Is being a professional soccer player the ideal life in this day and age?

[Lucas88]

I'm not really into soccer and only watch special events such as the World Cup. It's more of a curiosity for me. As most people know, MMA and combat sports are my thing.

I watched much of the recent World Cup with my brother. The event got me thinking:

Isn't being a professional soccer player the ideal life in this day and age?

Unlike most MMA fighters, professional soccer players can make excellent money following their passion and can do so without sustaining brain damage and CTE. I love MMA as a sport but the pay isn't good except for the highest-ranked fighters at the elite level. It's really not worth it unless you are championship material or develop a WWF-style off-the-wall character that draws money like Conor McGregor did. There's also a scientific study which shows that almost everybody who competes in MMA for more than 6 years will develop CTE. Those guys are literally destroying their brains for people's entertainment. MMA is not a good career choice. Professional soccer players on the other hand can make millions a season in any decent league and the risk of head trauma and CTE is minimal.

Moreover, the world of sport is perhaps one of the last remaining true meritocracies, the occasional rigged game or biased officiation notwithstanding. Those who perform the best generally get signed to the most lucrative contracts while those who cannot perform at a high enough level get cut. This is obviously a good thing. It means that, unlike with music and showbusiness, you can succeed on merit alone and without having to sell your soul to the Illuminati or give your ass in bizarre homosexual rituals in exchange for money and fame. You can just train hard, hone your craft, make money and retire from the sport when you're ready to do so.

I've read that most professional soccer players train for about 4 or 5 hours which includes soccer drills and conditioning. The rest of the day they rest and get the nutrition that they need. This leaves a lot of free time - free time which could be used for erudition, creative pursuits, spiritual advancement and relaxation with friends and family. In contrast, the typical whoreporate slave in almost any advanced industrial nation will usually be too busy and overstressed to enjoy a decent life let alone one of intense personal development. As a pro soccer player playing in the top flight of the sport you basically get paid millions for doing your hobby.

If you are good, you can play in one of many big money leagues all around the world. The best leagues are in Europe but there are also decent leagues in Latin America (e.g., Liga MX) and maybe Asia too. A soccer player can essentially live the HA lifestyle while earning a fortune. Could divide his career across various countries if he wanted.

As a soccer player in the top flight of the sport, you already have insane social status. You're celebrated by millions. You're in a category above even doctors, lawyers and surgeons. You're automatically perceived as a winner in life and a "giga-Chad"! You'll never have to worry about being perceived as a low-status loser like most people with shit jobs are.

In conjunction with the previous point, you as a soccer player will also have easy access to some of the hottest pvssy around. Not only could you easily get a ultra-hot girlfriend if you wanted but you could also go to VIP parties with your teammates and sleep with high-class escorts, socialites and all kinds of classy ladies of high society. If you're like our friend @CaptainSkelebob or Real Madrid player Karim Benzema, you would also be able to attend high-end tranny parties and have sexual encounters and love affairs with some of the hottest tarty Tgurls/ladyboys until your heart is content!



Then you can retire early and leisurely pursue other things as long as you've not been foolish with the millions that you could potentially make. Never having to worry about money again. No shitty bills to pay. No living like a serf. Complete freedom.

Of course, being as world-famous as Messi or Ronaldo would have its downsides like not being able to go anywhere without being harassed by fans. But most high-earning soccer players aren't that famous and could probably avoid identification by moving to a foreign country after retirement, especially one where soccer isn't that popular.

In my estimation, professional soccer players have it good. You could say that destiny was kind to them in occult terms. Pro soccer players have it way better than the average modern churl. They seem to live charmed lives for the most part. I think that I chose not only the wrong sport but also the wrong life!

[shogunpanda007]

Lionel Messi is the G.O.A.T.

He finally brought home the World Cup trophy to Argentina & Diego Maradona is rejoicing in Futbol Heaven

Argentina really badly needed that World Cup win since hyperinflation is wrecking their economy.

