Picking a soccer team

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Picking a soccer team 

Post#1 » by Hipster Doofus » Wed Jul 13, 2016 5:58 pm

What's the best way to pick a soccer team to follow? The most natural way is to simply follow the team of the town/city that you were born in, but that doesn't apply to me.

I'm looking at all the European leagues and all the various teams. I've followed and watched soccer (football) since the 90s. The great A.C. Milan teams, Juventus, Barcelona, Ajax, Liverpool, Benfica, etc.

But for whatever reason, at the time, I couldn't attach to any one of those teams. And the same problem continues today.

The Premier League is widely recognized as being the best league in the world (some might argue with this). So ideally, picking an English club team would be nice.

I like continuity, stability, good management (the equivalent of the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA).

So when recommending teams, don't just mention the team that you like, but why do you like? What's one word that comes to mind when you think of that team? If that team was a human being, what traits would you use to describe it?

Thanks
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#2 » by Fury » Wed Jul 13, 2016 6:14 pm

Arsenal, bro. Very stable and consistent without the egregious spending of Chelsea, Man U, and Man City. It's a good balance.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#3 » by edfmx86 » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:24 pm

So i guess the Union is a no go for you then? They're doing pretty well this year.

For me, I religiously follow my two home town teams (Real Salt Lake and Club Dep. Guadalajara) and just watch European and South American soccer to enjoy. Watching the CL final this year made me realize how glad I was to not follow either team. It was such a great game but being a supporter of either team must have been agonizing (especially Atletico)

Anyway, just my two cents on that matter...as for a team you might like, I've always thought of Porto as San Antonio Spurs style management. Always developing world class talent, always finishing in the top 2 of their league. Only problem with them is they don't ever seem to push themselves past just being a good European team instead of a great one.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#4 » by Det the Threat » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:25 pm

The best league in football is La Liga.

If you're interested in something a bit like San Antonio(results and not always that interested in style) and don't want to go with the obvious ones of either Real Madrid or Barca, I'd recomment Atletico Madrid.

Though, the best way to find your team is by watching games and at some point you'll get a better feeling for teams and will be able to make a decision on your own.

BTW: @mods:
Could anyone work on those items?
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#5 » by Hipster Doofus » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:41 pm

Fury wrote:Arsenal, bro. Very stable and consistent without the egregious spending of Chelsea, Man U, and Man City. It's a good balance.


Interesting choice. How would you describe their playing style?
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#6 » by Hipster Doofus » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:45 pm

edfmx86 wrote:So i guess the Union is a no go for you then? They're doing pretty well this year.

For me, I religiously follow my two home town teams (Real Salt Lake and Club Dep. Guadalajara) and just watch European and South American soccer to enjoy. Watching the CL final this year made me realize how glad I was to not follow either team. It was such a great game but being a supporter of either team must have been agonizing (especially Atletico)

Anyway, just my two cents on that matter...as for a team you might like, I've always thought of Porto as San Antonio Spurs style management. Always developing world class talent, always finishing in the top 2 of their league. Only problem with them is they don't ever seem to push themselves past just being a good European team instead of a great one.


FC Porto is a good one. I've always like Portuguese football, and Porto has Iker Casillas as a goalkeeper. Only thing is I wouldn't be able to watch many of their games living in Canada as I could with other European leagues for which I have TV channels for.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#7 » by Hipster Doofus » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:48 pm

Det the Threat wrote:The best league in football is La Liga.

If you're interested in something a bit like San Antonio(results and not always that interested in style) and don't want to go with the obvious ones of either Real Madrid or Barca, I'd recomment Atletico Madrid.

Though, the best way to find your team is by watching games and at some point you'll get a better feeling for teams and will be able to make a decision on your own.

BTW: @mods:
Could anyone work on those items?
My club is called Borussia Mönchengladbach. I can understand not using Umlaut but there's an n in front of that first ch of Monchengladbach.


How would you describe Atletico's style of play?

Also, one team I enjoy in La Liga is Athletic Bilbao because of their policy (the only one in the world) where all of their players come from the region where the team is located. So all of them are Basque players, homegrown talent (instead of buying players from all around the planet).
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#8 » by Cactus Jack » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:04 pm

Liverpool

Great history. Anfield is one of a kind. YNWA bands fans of the club together. Unique. A large club, so you don't have to worry about relegation. Most successful team in England (Most European cups). One of the best managers in Klopp. Fun & exciting attacking style of play.

From my pov, the EPL & La Liga are best. But, I prefer the Premier league with La Liga being so top heavy (3 dominant clubs).
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#9 » by Hipster Doofus » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:16 pm

Cactus Jack wrote:Liverpool

Great history. Anfield is one of a kind. YNWA bands fans of the club together. Unique. A large club, so you don't have to worry about relegation. Most successful team in England (Most European cups). One of the best managers in Klopp. Fun & exciting attacking style of play.


Liverpool has always been a team that I have fondness for, especially since the Hillsborough disaster. And you're right, Anfield is one of a kind with their "You'll never walk alone" collective singing. Definitely a team to keep in mind.

