I made the team, but now i am starting to feel demotivated. It feels like I can’t do anything right, like I can’t score goals, i am not good at receiving or defence. Am i just not made for sports or is it my mindset that needs improving?

I just finished freshman season as a damn benchwarmer on JV. Is it realistic for me to get on varsity as a junior or senior?

A 6'5 big strong man on the wing, buffing out everyone but can't really run and barely dribble, sometimes puts up a PowerShot. Or a 5'5 small midget up front dribbling and paving everyone but with a push, he's on the ground

Hi everyone!

I’m a high school student from Estonia currently working on my 11th-grade research project about the impact of ACL injuries on footballers’ sporting careers.

I chose this topic because I’ve experienced an ACL injury myself. About a year ago, I tore my ACL and also injured my meniscus, so I know personally how long and challenging the recovery process can be. This made me interested in finding out how ACL injuries affect other athletes, especially their return to sport, confidence, motivation and sporting careers.

I’m looking for footballers who have experienced an ACL injury to take part in my anonymous questionnaire. It takes around 5–7 minutes to complete, and your answers would be a huge help with my research.

If you have had an ACL injury and have some time, I would really appreciate you taking part.

Questionnaire: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/1vSkYfWmgu

Thank you so much for your help! 🙏

CR7 is still in the playing too, while Rooney is long retired. What explains this paradox?

Following up on a previous post, does anyone have advice for where to watch (preferably stream) soccer games for free (and legally)? It doesn’t matter to me if the games are live/recent or not, as I’m just trying to learn the sport right now. Argentine games are preferred but I know that’s pretty niche; I’ll take anything I can get.

Thanks!

So I support Chelsea

The nationals : England & Nigeria as I was born & raised in England to Nigerian parents.

I just love the fact that international football doesn’t happen often which adds to the excitement

International football brings people together no matter what club allegiance you are. Sometimes the club tribalism puts me off!

I've always wondered about this in football. When a player takes a penalty and the goalkeeper saves it, people usually say the player missed the penalty rather than giving the goalkeeper credit for the save.

I get it if the player shoots wide or hits the post, but when the keeper makes a great save, shouldn't we give them the credit instead?

Is it just a common way of describing it, or is there a reason behind it?

I started watching football during the 2022/23 season, when I was around 16. I know that’s a bit late, but still... My father always wanted me to become a football fan, but until 2022, I just saw the sport as 22 millionaires kicking a ball around. However, when Kvaratskhelia moved to Napoli, I started supporting that club, later, he moved to PSG, so I began watching the Parisians' matches and stopped following Napoli.
Because of this, a friend calls me a "football tourist" meaning I only support the team where players from our national squad are playing and there’s some truth to that.

Anyway, I’ve decided to pick one club to support consistently, though I don’t know yet which one it will be.

Which one are you rooting for and why?

I look for the most responsive, sharp, fastest soccer ball there is, in spite of touch softness and comfort.
I’m an soccer enthusiast practicing solo for fun and health. Being a rather light, Not a robust, strong person (though tolerant to hard kicking footballs) I would like to maximize my energy transfer to the ball, obviously conscious that good technic is of essence.
I remember the old days when we played with leather, non cushioned balls… I miss very much these hard kicking balls and their awesome canonball like speed.
I would like to find a ball like those but also want it to be in the modern synthetic materials to profit from their advantage in terms of durability and water resistance.
I always pump “my balls” at the highest recommended pressure. It is known through physics that the higher the pressure (harder), the higher the energy transfer due to lower energy losses to cushion the kicking foot.
Taking for granted that weight ball also counts ( probably even more) I would also appreciate information of known ball weights, within the 410~450 gr FIFA range, very particularly those on the light side.
I’ve been alternating my shootings with lighter balls i.e. Decathlon Kipsta Ligths (350~360 gr). Definitely I hit them faster and straighter for the first 20 meters or so, however the prevailing air drag over a lower density ball drops them abruptly way faster than the regular more dense “official” balls (clearly physics as well).
It will be very interesting hearing your advise/comments based in your experience.
(I’m currently working hard to regain muscular strength and power up my kicks).
Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I’m an amateur football fan and have built a small tool called Match-Hero to make choosing a Player of the Match (POTM/MOTM) after a game easier and more fun.

I’m looking for 3–5 amateur football teams that already choose a Player of the Match after their games and would be willing to try it in a real post-match setting.

Here’s how it works:

• The captain sets up the team and starts the vote.
• Players receive a voting link via WhatsApp.
• Everyone votes on their phone within 60 seconds.
• The winner is announced, and the team can take a photo to generate a shareable Player of the Match poster.

There’s no app to download, and players don’t need to register to vote.

I’ve built the app myself and now want to see how it works with real teams. I’m particularly interested in honest feedback about what works, what doesn’t, and whether it adds anything to the post-match experience.

It’s free to test, and I’m not asking anyone to buy anything.

Does your team already pick a POTM/MOTM after matches? If so, I’d be interested to hear how you currently do it and whether you’d be open to trying a different approach.

Thanks!

