Where to Talk About Soccer in 2025
The good, the bad, and the dire
The blog era in soccer analytics is over, if it ever was more than just a fever dream in the first place. Most of the people who really broke ground are working for clubs, and the amount of online writing has slowed to a bit of a trickle.
I’m guilty of that too; I started this blog trying to create a habit of putting a lot of the thoughts that go into my head down on paper. I’ve managed to post about once a month since starting which is charitably half of what I was hoping.
At the same time, I do think there are interesting discussions happening online still. People are making good work, and they want to share it. An analyst can still be discovered through what they share online and use that as a platform to do more and better things. With so many options, though, what are the best spaces for talking about soccer and all the things that go into it?
I decided to rank the spaces where I look at information or discuss the game, from best to worst. Each is unique and has it’s own strengths and weaknesses, and I tend to bounce between them.
Discord/Slack: Beautiful Walled Gardens
If you want instant feedback from people who take the sport seriously, Discord and Slack are often the best bet. Slack is private and invitation only, but that makes it very high quality. Discord is more open to the public, which trades exclusivity for vibrancy. There are a number of top notch Discords that exist, such as Scuffed, Futi, or American Soccer Analysis. Most professional teams will have semi-official discords where large groups of fans hang out. Some are Patreon-only, and some are open to all. In the right server there is active discussion about all manner of topics, and the more people that get in the more lively it feels. In many ways it feels like a faster version of the old forum days.
That said, getting in is half the battle. Unless you already know someone on the inside, most of the best communities aren’t exactly easy to find, even if you can get in once you find them. The chat format means anything thoughtful is gone in a flash. Sure, you can search through the archives, but they aren’t permanent and you have to know something is there. Like forums used to be, a whole lot of the quality of the space depends on the userbase and the moderation.
Still, I think it’s the best way to find like minded people and have thoughtful conversation about articles, ideas, etc. You just have to know the space (and if you do know of any good ones leave them in the comments).
Bluesky: Best in its Class
Since Twitter became X and self-immolated, Bluesky has quietly become the go-to public platform for serious soccer analytics talk. A lot of the smartest public-facing analysts have migrated there, and the overall vibe is a lot more conversation-oriented than X. The smaller user base means you actually see people’s posts, and posting long form writing or intensive work is more worthwhile.
On the other hand Bluesky is gaining ground but still small, and a lot of official accounts haven’t made the jump yet. In fact, most athletes probably don’t even know that it exists. The Discovery tab is also a mess; if you don’t already know who you’re looking for, the algorithm probably isn’t going to help you find them. The Starter Packs certainly help with that but if you aren’t already the kind of account that is in the starter packs, it’s going to be harder to get noticed.
BigSoccer: Like Going Back In Time
BigSoccer is still alive and if you’re interested in the minutiae of the game, it’s shockingly useful. It’s a classic message board/forum, with years of context, deep threads, and a moderation team that enforces standards. There’s a reason that forums were so successful back in the day, and there’s a reason this one didn’t fail when so many others did. The user base tends to be passionate and well-informed, but maybe at the cost of some sanity. This is, after all, where Charlie Kennan got his start. Do you want in depth rankings of the 13 year olds in the MLS Academy system? You can get them here.
While BigSoccer is great for discussion, it’s also undeniably aging. That’s ok, I’m getting older too, but I am not sure how many new users are showing up and creating accounts to add their own unique perspectives. If you know you need to schedule a colonoscopy then BigSoccer might just be the familiar confines you’re looking for.
X: Still Big, Mostly Broken
Yes, everyone is still on Twitter X. The platform still has the reach, the official accounts, and the inertia of years of use. You can post a chart and hope it gets seen by a wide audience of soccer stakeholders.
In practice, though, the experience has degraded. The algorithm pushes ragebait, the reply guys are worse than ever, and the owner’s ongoing attempts to make the platform uninhabitable are working.
The reality is that soccer discussion on X at this point is awful. The biggest soccer accounts are hot take merchants who don’t really value nuance, context, or curiosity. Any off site writing is pushed down by the algorithm, and the platform itself is not conducive to longer form work (unless you pay for it).
This got 140K views. None of American Soccer Analysis’ long form posts broke 10K in the last month. What are we doing here?
Substack: Not a Social Media Site Yet
Substack has been fairly open about trying to make itself into a social media site. There are a lot of interesting functions, like being able to restack with a note, or add comments. I love the ability to add blogs you like to a subscribe list, which calls back to the blog rolls of the olden times.
At the same time it feels kind of dead. Comments are rare, and the algorithm seems way more invested in serving me “men be like this and women be like this” content. I have yet to find sharp, quality analytics writing on Substack. Instead, I find it elsewhere then subscribe to it here.
It feels like Substack is trying to piggy back off of culture war conflicts to drive up readership and from a broad numbers perspective it probably works. At the same time, until they focus their algorithm more it’s just not going to be a place I spend a lot of time. Even more so because I can’t post from my phone!
Instagram and TikTok: Aesthetilytics
This is a funny one to include, because it’s not most people’s association with data analytics in sport. Instagram and Tik Tok are lightweight, designed for massive throughput and user engagement in the form of likes and short comments. At the same time, the platforms have incredibly potential for the people that know how to use them well as well as a massive reach. My favorite Instagram account is _sportsball, which combines really interesting data storytelling with beautiful illustrations. Seriously, this is incredible:
What Instagram and Tik Tok are not good for is discussion. Comments are shallow and the platforms reward performance, not substance. These are places to present finished work, not to workshop ideas or get meaningful feedback. Pivoting to video is hard, and while there’s probably plenty of analysts out there who do it well I am not one of them.
Furthermore, Instagram and Tik Tok are for pretty people. Data analysts need not apply.
Reddit: Forget it, Jake, it’s Reddit
Reddit seems like it should be great for soccer analytics. The ability to post work for discussion from a variety of areas, combined with a large user base, should mean that it’s the breeding ground for a lot of the best and newest ideas in soccer.
In practice, it’s anything but. I don’t know what exactly is the problem, but getting meaningful engagement with any sort of real analytics work is like pulling teeth. It’s totally unpredictable as to which posts are going to hit and which ones aren’t. I imagine a lot of that is happening when posts first hit — Reddit users who filter by new are often the ones that drive exposure and commenting, and I can’t imagine the people refreshing out on r/MLS compulsively are people I would generally see eye to eye with.
On top of that, the discussion is brutal. The upvote system leads to the amplification of groupthink, and does not reward heterodox thinking in any way. Somehow, the majority of the userbase still doesn’t understand how xG works or the best way to use it. This isn’t just me complaining about it; any real effort to engage with analytics gets countless comments below it with knee jerk negative reactions simply because they don’t understand what’s happening.
At least Meme Monday is solid.
These are my rankings - I am genuinely interested to know if I missed anything important, or if I’m being too harsh on a particular site let me know. If there’s anywhere you love to discuss the game - discord, app, website - drop it in the comments. If you did like this piece, like it and add a comment and I hope Substack’s algorithm will elevate pieces like this in the future. I wouldn’t count on it, though.