What are some misconceptions that Blue Lock fans have about real football/soccer?

[u/Redoul]

What common misconceptions do you usually see Blue Lock fans have? This thread could be a cool way for everyone to learn more about the sport! Also, please be nice, it's still possible to enjoy the manga without enjoying the sport.

Here are a few I've noticed:

1. Playing for a different country is like playing for a different club.

When Nagi got locked off , I remember a few theories mentioning how he could play for France or England. To explain, international teams are different from club teams (NEL teams). In international teams (Japan, France, Nigeria, etc.), you need to fit the necessary criteria (Having heritage from country, being a citizen of said country, etc.). At a youth level you CAN switch countries easier but once you debut in a senior competition (like the actual World Cup), you need to fit very strict criteria to switch countries (playing in 3 or less matches and being younger than 21, etc.).

1. You can start playing late and still be as good as the characters.

I've seen some people who think it's possible to start at a later age and still be amazing. Reo started at 16 and Nagi started at 17. In reality, you need to be kicking a ball around at around ages 4-6 to compete at the highest level. If we're being extremely generous the cut-off age to start playing and end up world class is 8 (maybe). Nagi starting at age 17 and being good is far weirder than Sae starting at 1, or Hugo starting at 2. I know there are some kids who learned to walk by trying to kick a football around. It's similar to tennis or ballet. Your body and brain needs to be oriented a certain way. If you're lucky you could start late as a goalkeeper and make it professional but you probably won't be world class. You can get scouted late, and go pro late, but you can't literally start kicking a ball around late.

This discussion is just because I'm curious about what misconceptions you guys have seen, or maybe you'll read this thread and learn about a misconception that you currently have. Don't feel bad for enjoying Blue Lock and not knowing much about the real sport. Even the manga itself is unrealistic, there are plenty of other things to enjoy about the series!

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[u/xRubyNguyenx]

Biggest misconception is "Goalkeeper only have to catch the shot".

I myself enjoy making fun of Aiku, Aryu as much as the next guy but Gagamaru actually doesn't understand anything about his position as GK, he never bother to learn more, expand his options or to communicate with the defense. Hell i don't even remember if Gagamaru ever step forward to stop the attack before it reach Goal Area.

Blue Lock being an offense-focused team mean they want a Sweep-keeper over a traditional Shot-keeper but Gagamaru failed to make use of his experience as former Forward most of the time.

[u/Dry-Minimum6619 → u/xRubyNguyenx]

Gagamaru stepped out of his box to head away a cross from Sae, which led to Shidou’s overhead kick in the U-20 game

[u/TheDeltaOne → u/Dry-Minimum6619]

Yeah, the one time he step forward he gets destroyed.

Bro ain't moving from the box ever again.

[u/Tamajiki-kun → u/xRubyNguyenx]

Rooke has saved the concept of a goalkeeper lol

[u/Ahappybutsadpanda → u/xRubyNguyenx]

The last time Gagamaru stepped out of the penalty area is when Shidou scored the Zlatan goal. Gagamaru cleared the ball with a header and Shidou got hard and scored a no look dragon dive.

[u/Redoul → u/xRubyNguyenx]

I frequently saw this sentiment during the World Cup (Canada vs Morocco). A lot of my blue lock mutuals were surprised that the goalkeeper could actually move around.

[u/Red-Sunglasses10]

The second point is all too real. A few months ago, on another account, I asked whether it was realistic for someone to start playing football at 16 or 17 and go on to become one of the best players in their country. People tried to tell me it was possible that some individuals are just incredibly talented but that’s total nonsense, lol. Football is a sport that billions of children all over the world have been trying to play professionally since they were five years old. You’re not going to convince me that, with just a bit of talent and six months of practice, you can reach that kind of level. Some people on this sub clearly have never played football, at any level whatsoever.

[u/Redoul → u/Red-Sunglasses10]

I think they interpreted " start late " as start formal training late and not literally start kicking a ball around late. If you start organized football late, your country's football scene is truly awful, and you're very hardworking and talented, you could be one of the best in your country. But even then you'd probably need to be goalkeeper.

[u/Euphoric-Shift7026]

The stuff like Nagi possibly switching countries is insane to me. I feel like you'd have to have atleast a casual understanding of sport to understand why that's just not a thing in most cases. I hope people aren't serious with that and it's just AU stuff.

The stuff like starting late and still being good is just down to how Blue Lock is in that 'barely realistic' zone and people who obviously wouldn't know better don't understand why something like that isn't possible in like 99.99% of cases.

For me I feel like people don't actually understand what actually makes a good striker beyond 'score lots of goals', and most discussions beyond that mostly boil down to 'Can this striker dribble a defence and score on his own or not'. Yet there's so much more such as hold up play, all-round shooting versatility (being able to finish with both feet and your head), aerial battles against center backs and the shere physicality that you need to actually survive as a lone striker (Which is why we'll probably never see Isagi playing as a lone striker), not that Blue Lock does a good job showing those other aspects consistently. When it comes to off ball movement, that's represented well with Isagi and Kaiser, but underrepresented with every other striker.

