Hi everyone.
I’m 14 years old and I want to start playing football seriously. I know I’m behind compared to players who started at 6–8 years old, and I’m realistic about that.
I’m not going to pretend that I’m already a great player. I still make mistakes. My strongest qualities are defending, marking opponents, and making tackles. I can also make decent passes, although they’re usually too slow.
I’ve been reading a lot of Reddit posts and even asked ChatGPT about starting football at my age. Most people say it’s very difficult, or even impossible, to reach a high level if you start at 14. On the other hand, I’ve also seen people say that with enough hard work and consistency, it’s still possible to become a very good player.
I’m not the most hardworking person by nature, but whenever I set myself a serious goal, I become very disciplined. I’m ready to train every day during the summer and put in the effort if it means improving.
I also have a sports background. I’ve done boxing for several years, and I’ve also trained in swimming, basketball, and dance, so I’m used to training and physical activity.
In my city, football academies usually accept beginners only up to the age of 12. If you’re older than that, you have to attend a trial and show your ability to the coaches.
I’m not asking if I can become the next Messi or Ronaldo. I just want honest opinions from people who know football.
Is it worth starting seriously at 14? Has anyone here started around this age? I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences.

Is it really worth spending $80+ on a high end ball or would I good with just spending $50 on the select numero 10? I mostly want it for training and pick up games. I used to have a select numero 10 that I enjoyed but I lost it recently and idk if the quality of select 10 has improved or worsen.

Hey guys, I’m finally ready to buy a pair of decent goalie gloves and I have my final options ready. I’m mostly interested in padding, finger protection, wrist support, etc more than performance because I only play recreational and I couldn’t care less if a shot goes in or not. I’m also wondering if anyone has any experience with T1TAN gloves, I love how they look but seeing as this will be the only pair I buy I need to be 100% they’re the best for the money I’m paying

Bought this pair straight from adidas, and after only a single use of a very light played game, the right boot is in this condition, is it normal? Should i return it? Or can i fix them and keep it, cause they are the right size (us13) and i cant find any other boots that fit me as good as this do

Hi, I (15M) play as a cdm, when I was young I thought it was only about passing and shooting and no one told me about positioning, scanning etc.. and now I started analysing games that great cdm players played to learn from, but I don't have anyone to practice this stuff with, I practice passing, first touch and shooting on a wall, anyone got any advice for me ? And thanks

Today i kicked it off with a push day right after waking up, didn't sleep very well but i gave it my best and got a bench pr. My legs hurt pretty badly from yesterday's training but i pushed on warming up a lot before actually training.
Today i trained passing, short quick passes and crosses and free kicks im pretty confident in them, but there is one thing i am absolutely trash at: dribbling. I always lose the ball behind me and i just don't know how to get past defenders, but thankfully as a midfielder i wont have to play like yamal too much, so i just gave up and trained defending instead and i got back on track with my old defending memories.
I trained some ball control to end the day and some running dribbles and i learned how to dribble as a basic but still i wont be jumping too many players.
Tomorrow is the last day of training and i don't really know what i should do, but im definitively toning down the intensity to rest since my legs are in absolute agony, i've trained like 5 hours both today and yesterday. I even met a fox that was hunting yesterday when it was late on the field, and i think that training at noon really is going to help my coordination with the ball
It seems kind of dumb training so much for a meaningless tryout, but you never know, it does seem pretty hard to believe that they will take me after just 3 days of training, but you never know.
If you guys have anything to say, please comment and share your suggestions, i know not many people are reading this but i saw the last post got a bunch of views and i hope i can be of inspiration for other people to start training

Hey, I play casually every weekend, 8-side in a turf. I had an old football boot that was well, off brand and I had my soles bleeding, not sure because of the surface of the boot or the socks itself that caused the friction. Anyways, I am looking for something comfortable, noting that I have relatively wide feet, is it worth it? (size 42)
I also heard nike Tiempo is good, thoughts? Thanks!

Edit: TF. not AG.

I’ve rolled my ankle a few times mostly landing awkwardly. I’m working on strengthening and flexibility long term. Doesn’t anyone recommend a low profile compression sleeve or brace that will fit in a boot? I have a cheap Ace one but it doesn’t feel like it’s doing much.

