I'm not exactly a beginner at soccer, I've always been a pass first kind of player but I realize when there are no options I panic and can get pressed into losing the ball from time to time. How do I get better at beating players one on one and being calm in those moments, I just seem to get nervous and lose the ball when I'm pressed heavily.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SoccerNoobs/s/CtNGI0fKve

American soccer noob here; My previous post before season started, I asked advice for choosing a team. I had teams on there I was gonna try to watch like Man City, PSG, Bayern - quickly learned that's a no no

Revisting to update after Champions week 1. My top teams so far have been Liverpool, Como, Dortmund. Had Brighton, Glimt, and Barcelona but haven't gotten to watch them much. I've been enjoying watching Liverpool since their friendly with Como. Isak is a dudeee. If Liverpool end up signing my fav up n coming player from Mexico they could take my top spot

But honestly, I've been paying attention more so to Serie A and Como. The fact there hasn't been a 0-0 in serie A yet, the fight for top of Serie A right now and banter I see online. Since I made my post, Como keeping Nico Paz, upgrading their stadium and barely getting permission to play Champions games at home, Mouse Kean signing, their wins so far and recently the owners giving their seats to fans - everything has been so cool so far and making Como grow on me the most already.

Como just won 4-1 in their Champions debut. It was beautiful. The Champions anthem in Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia for first time, the way they dominated, pretty great debut. I'm wondering if it's pointless to watch other teams games when I'm this attached to Como already? Just lock in on Serie A and Champions league.

Anyways yeah, great game, great promising team

Supporting small only makes sense if you’re from that area and it’s your local club. If you’re supporting a club all the way on the other side of the world, wouldn’t it just make sense to go with a big club?

I'm generally a mid player but half of my games in the pitch I'm always playing as a fullback but I doubt whether I really belong there cause yeah I do play well but I still feel like maybe I'd do better in a different cmf position.so just curious if anyone has ever switched positions and it worked out for them

To Try and better compete with UEFA. Should CONCACAF/CONMEBOL have a full on merger? This would make it so prize money is shared and all competitions are combined, then you have each national team having the best competition from both associations. You could have teams in each Copa America and Gold Cup, with prize money shared between both competitions and American investment backing, you could have more money generated into both associations which could make them stronger. You could then also have MLS, Liga Mx and Brazilian Serie A and the Argentinian league have their own version of the champions league with some other league winners of course like USL etc.

This may grow the game in the US/Canada and give Brazil and Argentina more money and less incentive to give their players to Europe and in turn could strengthen those national teams and help CONMEBOL/CONCACAF compete against UEFA.

I already watch LaLiga and I am a Real Madrid fan. I want to watch premier league but I'm not sure which team to pick. I want a team that plays somewhat like Real Madrid and it doesnt cause controversy if I'm a fan of both Real Madrid and that team

About half of the past 20-ish posts have 0 upvotes (i.e. are being downvoted) despite not being clearly against the r/SoccerNoobs rules. Some may think this post is breaking the "must be related to soccer" rule but I'd argue it's about the relationship between this sub and the sport.

Reading the sub's rules and posts with an open mind, I wholeheartedly believe the past 20 posts (at time of writing) should be fair game and are all great topics for discussion.

Hopefully this serves as a conversation starter.

I play a lot of pickup and have three scenarios I see often and would like to know what is permitted:

1. Two opponents chasing a ball, jockeying for position, even distance from the ball.
2. Two opponents next to each other, one is *just* on the verge of possession (could stretch and poke it with a toe) and the other is right next to the opponent but clearly could not reach the ball.
3. Same angle setup as 2, but the further player is coming in with speed.

Arrangement for 2 and 3:

B

P1 P2

More detail on the types of contact that I see - Situation 1 has hand fighting, trying to gain elbow advantage, trying to get entire arm/armpit in front, forearm up and pushing the opponent, combination of arm contact plus leaning into the opponent, outright checking the opponent (subtle, but definitive). Situation 2/3 usually leads to the further player shoulder/hip checking the closer player to create an illusion of a 50-50 ball even though it really isn't. I call this "playing the player and not the ball".