Have they added any quality players this off-season?
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#10 » by Cactus Jack » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:27 pm

Canadian6ersFan wrote:
Cactus Jack wrote:Liverpool

Great history. Anfield is one of a kind. YNWA bands fans of the club together. Unique. A large club, so you don't have to worry about relegation. Most successful team in England (Most European cups). One of the best managers in Klopp. Fun & exciting attacking style of play.


Liverpool has always been a team that I have fondness for, especially since the Hillsborough disaster. And you're right, Anfield is one of a kind with their "You'll never walk alone" collective singing. Definitely a team to keep in mind.

Have they added any quality players this off-season?

Not really any big names. But, they have signed some good players. Sadio Mane from Southampton. Loris Karius, a German keeper from Mainz, both are upgrades.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#11 » by Merc_Porto » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:34 pm

edfmx86 wrote:Anyway, just my two cents on that matter...as for a team you might like, I've always thought of Porto as San Antonio Spurs style management. Always developing world class talent, always finishing in the top 2 of their league. Only problem with them is they don't ever seem to push themselves past just being a good European team instead of a great one.

We need to sell our best players to "survive", same with Benfica and Sporting...
It's difficult to build and maintain a team in Portugal.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#12 » by Cactus Jack » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:35 pm

Canadian6ersFan wrote:
Fury wrote:Arsenal, bro. Very stable and consistent without the egregious spending of Chelsea, Man U, and Man City. It's a good balance.


Interesting choice. How would you describe their playing style?

Typically Arsenal have played an aggressive style. But, they've been underachieving recently with Wenger. He needs to go. Their fans want him out. Ownership has been questioned. Stan Kroenke has a bad reputation. They will finish top 4 every year, but come up short. A frustrating club.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#13 » by edfmx86 » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:40 pm

mercgold3 wrote:
edfmx86 wrote:Anyway, just my two cents on that matter...as for a team you might like, I've always thought of Porto as San Antonio Spurs style management. Always developing world class talent, always finishing in the top 2 of their league. Only problem with them is they don't ever seem to push themselves past just being a good European team instead of a great one.

We need to sell our best players to "survive", same with Benfica and Sporting...
It's difficult to build and maintain a team in Portugal.



Understood. My fault for wording it as if it was their own fault that they can't make that jump. They have made a name for themselves in making some stars in the last decade. I can only imagine what the team would look like today if they had the kind of money to keep their talent for the sole purpose of winning the Champions League. I love what they've done either way, even more so since they've taken some our Mexicans with them.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#14 » by BJGOAT3 » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:48 pm

If you don't feel tears rushing to your eyes when you remember or read about the history or past achievements of the club, there is no point supporting it. Find an emotional/personal connection with the team's past and you will find peace with your choice.

Edit: Of course you can find a team that you would like to follow without being a die-hard fan. I've always had a profound interest in Italian football. A reason for this I believe is that Serie A was the best league in the world when I was a little kid, for a long time. When I started to expand my interest in futbol I mostly read about World Cup and watched old game tapes, as it is where legends are made. I would recommend looking at some World Cup history, find legendary performances from the past that could amaze you and dig into the careers of those players to form a personal connection. Best advice I could give is, don't just pick a team according to trends because then when the trend dies you will easily lose interest in the sport.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#15 » by Batu7 » Thu Jul 14, 2016 3:52 pm

BJGOAT3 wrote:If you don't feel tears rushing to your eyes when you remember or read about the history or past achievements of the club, there is no point supporting it. Find an emotional/personal connection with the team's past and you will find peace with your choice.

Basically.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#16 » by MaliBrah » Thu Jul 14, 2016 7:32 pm

Just keep watching games when the season rolls around next month and you'll fall into your pick eventually. You'll become a fan of a player , jersey , stadium , playing style etc and that will connect you to a team.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#17 » by Hipster Doofus » Thu Jul 14, 2016 8:02 pm

That's exactly what I plan on doing, in addition to buying a soccer book with history of each team.
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#18 » by The_Brecht » Fri Jul 15, 2016 7:12 am

Cactus Jack wrote:
Canadian6ersFan wrote:
Cactus Jack wrote:Liverpool

Great history. Anfield is one of a kind. YNWA bands fans of the club together. Unique. A large club, so you don't have to worry about relegation. Most successful team in England (Most European cups). One of the best managers in Klopp. Fun & exciting attacking style of play.


Liverpool has always been a team that I have fondness for, especially since the Hillsborough disaster. And you're right, Anfield is one of a kind with their "You'll never walk alone" collective singing. Definitely a team to keep in mind.

Have they added any quality players this off-season?

Not really any big names. But, they have signed some good players. Sadio Mane from Southampton. Loris Karius, a German keeper from Mainz, both are upgrades.


Mignolet > Karius
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#19 » by The_Brecht » Fri Jul 15, 2016 7:14 am

Canadian6ersFan wrote:That's exactly what I plan on doing, in addition to buying a soccer book with history of each team.


Start by calling it football ;)
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Re: Picking a soccer team 

Post#20 » by Hipster Doofus » Fri Jul 15, 2016 1:50 pm

The_Brecht wrote:
Canadian6ersFan wrote:That's exactly what I plan on doing, in addition to buying a soccer book with history of each team.


Start by calling it football ;)


:D Point well taken.
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