Footballers, to you have like periods of just training everyday for about 2-8 weeks and then just stop, I don’t know why but this always happens to me and after I usually question if I actually love football. This kind of applys to every athlete. Is this a lack of hunger or lack of love for football or is it just getting bored of it?

I grew up playing a lot of 5v5 and 7s but now I’m playing in a Sunday league as a left winger and despite making good runs, shots on goal, etc. I feel like my general positioning is not solid enough. My team usually plays a 4-5-1 and I would love advice on where I should be when the ball is in our possession in the right/left or when we’re defending.

Recently I've started to become really interested in football, especially because of the world cup. But the problem is I'm 15 and I've practically never kicked a ball once in my life. I don't want to embarrass myself and play in a club because other people have okayed football for years now and also I don't have enough money for that. Since my GCSEs are coming soon I can probably only play on the weekend I don't have anyone to play with but there is a big field near my house where I can practice. Any suggestions?

I am a defender and I want to be a combination of those 3 in the defense maldini in the passes pedri and in the dribble lamine I would like to know if you have tips since I am not very good the truth is that it is more difficult for me to shoot when I am running and the defense I can polish it all your tips would help me thank you 🫂

If you’re newer to football, Málaga’s 2012/13 season is one of those stories that helps explain why the Champions League can be so unpredictable. It was Málaga’s first ever Champions League campaign.

They had Manuel Pellegrini as coach, a young Isco becoming one of Europe’s most exciting talents, and players like Joaquín, Toulalan, Demichelis and Santa Cruz. They won their group ahead of Milan, knocked out Porto and came incredibly close to reaching the semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund. The strange part is that while the team was becoming one of Europe’s biggest surprises, the financial project behind the club was already starting to collapse. We made a documentary explaining that season and why Málaga disappeared so quickly after reaching such a high level. If you’ve never heard much about that team, I think it’s a really interesting example of how fast football projects can rise and disappear.

Has there been another team you discovered years later and couldn’t believe you had missed?

https://youtu.be/rXPS5gGbNhY?si=zLFPeeOL43toziDC

Hello!

I’m usually a gridiron (American) football fan, but I’ve been wanting to connect more with my family from Argentina. I played a lot of soccer as a kid and early teen, but I could never get into watching it. I can’t really tell where the momentum is or where the overall motion of the game is going, and I’m fully lost if I try to listen to a radio broadcast.

If anyone’s willing, I need some help understanding:
- Rules (I understand most things simpler than offsides, but I need help on the finer points).
- The league/promotion system (my only experience with this is from watching Ted Lasso).
- Strategy.
- How to understand a radio broadcast.

Comments are welcome, as is permission for me to DM you with questions - especially if you are familiar with Argentine football and/or Boca Juniors.

Thanks!

Oi, pessoal! Comecei a acompanhar futebol em 2016, quando tinha 8 anos, e torço pro Grêmio. Eu só acompanho futebol, mas quase nunca jogo e tenho pouca prática. Queria começar do zero e melhorar minhas habilidades. Vocês têm dicas de por onde começar ou do que treinar?

Hi everyone!

I’m a high school student from Estonia currently working on my 11th-grade research project about the impact of ACL injuries on footballers’ sporting careers.

I chose this topic because I’ve experienced an ACL injury myself. About a year ago, I tore my ACL and also injured my meniscus, so I know personally how long and challenging the recovery process can be. This made me interested in finding out how ACL injuries affect other athletes, especially their return to sport, confidence, motivation and sporting careers.

I’m looking for footballers who have experienced an ACL injury to take part in my anonymous questionnaire. It takes around 5–7 minutes to complete, and your answers would be a huge help with my research.

If you have had an ACL injury and have some time, I would really appreciate you taking part.

Questionnaire: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/1vSkYfWmgu

Thank you so much for your help! 🙏

Based on the last match, do you think Supra du Québec is going to be in the top 4 of the league? What do you guys think of this very young team?

Following up on my last post since the CPL is currently sitting at just 8 teams, which region of Canada would you like to see get an team in the future?

My brother wants to start playing with me, and I'm not particularly experienced either, but he has almost no knowledge about the game or rules past the basics gym class teaches 😂. He's about 6 foot and a stockier build, wants to play CB or goalie. Claims his best trait is his ability to learn people and us good at video games. Any tips or advice for him?

This should be obvious, but I can’t figure out what’s wrong. I’m a 25F who grew up playing soccer but stopped before college and just recently started playing in an adult league (which I’ve loved!).

We play on turf fields (the kind where little rubber pieces come off the field), and after every game, the next day my ankles and the tops of my feet (bilaterally) hurt 8/10 pain. I also feel like I can feel every single bone in my feet. I wear cleats (Adidas kids’ size, since I have smaller feet).

Anywho, is the pain because I’m a little heftier than I used to be (5’3” and 129 lbs), so there’s more “chunk” to run around with? Or do I need flatter shoes?

For context, I play center midfield and play the entire game, so I’m doing a lot of running. But I also run outside of soccer, so running itself isn’t much of an issue.

Or are there specific warm up for your feet?

This morning I had to take ibuprofen to be able to walk without too much discomfort.