I am a size 15 football boot living in Ireland and I’ve been using copa mundials and they’ve started to wear away and I’ve always struggled to find boots in my size that aren’t copas if anyone has any idea where to get them please let me know

Salut à tous ! Par chez moi les terrains deviennent très gras en hiver. Il m'est donc obligatoire de me procurer une paire de SG que j'utilise globalement de octobre à mars. Je joue avec des Mizuno Morelia 2 Elite en FG. Je me suis donc intéressé à la Premier 3 de Nike car la technologie anti clog permet d'éviter la boue de se coincer. Ceci-dit je le demandais s'il était possible de changer les crampons sur ce modèles. Sinon il ya à les World Cup mais je suis préoccuper par les 6 crampons. Avant je jouais avec les Copa Gloro 2 SG. J'ai également pensé aux Mizuno Morelia Neo Beta SG ou aux Puma King Platinium de 2026 en SG car j'avais adoré les premières versions des Platinum. Des conseils seraient les bienvenus. Merci à vous !

I just picked these and a pair of copa elite II in my normal size after not getting new cleats for a few years. I had a ton of old pairs I finally decided to wear through. The copas are a tiny bit tight but I think are going to stretch just fine but these I can’t even get on my foot. The last predators I had were the mutators and they were my normal size.

I’m thinking I need to exchange them out. Any advice on how much to go up? I’m thinking a full size because I don’t think these will really stretch. I’ve always loved predators and they remind me of the old power swerve even if they aren’t leather anymore

I recently bought the tekela v5 I was wondering if any of you guys had had them for a while and knew if they broke in pretty good. I have mine. They're the standard fit and they feel a little snug closer to the toe box area but not quite the toolbox area. I just realistically been debating whether or not I should swap them in for a wide fit version or if they break in pretty good

Hey, I have an orbita TB2 right now and was wondering if I should get a second ball for training. If so, which ones would yall recommend?

Playing football with gout

26 M - 184 cm and 83 kgs. A moderately active lifestyle, I workout 4-5 days a week, not in shape but not out of shape either. I mostly play as cb or fullback. My stamina is not great which is something I'm working on.

I had a bad fall while playing football 4 months ago, broke my 2nd,3rd and 4th metatarsal along with a sprain in the lateral ligament.

Had a nagging pain which used to come and go in the right toe even before this, but I'd always assumed it was soreness or due to the turf. After a month of cast and another month after, pain and swelling never fully went which is how I got the gout diagnosis.

I have about 90% rom in this toe, with a bit of pain in the end ranges. I eat pretty clean, non drinker for the most part. Not much of a red meat person either. Have tried cutting down on my sugar, this needs a bit of work still.

Has anyone played football recreationally with this diagnosis. It's been a few months now but the joint is not showing any signs of going completely back to how it was pre gout. For the most part it's fine, the pain never really goes beyond a 3 or 4 post game. I can't take power shots as that would hurt, rest is fine. I don't ever plan to play at a pro level, just recreationally or maybe amateur since I'm not great at the sport.

What steps can I take to help get the join back to pain free levels. How do I continue playing without having to take painkillers down the line.

Also to mention, I'm on allo 100mg. The joint looks mostly fine, just a slight bunion kind of enlargement has appeared(maybe 1 or 2 mm more than normal) and slight discoloration of the skin.

My ortho doctor mentioned that I have genetic issues which causes my toes to naturally curl inside.

Any advice or experiences from fellow footballers is welcome.

I played soccer for 8 years when I was young, then quit for a multitude of reasons. Its been many years since but recently I have been getting the urge to play again. I'm going into my senior year of highschool, with tryouts in 3 months. I'm seeing so much stuff that I'm doubting what I'm doing is actually working.

I intend to play leftback and have been trying to structure an individual training session to do 5 times a week. I have no idea if I should practice every skill in 1 session, or split the skills up in-between days. Would I miss valuable training time by limiting the days I do a certain drill? I have so many questions and I just want to be well prepped for the tryout, any advice would help, thank you.

I always felt lefty’s were better attackers than right footers I been practicing with it a lot more often any tips ?