[Jsport]

I play Soccer at a very good level in terms of skills and in pick up games and competive amatuer level. But i am far from even semi pro level. As a Paraguayan American, i have a very good fundamental understanding of the game. The Soccer world is an extremely competitive scene to break into. There are so many players of so many levels, nationalites, ethnicities and styles you have to compete and adapt too. Also, genetics play a major role in your chances of becoming a pro. I am a good example of a player who has great fundamental ball controlling skills but genetically i'm not physically gifted. And the competition i faced as a youth Soccer player against alot of other players who were much more in shape and competitive minded than i was, had me realize that it wasn't something that i really wanted to pursue as a profession because of how overly competitive it was, and i just didnt like the training aspect of the higher levels of the game. I feel that the high level training that high level professional and semi professional players engage in deviates from the true nature and fundamentals of the game. There is also alot of arrogance and shallowness amongst the players and coaches in the higher levels of the game as well. That is also something i could never adapt to as a player. I prefer to be a regular pick up Soccer player and stay true to the nature of the game than be in a world of arrogant Soccer stars who are flashy and show off there fine women and fancy cars. The Soccer star status is not the path for Authentic Soccer players like myself who just keep it simple.

[Lucas88]

I play Soccer at a very good level in terms of skills and in pick up games and competive amatuer level. But i am far from even semi pro level. As a Paraguayan American, i have a very good fundamental understanding of the game. The Soccer world is an extremely competitive scene to break into. There are so many players of so many levels, nationalites, ethnicities and styles you have to compete and adapt too. Also, genetics play a major role in your chances of becoming a pro. I am a good example of a player who has great fundamental ball controlling skills but genetically i'm not physically gifted. And the competition i faced as a youth Soccer player against alot of other players who were much more in shape and competitive minded than i was, had me realize that it wasn't something that i really wanted to pursue as a profession because of how overly competitive it was, and i just didnt like the training aspect of the higher levels of the game. I feel that the high level training that high level professional and semi professional players engage in deviates from the true nature and fundamentals of the game. There is also alot of arrogance and shallowness amongst the players and coaches in the higher levels of the game as well. That is also something i could never adapt to as a player. I prefer to be a regular pick up Soccer player and stay true to the nature of the game than be in a world of arrogant Soccer stars who are flashy and show off there fine women and fancy cars. The Soccer star status is not the path for Authentic Soccer players like myself who just keep it simple.

I know a guy from my town who almost made it pro but just didn't quite make the final cut. The same guy now works in construction with his dad and has been extremely bitter ever since. Whenever I speak to him he complains about how much he hates his monotonous job and the rat race and how a less talented player who happened to play a better game on that given day was ultimately chosen over him. He feels like he missed the opportunity to have a much better life.

I was never good at soccer but, if I were blessed with a natural gift for soccer and began training at a young age, I would definitely want to pursue a pro soccer career. The reason would be simple: to escape the miserable rat race of common work and ensure my own financial freedom. For me it would just be business. The goal would be to make as much money as possible in the relatively short timeframe of a pro soccer player's career and then get out of the game while still healthy (I think that a lot of pro athletes have that mentality). I'm not interested in material excess either. I don't even care about cars. But the undeniable perk of complete financial freedom would greatly appeal to me. The luxury of being able to earn millions as an elite athlete in a lucrative sport and then never have to worry about money again (as long as one is sensible) is what makes the lifestyle so ideal.

Unfortunately in this world wealth largely determines one's level of freedom. Those who possess money in abundance are free to live how they please for the most part while those who are poor are generally forced to sell their labor to an employer and submit to a heavy schedule of work that often they don't even like just for basic survival. In light of this reality, any path which allows one to make large amounts of money - sometimes even millions - relatively quickly is obviously ideal. Elite-level pro sports often fit this category. The fame and admiration are just an added bonus, although admittedly fame can result in its own set of problems if one becomes too famous.

[Jsport]

I play Soccer at a very good level in terms of skills and in pick up games and competive amatuer level. But i am far from even semi pro level. As a Paraguayan American, i have a very good fundamental understanding of the game. The Soccer world is an extremely competitive scene to break into. There are so many players of so many levels, nationalites, ethnicities and styles you have to compete and adapt too. Also, genetics play a major role in your chances of becoming a pro. I am a good example of a player who has great fundamental ball controlling skills but genetically i'm not physically gifted. And the competition i faced as a youth Soccer player against alot of other players who were much more in shape and competitive minded than i was, had me realize that it wasn't something that i really wanted to pursue as a profession because of how overly competitive it was, and i just didnt like the training aspect of the higher levels of the game. I feel that the high level training that high level professional and semi professional players engage in deviates from the true nature and fundamentals of the game. There is also alot of arrogance and shallowness amongst the players and coaches in the higher levels of the game as well. That is also something i could never adapt to as a player. I prefer to be a regular pick up Soccer player and stay true to the nature of the game than be in a world of arrogant Soccer stars who are flashy and show off there fine women and fancy cars. The Soccer star status is not the path for Authentic Soccer players like myself who just keep it simple.