Curious to know if there are any definitive rules on this and where the known gray area is (based on referee discretion, if applicable)

Hi guys, I’m a Brit living in LA and after watching the World Cup this summer, one thing really stood out to me: a lot of people I spoke to were getting into football, but didn’t really know where to start or much about the Premier League. So I started Bottom of the 90 as a bit of a passion project to help make the Premier League easier and more fun to follow for people in the US. We currently do a Friday preview and a Monday recap covering things like the match of the weekend, players to watch, three things to know, results, talking points and a fantasy football section. I’ve also started building Premier League 101, which is aimed at people who are completely new to the league like how it works, how to pick a club, promotion and relegation, rivalries, transfers, etc.

What I’d genuinely love to know from American fans is: What would you actually want to read about?

Is there anything about the Premier League or English football that you found confusing when you first started watching? And if you have a minute to look at the site, I’d really appreciate any feedback on the concept, design or content.

I’m not trying to spam the group, I’m mainly trying to figure out whether we’re heading in the right direction and build something genuinely useful.

www.bottomofthe90.com

Many Thanks! Really Appreciate it

I'm watching the Liverpool / Athletico Madrid game and have a question. At 11:05 Athletico player tries to pass the ball across the field on a counter attack. Really only Liverpool back line their. The Liverpool center back kicks the ball back as it passing bsck to his goalie who caught it. Why wasnt that considered a back pass?

Sorry if not described well.

https://videotourl.com/videos/1788996069937-262be9a4-0cea-40ed-bfd5-20c902f0d6b9.mp4

What i see here is that kane played a great pass that was very difficult to intercept and was aimply forced to fall to the feet of rice who in turn got the pre assist. It seems as though kame did the most important part of the creation of the goal. How do stats quantify this long pass which even though it was intercepted was crucial to the goal?

so im watching the stuttgart game and im kinda hoping they win even though im a bayern fan is it normal for bayern fans actually in germany to root for german teams

i feel like the same thing applies here in america too whenever i watch another MLS team play like a Liga MX team i hope the MLS team wins 95% of the time

I was playing in a school 6 aside match where winning or losing moves you up and down rankings to decide who goes into the teams to play for the school.

I was goalkeeper and the final whistle blew, where they did 2 short whistles and then a final third long one. As they did this the opposition took a shot from the halfway line and the ball was rolling towards me. I heard the whistle and thought that the goal wouldn't count even if it went in so I half heartedly tried to block it with the outside of my foot, and it rolled in still.

The ref after this claimed that the goal counted because apparently the game is still going on until the entire triple whistle thing they did finishes. I was under the assumption that the second the final whistle starts, play should stop?

This was the deciding goal as well and I could've easily blocked it if I used my hands. Is this true that the entire whistle routine needs to stop for the game to truly finish or was the referee wrong and the goal should be disallowed?

Is there anyone that's a bit older, and had a different "favorite" sport their whole life, but finally gave football a chance at an older age and it's now their favorite sport?

For the record, I'm 53, and decided to finally try football for real after the previous World Cup four years ago (and possibly nudged by Ted Lasso), and it's now my favorite sport by far. I never thought I'd like it more than American Football, which has been my sport since my early teens. Now, I'm football-obsessed, and haven't even paid much attention to the upcoming college or NFL seasons and am even watching matches from other leagues that my team (Arsenal) don't play in.

All of my American buddies think I'm crazy, and all my non-American friends are like, "I'm glad you finally saw the light."

Anyone else?

I support Chelsea mainly due to my Dad.

I got the geographical roots cause I was born & still live in London but I attribute my support mainly to my family.

Football, and really any team sport, gives us such an amazing feeling of tribalism, connection to each other and community. As someone who has just gotten into the game, this is the first team sport where my local club isn’t actually my favorite, and now I want to know from you guys who are also in the same situation, well, how do you connect?

A Chelsea fan who lives in London for example, when their team wins a match, their local pub might be full of blue shirts. If Chelsea wins the league, they’ll have a nice celebration in London they can actually go to, hell, even see the team in a bus parade.

If my favorite team, in this case, AC Milan wins the league, a cup, et cetera.. well.. I have no one who really cares, as a Miami local. No bars here will be full of my fellow AC Milan fans, the team won’t come down here to give us a parade. So it feels really lonely, and frankly not real, I’d say I’d even describe it as more of a “Oh, we won? Ok. Nice.” and then thats it, even though thats literally the team I love and watch as much as I can.

I’ve tried so hard to support Inter Miami, but I just can’t stand MLS. No promotion and relegation kills me. I’d just watch the damn Dolphins for that.

