the way you described it.
Seems like it would take a new player a long time before he could actually help a team.
My personal apathy toward soccer probably has more to do with a lack of rooting interest than anything else. American football is really about the only sport I enjoy watching if I have no rooting interest.
I do have one complaint about soccer that I think is legitimate. It seems like if one team goes up by 2 or more goals, the other team has almost no chance of making up the difference. The team with the lead can just sit back and play keepaway. I don't know of any "American" sport where a 2 score lead is almost insurmountable.
I do have one complaint about soccer that I think is legitimate. It seems like if one team goes up by 2 or more goals, the other team has almost no chance of making up the difference. The team with the lead can just sit back and play keepaway. I don't know of any "American" sport where a 2 score lead is almost insurmountable.
The strategy is creatively trying to solve the problems that the other team puts on you in real time, with no timeouts to discuss, plan, etc. Just your skill and the skill of your teammates against the same on the other side with very few rules in place to slow/stop play. Except NBA level flopping, which really makes soccer suck to watch at times because it is disruptive of play...
No playbook-- but lots of training.
Yes and no.
It has the look of a backyard game because rarely are there set plays called.
But players have to know the concepts involved and what to expect.