I know a guy from my town who almost made it pro but just didn't quite make the final cut. The same guy now works in construction with his dad and has been extremely bitter ever since. Whenever I speak to him he complains about how much he hates his monotonous job and the rat race and how a less talented player who happened to play a better game on that given day was ultimately chosen over him. He feels like he missed the opportunity to have a much better life.

I was never good at soccer but, if I were blessed with a natural gift for soccer and began training at a young age, I would definitely want to pursue a pro soccer career. The reason would be simple: to escape the miserable rat race of common work and ensure my own financial freedom. For me it would just be business. The goal would be to make as much money as possible in the relatively short timeframe of a pro soccer player's career and then get out of the game while still healthy (I think that a lot of pro athletes have that mentality). I'm not interested in material excess either. I don't even care about cars. But the undeniable perk of complete financial freedom would greatly appeal to me. The luxury of being able to earn millions as an elite athlete in a lucrative sport and then never have to worry about money again (as long as one is sensible) is what makes the lifestyle so ideal.

Unfortunately in this world wealth largely determines one's level of freedom. Those who possess money in abundance are free to live how they please for the most part while those who are poor are generally forced to sell their labor to an employer and submit to a heavy schedule of work that often they don't even like just for basic survival. In light of this reality, any path which allows one to make large amounts of money - sometimes even millions - relatively quickly is obviously ideal. Elite-level pro sports often fit this category. The fame and admiration are just an added bonus, although admittedly fame can result in its own set of problems if one becomes too famous.

It all depends on how you image what a pro Soccer career would be like and how you look at the sport. If you are the type of person who looks at the game as a financial gain to escape from poverty or the working life, than the chances of becoming a professional are going to be greater than someone who plays the game for fun and appreciates more the authentic side of the game. As far as fine women, i like fine women and i know that many pro soccer players have their pick of fine women, but for Soccer players like myself who are more into the true nature of the game, the idea of dating fine women is something that would have nothing to do with Soccer. If i date fine women, it would be because of my looks and personality not because of my Soccer status. Sure some of the women that i have dated may have known that i play Soccer, but that wasn't the reason why they dated me. My Soccer life is pretty much separate from my dating life. But i understand your point, and a professional Soccer life is worth it depending on the kind of person you are and how you look at the game

[Cornfed]

Unlike most MMA fighters, professional soccer players can make excellent money following their passion and can do so without sustaining brain damage and CTE.

Lots of them are now dying of the clot shot though, which is awesome.

[Lucas88]

It all depends on how you image what a pro Soccer career would be like and how you look at the sport. If you are the type of person who looks at the game as a financial gain to escape from poverty or the working life, than the chances of becoming a professional are going to be greater than someone who plays the game for fun and appreciates more the authentic side of the game. As far as fine women, i like fine women and i know that many pro soccer players have their pick of fine women, but for Soccer players like myself who are more into the true nature of the game, the idea of dating fine women is something that would have nothing to do with Soccer. If i date fine women, it would be because of my looks and personality not because of my Soccer status. Sure some of the women that i have dated may have known that i play Soccer, but that wasn't the reason why they dated me. My Soccer life is pretty much separate from my dating life. But i understand your point, and a professional Soccer life is worth it depending on the kind of person you are and how you look at the game

I'm curious about what you mean by the true nature of the game and how you think professional soccer has deviated from its original roots. Do you mean the modern game's emphasis on body conditioning and physicality as opposed to just ball skills?

If so, there's a parallel phenomenon in martial arts as well. Traditionally the emphasis of martial arts is on technique but MMA and combat sports have shown that power and athleticism are also extremely important for fighting. That's why in MMA there's a strong emphasis on strength and conditioning training and also why most of the athletes are juicing.

