r/SoccerNoobs

In his interview, Henry talks about playing for New York Red Bulls and the moment with his daughter where he realised his body just wasn’t responding anymore.

He said his daughter asked to play tag and his body couldn't move.

It reframes his MLS spell a bit, because it wasn’t just a retirement league phase. It was clearly a stage where he was becoming aware that his playing career was coming to an end.

Do Red Bulls fans look back at his time there more emotionally now, knowing what he was going through off the pitch and even on it?

Watching Sir Alex Ferguson clips made me think about this

People always talk tactics first, but the more I look at old dominant managers like Sir Alex Ferguson, the more it feels like the real difference was mentality and control of the environment.

The guy rebuilt winning teams multiple times, handled huge personalities, adapted across different eras of football, and still kept the standards high for decades. That can’t just be good tactics.

A lot of coaches can have one great season. Very few can build a culture where winning becomes expected no matter who comes or leaves.

should it be more of the middle of my foot or below my ankle?

Any new fans find the way the season ends to be anticlimactic?

So, Arsenal wins the league because Man City and Bournemouth tied. I can’t imagine a more anticlimactic way to become a champion. And then on top of that, Arsenal has a meaningless game to play Saturday.

I just can’t imagine say the Packers team winning the Super Bowl because the Cowboys and Buccaneers tied. Like, what? How do you even celebrate that? How do you get excited or feel any semblance of rush or adrenaline? You win the title and you can’t even see own team celebrate. What am I missing?

Which one do you think is better for a football team?

A. Winning domestic league title every season but always being eliminated in UCL league phase.

B. Being 3. or 4. in domestic league every season but always reaching quarter finals in UEL.

Came across an old Kevin Campbell story about Rooney being involved around Everton’s first team at just 14.

It’s almost unthinkable compared to modern academy systems, especially with how strict safeguarding rules and structured development pathways are now.

It makes you wonder whether early exposure to senior environments like that actually helped accelerate players back then, or whether it would just be seen as too risky in today’s game.

Do you think any player at 14, could join the premier league in today's day and age and dominate, the way Rooney did for Everton?

Hi everyone, all my life everyone around me played football: kids that lived near me, my father, my grandfather, my uncle, everyone except me! I just didn't understand the sport, for me it was stupid. But now everything changed, I have a few great friends who somehow taught me how to love football, for 2 years I watched Premier League, la liga, champions league and so on.. Now I want to play it myself, but I'm an absolute zero, I barely can juggle a ball 2 times, I don't know any tactics, feints etc. How do I start? Ofc I don't wanna be professional or something like that, but it would be cool to not be an absolute loser when I play with my friends, is there a chance to achieve at least mid level in 1-3 years?

Is there a player you hated growing up because they always destroyed your team, but now that you’re older you kinda respect how insanely good they were?

When I was younger it was easy to just call certain players overrated or lucky because they kept ruining weekends for my club. But once you start understanding football more, positioning, movement off the ball, decision making, consistency, mentality, you realize some of those players were genuinely ridiculous.

It’s funny how your perspective changes with age. As a kid it’s all emotion and rivalry, but later on you can actually appreciate greatness even if it came at your team’s expense. Some players were so dominant that you almost had to hate them at the time.

How is it? How do I get a trial in it, is it going to be difficult and challenging for me to join them? 17 currently, playing for an academy, starting LCB against amateur and semi pro teams of youths but next year I’m leaving my country, meaning I won’t be able to progress to semi pro of the teams here, considering large amounts of foreign players and former professional had came to my current country, it is best for me to move to Georgia, Malta and Luxembourg, any recommendation or tips on how to join them? Do I need my highlight in matches or should I just ask them for an open trial?

Saw this clip of Michael Owen talking about how modern football is more about athleticism, pressing and systems than pure technical ability.

He argues that in today’s game, players don’t necessarily need elite skill anymore if they can run, press and fit the system.

Made me think about how Real Madrid always seems to balance both, technical brilliance + physical intensity at the top level but is he right?

Genuinely curious what people think on this one.

I've been wanting to get into football, but l've never really played it. I don't know the rules or what the positions really do or anything.

I'm currently 17 so I'm still somewhat young athletic and I think I found my motivation to start playing football

One of my friends has invited me to compete in this little local football tournament to play for the Latin American team. It's like a cultural event. I originally said no as I didn't want to ruin the team's chance of winning as I'm quite bad at football and these other people have probably been playing for years, but I've been thinking about it and I might change my mind

The event is on the 27th of June do you guys think it's possible to get to a state where I'm good enough at football to somewhat ok/decent or even know the basics by this date? I don't have to be professional or anything high-level as it's just an event for fun.

