Why Watching Soccer Matters
The Value of Watching Soccer
With the World Cup coming to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico this summer, it is a great opportunity to watch quality soccer games. Even now, there are English Premier League games to watch, and Major League Soccer will be starting up again shortly.
Watching soccer is a great way for athletes to grow their love of the game, and to improve in their own game. On the field training is great, and players should still put in the time to get touches on the ball to practice their touch and perfect their shot. However, elite players also need to understand decision making, positional awareness, and when to apply what they’ve learned in a training session. All of this can be taught by watching a soccer game, either a professional game or by watching back a game that you played in.
Elite players also need to understand decision making, positional awareness, and when to apply what they’ve learned in a training session.
Why Watching Others Play Matters
Watching others play, at any level, is a great way to improve your own game. This can be watching a high level soccer game (such as English Premier League on a Saturday morning), or staying after your own game to watch another team in the same age/skill bracket at a tournament. Both can provide valuable learning opportunities and help grow your love for the game.
Larger Soccer Vocabulary
When you listen to commentators, you’ll develop the appropriate vocabulary. You’ll hear these terms while watching a live example, helping to cement it into your memory. This will help you know how/when to use the vocabulary. You will be able to have smarter, more in-depth conversations with coaches and teammates. This skill will also help you stand out when you are trying out or looking to be recruited by a college program.
Improves Soccer IQ
You’ll be able to see how other teams play, and how their lineups work against other play styles. You can gain a better understanding of various formations that you may not play with the team(s) you're on. Furthermore, you’ll see the adjustments made at halftime, and the impact they have on the game. For example, does the coach implement a higher line of confrontation? What spaces do they look to exploit in possession? You can see both the strengths and weaknesses of these formations, which can help you to exploit the weaknesses of a formation your opponent is playing.
You’ll be able to see what to do in certain situations, such as when you are winning with five minutes left in a game. These are situations you may not experience first-hand, but through watching others you can learn what to do when you are placed in a similar situation.
Helps with Decision-Making
You will learn in training a variety of skill moves and how to properly shoot a ball (hopefully). You will even be placed in situations to use these skills. However, watching games provides even more examples. Oftentimes training sessions are formulated in such a way to get a large number of reps in one specific situation. This isn’t bad, and there is certainly a place for this, but watching games shows you different scenarios that can be trained during a two-hour practice.
Furthermore, seeing these drills used successfully in big matches can provide motivation to work harder in practice. You see that the move works, and suddenly you are a lot more likely to listen to your coach when they tell you to do it for ten reps.
Failing Through Others
While you will certainly watch a lot of great examples of how the game is played, you will also see fantastic failures. It is just as important to learn what not to do as it is to learn what to do. Watching others fail helps you prevent making the same mistakes in your games or training sessions.
As you watch these players fail, you will also see how they react. Do they mouth off at the ref, immediately earning themselves a yellow card? Or do they bounce back quickly from this failure, using it as fuel to create a goal scoring opportunity for their team on the next play?
Grow Your Love For the Game
Soccer is fun, and watching soccer reinforces this message. The more you watch soccer, the more you can enter into conversations with others about your favorite team and other players. It can ignite that competitive spirit as your root for your team to make a playoff run. You develop your own thoughts and opinions about players and will quickly find yourself rooting for your favorite players (even if they play for a team that isn’t your favorite). Watching soccer can serve as the ultimate reminder that soccer truly is the greatest game.
Watching Others:
Grows your soccer vocabulary
Improves your soccer IQ
Improves decision making
Teaches what not to do
Grows your love for the game
Why Watching Your Games Matters
More and more frequently I notice teams with VEO or other cameras set up, recording their games. Teams as young as U8 are filming their games, and sending the footage out to parents and players. So why is it important to go back and watch these games?
See Other Options
When you watch back a game, you will be able to see different options for what could have been. The third person perspective can help you to ‘zoom out’, and see a teammate you didn’t notice while playing.
Furthermore, when you watch the game back you are removed from the emotion of the moment. In this lower stress environment, you will be able to take your time to analyze the game more thoroughly, seeing these other options and thinking through what would have happened.
See Your Mistakes
When you watch back a game, you will be able to slow down and see your mistake more clearly. You’ll be able to notice why a certain move didn’t work, or why you didn’t connect a pass. You can then take these lessons, working to improve in practice so that you avoid making the same mistake again in a game setting.
See Your Successes
Similar to being able to see your mistakes, you are also able to notice the things that went right. You can see how a small adjustment to body-shape allowed for a positive first touch, ultimately leading to a goal-scoring opportunity for your team. This can be a great confidence boost, and help you find your identity as a player. You learn what works, and find more moments in games and practices to replicate these successes.
Pattern Building
Over time, as you watch back your games, you will be able to recognize patterns. For example, you may notice an energy drop in the last 15 minutes of the half where the opponent seems to always have more possession and momentum. With this in mind, you can step up as a leader, encouraging your teammates to simplify the game in these moments and prioritize possession in order to avoid giving up a goal going into halftime.
Watching Your Games
Shows you the other options you had
Highlights both your successes and failures
Helps you build pattern recognition
What to Look For When You Watch a Game
A Player in Your Position
Choose one player to watch. Pay attention to not just what they do on the ball, but their off the ball movement as well. Ask yourself:
What spaces do they find to receive the ball?
What does their movement look like out of possession, when they’re defending?
What are their strengths?
When do they get beat?
What can you take from their style of play, and adapt it to your own game?
The Formation Each Team is Playing
Observe what formation each team is playing. This is often easiest to see at kickoffs, whether at the start of each half or after a goal is scored.
What are the strengths of each formation?
What are the weaknesses?
What space does each formation look to attack in possession?
What spaces do each formation leave open that could be exploited?
How do the formations match up against each other?
How Goals Are Scored
Observe the moments that lead up to goals and other dangerous chances.
How was each goal scored?
What key players lead to each goal?
What mistakes did the opponent make to lead to a goal?
How did each team respond to the goal? What did the next 5 minutes of the game look like?
Where to Find Games to Watch
Subscriptions
Peacock for most English Premier League Games (either live, or match replays 24 hours after)
ESPN+ for La Liga and Bundesliga games
Apple TV for Major League Soccer games
FuboTV for a variety of games
YouTube TV for streaming a variety of live games
Free Ways to Watch
DAZN for a variety of games
Look for free trials, or student discounts (if they apply)
Watch the game live at a sports restaurant, like Buffalo Wild Wings
Ready to start watching soccer?
Download this PDF to take notes as you watch a game!
References & Further Readings
Dejewski, D. (2021, March 16). Benefits of watching soccer. The Soccer Sidelines. https://thesoccersidelines.com/benefits-of-watching-soccer/
The benefits of watching soccer. Techne. (2021, February). https://www.technefutbol.com/blog/the-benefits-of-watching-soccer
Raco, C. (2024, December 8). Watching the game of soccer. NEFC. https://nefc.us/watching-the-game-of-soccer/