I personally believe that explosive power is the greatest gift one can have for combat sports and many other sports too. The resulting explosivity makes all of your techniques more effective from punches to takedowns and even Jiujitsu techniques.

I'm not an expert on soccer but I imagine that having a powerful muscular body gives players a huge advantage in battles for ball possession.

[CaptainSkelebob]

Finally!!!
Something which isnt gay or talking about f***ing sky fairys or space portals and all that other gay shite
A thread on football!!!
f***ing football!!!!
Fella!! @Lucas88
I got such a hard on for f***ing football honestly
I tell ya fella
I f***ing tell ya
The skill
The strategy
The technique
Those strapping young fellas with thighs as thick as my meaty alpha cock!!!
@shogunpanda007 Messi is a f***ing legend at football!!!
That cunt must have practiced in the womb or some site
I f***ing tell ya
The world cup this year we saw some amazing football
England got f***ed by those f***ing garlic bread eating tossers I cunt believe it fellas!!!!
@Lucas88
@Jsport
@shogunpanda007
Best footy players and teams of all time???
Shoot!!!
Lets hear it!!
But yeah Lucas football is the profession to be in.... you get all the money and all the glory and all the p***y
A great philosopher once said
First you get the money
Then you get the power
Then you get the women magn

[MrMan]

I'd say no, because you have to play soccer all the time.

But it would beat MMA for lower risks of brain damage.

[Jsport]

It all depends on how you image what a pro Soccer career would be like and how you look at the sport. If you are the type of person who looks at the game as a financial gain to escape from poverty or the working life, than the chances of becoming a professional are going to be greater than someone who plays the game for fun and appreciates more the authentic side of the game. As far as fine women, i like fine women and i know that many pro soccer players have their pick of fine women, but for Soccer players like myself who are more into the true nature of the game, the idea of dating fine women is something that would have nothing to do with Soccer. If i date fine women, it would be because of my looks and personality not because of my Soccer status. Sure some of the women that i have dated may have known that i play Soccer, but that wasn't the reason why they dated me. My Soccer life is pretty much separate from my dating life. But i understand your point, and a professional Soccer life is worth it depending on the kind of person you are and how you look at the game

I'm curious about what you mean by the true nature of the game and how you think professional soccer has deviated from its original roots. Do you mean the modern game's emphasis on body conditioning and physicality as opposed to just ball skills?

If so, there's a parallel phenomenon in martial arts as well. Traditionally the emphasis of martial arts is on technique but MMA and combat sports have shown that power and athleticism are also extremely important for fighting. That's why in MMA there's a strong emphasis on strength and conditioning training and also why most of the athletes are juicing.

I personally believe that explosive power is the greatest gift one can have for combat sports and many other sports too. The resulting explosivity makes all of your techniques more effective from punches to takedowns and even Jiujitsu techniques.

I'm not an expert on soccer but I imagine that having a powerful muscular body gives players a huge advantage in battles for ball possession.

Soccer over the last couple of decades has evolved into a power and fitness sport. The game is also too emphazised on formations and tactics. The game today is much more advanced in terms of speed and power than back then because of the advanced training that is done, but the quality of play is lower. This is true for most other sports, but in other sports, that type of evolution of more power, fitness and speed makes more sense. Sports like American Football, Basketball and combat sports like Mixed Martial Arts, are structured more as speed and power based sports. In Soccer, more speed and power lowers the quality of the game. That is what makes Soccer very different from other sports. Other sports are geared more towards speed and power, whereas Soccer is naturally more geared towards stamina, talent and skills. Basically the more you go back in time, the better the quality of ball control and skills the players had back then. Globally, Soccer has also become too internationalized and too much of a mainstream sport and its global popularity and outreach to celebrities and people who have no idea about the sport, has deviated the game from its old traditional English roots.

I don't know much about Martial Arts. I know that there are many disciplines in Martial Arts, especially in Asian Martial Arts. The way i personally look at Asian Martial Arts as a guy whose understanding of Martial Arts is basically what i see in the movies, the little i have read about different disciplines and some people i have known who practice Martial Arts, is that the cultural basis of Martial Arts is of Asian culture and wisdom, Whereas Association Football (Soccer) is of British and European culture and philosophy. So maybe Martial Arts as a whole also distanced itself from its Asian roots and traditions as it expanded to the western world and other parts of the world in popularity, which also evolved into more power and speed than technique. MMA from what i understand evolved in the Western world out of the different original disciplines of Martial arts throughout Asia and the other parts of the world.

