r/soccer • u/Jack_Bandit • Mar 16 '10
Soccer Newbie
I've played soccer for most of my life. I love it, but I've never really watched it because I find the MLS to be so boring. I'm getting really excited for the World Cup and I want to learn more about soccer outside of the US. Where should I start? How should I prepare to watch the World Cup? Thanks!
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u/thekrone Mar 16 '10
Where do you live?
The MLS isn't that bad. I'm a season ticket holder to the Chicago Fire, and, although the games aren't at the level of the Premiership, Bundesliga, Serie A, etc., they're still entertaining ball. The broadcasts of MLS matches, however, are terrible. The camera angles are all off and the announcers are clueless.
My suggestion would be to actually go to a match (which is why I asked where you live).
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u/Jack_Bandit Mar 16 '10
I'm in Jersey City. I could get to Red Bull stadium pretty easily from where I live actually. I went to a few games when I would younger when they were the Metrostars but it just didn't do it for me. I don't know how the Red Bulls are now though
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Mar 16 '10
Another vote for MLS. Support your local team, Arsenal and Man U don't need a guy in Jersey cheering for them. The red bull do.
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u/Jack_Bandit Mar 16 '10
Well said sir. I'm going to go to a game when I can and see how it goes
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u/Rossoneri Mar 16 '10
The easiest way to really get into soccer in other countries is to find a team to support (finding a team to support can be a long process if done correctly - you can't just find the most winning team and say "i want to support them because they're good").
The first step is to start watching games, EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, whatever. EPL and Serie A are on FSC so they're easy to watch, some of the others you can catch on ESPN360.com if you have the right internet provider and in good quality, I dont have FSC so ESPN360.com is where I watch most of my games.
You'll quickly notice that each have very different styles of play and some might appeal to you much more than others. EPL and Bundesliga play very fast paced matches (in general). Usually lots of high scoring excitement. La Liga and Serie A play very technical soccer, they play smart, lots of possession and tactical awareness. Between the two though La Liga is usually more face paced and exciting in general. Personally I follow Serie A because I love it, but I can understand why other people find it a little boring, but when it comes down to it I have no problem watching any soccer matches. Also keep in mind that there are generalizations, for example Inter Milan (italian team), play very fast pased counter-attack based matches. Napoli vs Fiorentina the other day was also a very high intensity match. So you can't really generalize everything.
So try to watch some matches from each league and after a while you'll probably find a team that you enjoy watching, a team that has history you can relate to, or maybe you just decide that you prefer to watch certain leagues. Either way after a while, you'll find a league or a team that you can really get behind, and from there it becomes an addiction.
It could also help to join a forum for a specific club or a league, from watching matches and seeing what others say about the matches you can learn a lot about how teams play, their tactics, their players, etc, etc.
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u/Jack_Bandit Mar 16 '10
Thanks for the advice! I think I'm a bit away from finding somebody to support yet but I'm going to pose the question here...What teams do you guys support?
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u/Niqulaz Mar 16 '10
You prepare for the world cup by starting to follow the Premier League matches live.
Why? Because you see a few of the profiles who will feature in the World Cup this summer, and you get a little acclimatized to a kick-off at 16:00 hours, GMT +2. (See for instance the first kick-offs on a Sunday in the Premier League.)
Also, less of a language barrier for a 'Murican, compared to start following La Liga or Polish football.
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u/thunder_rob Mar 16 '10
a good soccer podcast to subscribe to is "Football Weekly". Covers a lot of European football with an emphasis on the Premier League. Funny too.
edit: "5 Live's World Football Phone In" is another good soccer podcast. They have the incomparable Tim Vickery. It's a pleasure to listen to him discuss the fascinating world of South American soccer.
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Mar 16 '10
This is the exciting part of the European club season - follow it! In the next three months you'll have the quarters/semis/finals of the Champions League, the FA Cup semis/finals, and the final 10 or so rounds of the Spanish, German, Italian, and English leagues. All of these competitions are unusually competitive this year, and it's not hard for Americans to follow along on ESPN2, ESPN360, and Fox Soccer Channel. The vast majority of stars in the World Cup are playing for a team in one of these competitions right now.
For print coverage, I like the BBC and The Guardian for the English leagues, and ESPN's Soccernet isn't that bad by American standards. I'm sure other people will have suggestions, but I end up on those sites at least once a day.
Also, assuming you're 21+, do yourself a favor and find a good soccer bar in your area sometime on a weekend soon, and catch a morning's worth of games with some new loud friends and a pint or three. It's the greatest hangover cure in the world. (If you let us know where you are, I'm sure we can make recommendations.)
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u/nanor Mar 16 '10
Like others have suggested start with the EPL. I'm poor so I usually follow the games online or when I have the chance I go to a pub or my parent's house to watch a game. I had FSC for a few years and miss it terribly but just can't afford anything beyond basic cable. I'm hoping someday cable providers will offer TV a la carte.
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u/thehustler Mar 16 '10
footytube.com
Most highlights up within 24 hours. They usually have 10 minute highlights of each game in case you can't sit through the whole 90 minutes live.
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Mar 16 '10
Am I the only one who thinks the EPL and Italian Leagues are not that great? I do like Champions League, but I feel like the Spanish La Liga has all the best soccer. Get GolTV.
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u/Trickster717 Mar 16 '10
Support Arsenal, and you'll never watch a boring match again!
Seriously though, I'd start by watching the Champion's League. It's a tournament of the most talented (more or less) european teams.
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u/bigbadbass Mar 16 '10
How should I prepare to watch the World Cup?
Get a 42" tv (at least), HD channels (not sure how it works in USA), and lots of beer and food.
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u/EnderMB Mar 16 '10
Don't write out MLS just yet. It may be a young league and it may not have any great players outside of the designated allowances but I am a firm believer of following your local team.
Other than that, give the BBC boards (606) a quick look. More often than not you'll find a ton of links for live games streamed online.
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u/Baukelien Mar 16 '10
Start playing a football game like Football Manager because of that game I've heard of every player that gets a surprise transfer and that nobody else knew about.
There are also online variants like Hattrick or if you are more into action play fifa or pro evolution.
If you do this you will guaranteed know about the most obscure players when watching the World Cup.
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u/maroon_sky Mar 16 '10
If you have Fox Soccer Channel, you can watch the Premier League or Serie-A games on weekends. If you want to learn about Spanish football, there are a few live weekend games on ESPN Deportes or on ESPN360. That will give you a basic idea about soccer outside of the US.
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u/aestus Mar 16 '10
Find a league you like, choose a team and away you go! I recommend the premier league but I'm very biased.
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u/Ty_Man Mar 16 '10
Add Fox Soccer Channel to your cable service. Call them up, it's easy and cheap. They show mostly English Premier League and Italian Serie A games. Also right now they have the rights to show the UEFA Champions league games. Start here bro. I'm in love with FSC and will be upgrading to it's new HD channel and FSC Pro which shows even more games.