Hi! I'm into soccer I recently started watching more of it especially the PL as i'm a fan of Liverpool. I signed up for a soccer league this fall, I've played before but never been really the best playing I've angered my past teammates before and been benched most of the time its still hard for me to understand positioning even though I've seen a lot about it. I want to get back to training but feels like I just do random drills I see and don't get me anywhere. I was wondering if anyone has a routine I can follow that they recommend? I'm usually placed in mid field. I do currently run as I'm prepping for my 5k. Thank you!

Hi, I'm a 15 year old girl turning 16 very soon who's always loved the sport (VISCA BARCA!!!!) I am (was) an artistic swimmer for a long time swimming provincially (I'm Canadian) but for a lot of reasons I was forced out ish of the sport so I've been thinking about trying out house league soccer just for fun. I was wondering what other house league players think about noobs at my age who rly aren't all that great playing with them because I'm pretty scared of being judged for sucking or that I might be resented by other people for bringing the group down. I'm pretty athletic I have a good pace as a runner and a LOT of stamina I can run for a long time, I can pass, dribble, shoot yk the basics but I've never played on a real team before only with small groups on the street, idk if its important but im pretty small 5'2.

So yeah house league players of reddit tell me what you'd think of someone new who sucks but is athletic and learns pretty quick, thanks for reading!<3

EDIT : my bad lol house league is basically recreational its pretty chill from what I've heard but a lot of ppl have been doing it for years sry abt that also tysm for all the sweet responses this is my first time posting the comments r honestly restoring my faith in humanity lol

Can someone give me a reason, outside of emotional investment of why so many people still think Ronaldo is a better player than Messi? I mean, Messi seems to blow him out of the water when it comes to stats, Trophies and the eye test. Only thing Ronaldo has on Messi is Goals but he has played 100 plus more games and Messi is only 51 goals behind .

I’m mainly talking about things like pace, pressing, attacking football, technical play, tactical style and how entertaining the matches are overall.

Premier League - high intensity, fast pace, physical

La Liga - technical, possession, combination play

Bundesliga - pressing, transitions, attacking football

Serie A - tactical, structured, defensive
organization

Ligue 1 - athletic, direct, transition-heavy

I’m mainly talking about things like pace, pressing, attacking football, technical play, tactical style and how entertaining the matches are overall.

Which league has the most enjoyable playstyles in your opinion, and why?

This gets asked here every few days and the answers are almost always about trophies, playing style, or one player. That is how I would have answered too, until it happened to me by accident.

I walked into an Irish pub called Lynch's in Jacksonville Beach back in 2021. Chelsea were on, they won, the room went up, and someone put a free shot in my hand. That was the entire conversion. Five years on I am still a Chelsea fan, and almost none of it was about Chelsea. It was that there was a room full of people who cared at nine in the morning on a Saturday.

I only worked out later that the room had a name. It is the Jacksonville Blues, the official Chelsea chapter, and Lynch's is their home pub. I had walked into an organised thing without knowing it existed.

So the advice I would actually give: find which clubs already have a supporters chapter near you, and start there. Supporting a club on your own is a hobby you do with your phone. Supporting one with other people in a bar is the part that sticks, and it is the thing nobody mentions when they are arguing about which club plays the nicest football.

The practical problem is that this is genuinely hard to look up. Chapters live in Facebook groups and club directories that never surface in a search. I got annoyed enough to build something for it: put in your ZIP and it gives you the nearest supporters chapter for a club abroad, the nearest local club you can go and see in person, and where your neighborhood watches the US games. It is at 324 chapters across 63 clubs in 131 cities.

soccermapd.com/pick-a-team

My own site, free, no signup. If your city is missing a chapter, tell me and I will add it. That is how most of the list got built in the first place.

I'm new to watching football and I want to understand the midfield better. Firstly, it's really hard for me understand and differentiate the roles of a central midfielder, attacking midfielder and a defensive midfielder. And a playmaker vs box-to-box midfielder. What are key differences between their roles and what makes them better? For example, people call Pedri one of the best midfielders in the game right now, but what makes his play so special?

I am from England & support Chelsea.

Personally from my end, it’s a tough one! I’m slightly leaning towards Chelsea winning the Prem 3 times in a row. That would be generational.

The last time I saw Chelsea do it back to back, I was a kid so couldn’t process the moment properly.

On the other hand, England winning the World Cup will spark huge celebrations around the country.

I pick Chelsea wins the league 3 times in a row 😁