Soccer photos...need suggestions for "soft" images

I use to shoot soccer when my daughter played. It's tough with a 70-200 unless you're willing to get really close to the field. I just always felt like I couldn't get close enough and had to end up cropping too much when I shot from the endline. It appears that you are not very close to the field from the shots you shared. I always felt like I had to be uncomfortably close to the field and recalled a few times being asked by the AR to move back when shooting from the sideline. But that didn't happen too often. Now this wasn't high school soccer but 12U AYSO, so I'm sure that makes a difference. That being said it's funny what you can get away with when you're shooting with a white lens. It's almost like getting a pass to be closer to the action. I'd try to get closer to the action until you're asked to move away. I regret selling my 70-200L. It would come in really handy for softball which is where I spend most of my time now.

You're not too far away with what you're doing. I suspect motion blurr is your main issue as 1/800 is not really sufficient to freeze the movement. A few suggestions I'd make which may help.
- Shoot single autofocus point - centre or 1 above centre.
- Use CASE 2 with adjusted with tracking sensitivity -1 off the mid point - keeps the focus tracking more consistent and doesn't jump off if other players/officials enter the scene between you and the subject.
- use either AV or M modes, ensuring that your shutter speed is at least 1/1250 or even 1/1600 if possible.
- F3.2 or f4 is fine to ensure you get sufficient depth of field to allow for 2 players in the frame. If light's an issue and you don't want to bump up the ISO too much, then drop to f2.8.
- if you're hand holding the lens IS would be better on, providing it doesn't adversely impact on the speed of AF connection. If it slows AF, then turn off IS and increase the shutter speed to compensate for any camera movement particularly in windy conditions.

In terms of lens 70-200 f2.8 is a great starter. Another option is the Sigma 120-300 f2.8 sport which is superb, very versatile and reasonably priced.