Thats the way i see it, is that sports that distance itself from its original roots and culture evolve into a sport thats completely different from its original form.

[Lucas88]

I don't know much about Martial Arts. I know that there are many disciplines in Martial Arts, especially in Asian Martial Arts. The way i personally look at Asian Martial Arts as a guy whose understanding of Martial Arts is basically what i see in the movies, the little i have read about different disciplines and some people i have known who practice Martial Arts, is that the cultural basis of Martial Arts is of Asian culture and wisdom, Whereas Association Football (Soccer) is of British and European culture and philosophy. So maybe Martial Arts as a whole also distanced itself from its Asian roots and traditions as it expanded to the western world and other parts of the world in popularity, which also evolved into more power and speed than technique. MMA from what i understand evolved in the Western world out of the different original disciplines of Martial arts throughout Asia and the other parts of the world.

It's absolutely true that the emphasis of martial arts training has changed dramatically over time, but even what we today know as "Asian martial arts" had already deviated from their original roots long before the development of MMA in the West. Not even TMAs are really "pure" and the idea of purity itself in martial arts is largely a myth.

The Asian martial arts in their earliest forms were typically battlefield arts for hand-to-hand combat in a warfare scenario (e.g., Japanese Jujutsu) or systems for street fighting developed in violent societies in which weapons were banned for civilians yet violence was commonplace nevertheless (e.g., the Okinawan martial arts). The emphasis was on incapacitating an opponent as quickly and effectively as possible. These arts would seem quite brutal by modern standards.

However, as Japan pursued modernization from the Meiji era, Japanese martial arts were largely toned down, their violent aspects were deemphasized, and there emerged a new emphasis on martial arts training as a path of personal discipline and self-improvement. This particular wave of Japanese martial arts is the one which gave rise to the TMAs which many people practice to this day and regard as the model for the "pure" arts. But these arts aren't really pure or true to their roots. They themselves are a modern innovation and sacrificed brutality and effectiveness in order to realign themselves with modern sensitivities.

The precursor of MMA originated in 20th century Brazil in the form of Vale Tudo and would then undergo its final evolution in the US after the UFC began to showcase no-holds-barred bouts in the 90s. The Gracies developed Brazilian Jiujitsu from the Judo which Mitsuyo Maeda had brought from Japan and from the beginning there was an emphasis on practical technique for victory and the art was designed for the one-on-one street fights without rules which were common in Brazil. In fact, Judo itself had already adopted an emphasis on sport and had therefore completely deviated from the TMAs at the time in which Jigoro Kano founded the Kodokan. Other martial arts which contributed to MMA also had an emphasis on sport and practical technique as opposed to the philosophies of Japanese TMAs. Boxing, wrestling, Luta Livre (a rival grappling art in Brazil which would become embroiled in a major feud with Jiujitsu in the 80s and 90s), etc. all involved a very different mentality from Japanese TMAs.

What happened in the martial arts world once MMA came to the fore was that the Japanese/Asian TMAs started to get exposed. It soon became apparent that the likes of Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, etc. were limited and often not very effective at all and were unable to compete with the likes of boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, Brazilian Jiujitsu and of course MMA itself. The truth is that TMAs don't work very well. They are largely unrealistic and have very limited use in actual hand-to-hand combat. Modern combat sports have been shown to be technically superior and much more effective. And that's even when we limit the discussion to technique alone!

On top of that, modern combat sports also emphasize fitness. Fighting is a physical activity. It requires certain physical attributes including strength, speed, explosiveness and endurance and those who possess these qualities undeniably have an advantage. So practically all practitioners of combat sports also engage in sport-specific forms of body conditioning.

The truth is that, if somebody wants to get good at fighting, the best thing they can do is learn a modern combat sport like Muay Thai or MMA and at the same time develop their fitness and explosive power. The ideals of "TMAs" were always illusory and TMAs themselves already constituted a deviation from the original roots and true purpose of martial arts.