Another reason why I also kind of declined was because I don't really know most of the people on the team so I would feel worse I did bad compared to if I was playing with friends on a team

Also, when I say “ok” in the title, I don’t really mean ok I just mean to a point where I won’t totally be incompetent and will at least know the rules, positions and maybe even a slither of a chance to keep up

As a parent, should I let my young son focus more on his soccer talent and ditch school? I see many professional soccer players earning good money out here, and if they can do it, my son can do it too. He doesn't like school, and he is a little bit slow in class.

If at the end of the day we all do stuff to make money and live a good life, I see no need to force him with school when he can just play soccer. Imagine if Messi's Dad told him to quit soccer and focus with school, we wouldn't know him today.

But on the other hand, education is also good for everyone. Even just the basic education. I would love him to be a talented soccer player with a good education too.

You guys may have seen my post earlier today in which I talk about being invited to play in a little football tournament which is in a month and a bit, and I was wondering if I could get to ok enough with practically zero prior football experience

I realise this goal may be practically impossible or really unachievable, but either way I still want to play football/learn aside from this event. I’m 17 and from what I understand is a relatively late age to start playing football

Other than obviously having to buy a football, what else do I need if anything else? Do I need football shoes or would playing in regular shoes be fine eg Jordan 1s, Nike shox

And the harder question for me is how do I actually learn the rules and and basics and get started, keep in mind I know practically nothing about this sport
I don’t know what any of the positions do except goalie, so any suggestions on how I can learn the rules and basics and the role of the positions would be quite helpful for me.

Some other info that I think could be useful is I’m currently 5ft 8, 66.5kg, go gym 6x a week although I don’t do or train cardio

And I’m pretty sure last time I checked (which was a while ago) I could run 100m in about 12.8-14seconds

I've never really followed soccer. But every World Cup since 2014 I've watched at least the final and walked away feeling like everyone around me had lived a 4-week story I'd missed.

2022 I watched France-Argentina at a packed bar. People were screaming, crying, and I realized I was the only one there who hadn't followed any of it. Felt the energy without understanding it. It was cool but kind of lonely.

WC26 kicks off in 4 weeks. I want to actually follow this one from group stage to final, not parachute in for the knockouts and pretend I get it.

For people here who were also new to soccer going into WC22 and actually managed to follow the whole thing : what did you do in the weeks before kickoff that made the biggest difference? Did you pick a team in advance, follow a specific YouTuber or podcast to understand more, just commit to showing up every day?

I need help to become an elite striker my goal is to have elite touch,dribbling,,elite offball movement, and strength (pace,be able to body people) I’m 5’9 in 9th grade and I need a training plan to help me become an elite striker. Please respond

I struggle with this and wondered if I'm the only one.

When I train alone I genuinely don't know if I'm doing the drills right. I'll see a YouTube video, try to copy it, and it feels okay but I have no way of knowing if I'm actually replicating the technique or just doing my own version of it badly. The only real feedback I get is game day, and even then it's not clear. if I miss a shot or lose the ball, was it the technique I'd been working on or just match pressure?

So I'll grind something for weeks, show up to a game, and basically have no evidence it made me any better. Then I'm back to square one wondering if I should keep going or switch to something else.

Anyone else experience this? How do you actually train alone in a way you trust?

• Do you film yourself and review it?
• Do you have specific drills where you can tell if you're progressing without needing a game to test it?
• Have you found a way to bridge the gap between "drill-rep technique" and "actually doing it under pressure"?
• Or do you just trust the process and accept you won't see results for months?

Genuinely lost on this one.

I want to have good off ball movement as a striker. Also I need help in where to position myself on the field because I find myself running to deep into the field (where my defenders are) and not knowing where to stay on the pitch at times. Please give me good tips

I’ve been a casual world soccer fan my whole life and only just devoted myself to the sport within the last league season. At this point I follow the EPL/UCL with as much fervor as I do the NBA/MLB/NFL.

One thing I’ve picked up on is the hilarious apology posts after a poor performance, something you RARELY see in American sports. I just watched my club, Liverpool, play awfully against Villa, and then Andy Robertson (who didn’t even play lmao) posts on IG about how this is a “performance which sums up our season.”

Maybe it’s just indicative of how disappointing this year has been for LFC, but I’ve seen a comical amount in the past few months. And I definitely notice it for other clubs’ players.

It always comes back to the fans, which I appreciate. It certainly shows a deep level of care and passion—just something I’ve never really noticed in American sports.

Any thoughts on this? Simply on my mind.