If
you know me, you know that I’m an avid fan of soccer. I only started playing
recently, but it’s quickly become my passion, and I also spend what could be
considered and unhealthy amount of time watching professional soccer.
I
love playing soccer because it’s a really technically based sport, where you
don’t have to be extremely strong or tall to excel – you only need to be
devoted to practice, and being fast certainly doesn’t hinder you! I like the
non-stop action, compared to other sports where there are long breaks like
American football, or only some players are active at a time, like baseball. In
soccer, all 11 players are constantly running, repositioning, and trying to
break past the opposing defense. Playing soccer is something that I hope to do
for the rest of my life, and I want to keep improving by playing in college and
after college.
When
it comes to watching sports, I also think that soccer is at the pinnacle.
Unlike other sports, soccer has no breaks, especially not ones implemented for commercials.
The only breaks that happen are during halftime, and for the rest of the game
there is constant action. As well as this, at a high level, the players are
insanely skilled and watching them play is a true show of athleticism – you can
tell that they’re professionals just from the way that they effortlessly handle
the ball. When it comes to professional teams, I love to watch Arsenal, Borussia
Dortmund, and Atletico Madrid, because they have very possession-minded game
styles. Instead of trying to launch the ball forward and sneak past the
defense, the teams are not afraid to pass the ball to their own defense, and
slowly work their way up the field, until they can work and exploit a break in
the opponent’s lines. Watching them play is especially entertaining because of
the speed and accuracy in which the players pass the ball; they can make
triangles and get around people with pinpoint accuracy. With Arsenal, my
favorite team, this playstyle really shines through. Almost all buildup play
comes from short passes. There isn’t much crossing and shooting from distance,
instead, the play is concise and calculated, a style which has been aptly named
“wenger-ball,” after the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. In the comments below,
I’d love to hear opinions about soccer and other sports that you guys like –
what appeals (or doesn’t appeal) to you about a specific sport?
I have been playing Soccer for my whole life and I have never felt as strong to the sport that you do. I only saw it as a way to pass the time. I have never watched professional soccer and in fact find it rather boring. Actually I have never been fully dedicated to watching any professional sport. The only football game I watch is the super bowl. I would rather be playing than watching. NIce POst
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you that soccer definitely offers more athleticism and the less choppy pace of the action is nice as well, I think there's an argument to be made for American football, with all its commercialization and start-stop flow. I, personally, like football, because I think it's the most strategic out of any sport and more of a team sport than soccer or basketball. Every person on the field has to be accounting for 10 other players in completely different positions from them. The fact that each position is super specialized means that no single player is ever going to be able to carry the team. Also, here in the states, we like scoring more than once in a game.
ReplyDeleteI think that sports watching and playing are totally subjective things and there's not necessarily an argument to be made for which is better or worse to watch than others. But I personally like watching soccer just because I can appreciate it more because I understand the game well from playing. I also like that there aren't any commercial breaks, but I think that's just because I get bored when there are. I will say one thing on my opinion of player skill/intelligence: I think that a lot of sports take a certain kind of intelligence but one thing I like about soccer is because there aren't many breaks, the game relies a lot more on overall player intelligence than coach intelligence (although that's not to say sports that rely on coach intelligence are bad sports). Again, these are all just my opinions, and I am certainly not saying that one sport is better than another.
ReplyDeleteI'm very very bad at soccer, but that just gives me more respect for the people who play it professionally. I agree with you completely-- I think soccer is the most fun sport to watch because something is always happening, and the way the players maneuver the ball just looks so cool. But then again, soccer is the only super popular sport I've participated in, so it's also the only sport where I actually sort of understand what's going on...
ReplyDeleteI think the greatest thing about soccer like you said is not only enjoying the game and being good at it, but immersing yourself in worldwide culture of the game. There are so many different ways to enjoy the game from watching games of your favorite teams like you mentioned, to kicking around with your friends on the weekends. Of course, every other sport has this as well, but in my opinion, the amount of passion and excitement soccer fans have for their respective teams is unmatched by any other sport, and that's what makes it so great.
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