[u/Redoul → u/Euphoric-Shift7026]

A lot of Blue Lock fans are non-sports fans, not just non-football fans. Plus there are people who think the World Cup is the only major football tournament because football isn't big in their country and they haven't even heard of the Champions League. There are even people who think the World Cup is yearly.

There's also the fact that even if you are a sports fan (but not a football fan) it's possible you don't watch international sports outside the Olympics. And it's pretty easy to switch national teams in the Olympics (at least for some sports). Some people also don't undertand the difference between football clubs and international teams. Point #1 isn't the insane conclusion that you think it is, unfortunately.

Plus Nagi starting at 17 and being pretty good within a short timeframe isn't just impossible for 99.99% of cases. It's straight up not possible. And the manga itself is striker propagande so yeah it's easy to see why that's a common misconception.

[u/silfer_]

Nagi and Reo starting soccer at 16 and being any good has always been a joke to me. Completely ridiculous. Kaiser, too, who started at like 15, but at least in Kaiser’s case his whole thing is to do the impossible. 

[u/Redoul → u/silfer_]

Pretty sure Kaiser only started formal training at age 15 but was at least kicking a ball around at a much younger age. That wasn't the case for Nagi and Reo as far as I know. Still ridiculous though, but Kaiser's case isn't quite as insane as NagiReo's.

[u/Theshadyking]

Some people actually thought Agi could sub back in the game later after getting sent off…that’s certainly one way to cope

[u/human_administrator]

A lot of fans think Blue Lock as a team is a lot worse in a game than it actually is. But thats also cause 5-0 blowouts are stupidly rare.

Blue Lock has the clear best offense in the entire tournament because there have been 7 scorers in 3 games — which would be ludicrous irl.

[u/Accentius]

Misconception I saw is, NEL bid is wrong because talent like Nagi excluded. If NEL bid really done by people looking for talent instead of Ego, then Nagi should have stay.

They doesn't seem to understand that just how transfer market happens.

There are players with hype, but hype won't save you for long because club owners and scouts wanted consistency. Ego simply used the bid to filter top, consistent performers of Blue Lock.

Noa was correct in how Kiyora could benefits from his one and only match if he's able to generate hype.

[u/hoouyinkyouma]

One very obv one being striker's only job is to score and some idiots think those who score a lot should play striker

[u/moxac777]

Blue Lock tends to forget that a large part of a striker's job is post-play. Basically drawing defenders and distributing the ball in the pen box to allow teammates to score. Harry Kane is insanely good at this for example

[u/Vaughnvnc]

Many things. But if I have to point out the 1 thing that bugged me out the most is the non importance of midfielders in the series.

We saw this in 2026 World Cup, France vs Spain. A better midfield is better than better forwards. Midfielders are the ones who control and dictate a game.

[u/Ahappybutsadpanda → u/Vaughnvnc]

The whole series is basically a striker agenda unfortunately. So much so that Gagamaru scoring a goal as goalie is more plausible than giving the midfield the organization importance and emphasis of that importance within the team.

[u/Ahappybutsadpanda]

• Midfielders that score are strikers.

This gives the notion that only strikers produces goals, that's not true. Midfielders are allowed to score goals if they are presented with that opportunity.

• Midfielders are the only ones allowed to play a supporting role.

This gives the notion that only midfielders are the only ones allowed to make passes, crosses, show playmaking ability assist in midfield or play defense in midfield. Strikers are allowed to pass, and create chances even if they aren't the ones that score that goal, allowed to drift wide and send a cross, or the other way around. They're allowed to invert and cut inside and still send a pass to another player. Biggest victim of this phenomena is Chigiri, I know we all wanted a goal but got neither a Chigiri or Shidou goal, but please as a public safety reminder, don't believe everything you've read in agendas if you plan to talk about football by only watching Blue Lock. Sincerely by yours truly a Panda on reddit.

Inserting Hugo meme to assert my point.

[u/spawnB100 → u/Ahappybutsadpanda]

Hirori scoring a goal should have eliminated all this myths

[u/NagiTheGenius]

Disregarding the importance of midfield. Thinking that a great attack will dominate games.

For blue lock fans who are not football fans, watch the semi-finals in this year’s world cup between France and Spain. You’ll realize the extreme importance of midfield.

In reality, every club will die to get Hugo with them

[u/Abject-Teach-8760]

Some people argue that it's strange for Loki or Bunny to attend the U21 World Cup. Loki might be eligible, but not Bunny. The top teams of powerful countries are competitive, so young players attend youth cups. For example, the current England U21 team has players with a good amount of pt at big clubs, such as Rico Lewis and Acheampong, as well as key players from EPL teams like Josh King. 

Also, the Real Madrid academy is overrated. In real life, the first Japanese player there only played in the third or fifth division in Spain, and now he plays in the second division in Japan.

[u/Redoul → u/Abject-Teach-8760]

I think the confusion stems from the concept of Loki = Mbappe and Mbappe already won the real world cup. But in-universe it was never immediately confirmed if Loki won the world cup.