comment by DubbedTheNewWenger90 (U19529)
posted 9 minutes ago
But what would Henry, van Nistelrooy, Romario, Ronaldo, Shevchenko etc do in this era though?
C'mon mate. None of those guys are a patch.
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On Ronaldo and Messi is agree. They'd still be world class talents.

however defenders today are more athletic, fitter than players as recently as 10 years ago, and much better on the ball so less likely to give it away.
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There isn't a current defender in the Premier league that is on a par with Rio, Vidic, Terry, Carvalho, Stam, Campbell etc. Not only did them players have athleticism, they had the strength and positional awareness. Defenders nowadays seem to rely on their pace to get themselves out of trouble

How would Lewandowski just be a 'good' player a few years ago. Some good points but saying him and Modric, two of the best if not best players of their type right now out there, would be seen as above average a few years ago just makes it seem like you always think the grass is greener. What exactly does Lewandowski have to do more to prove he's no more than a 'good' from a few years ago and that the likes of RVN and Shevchenko haven't.

I don't necessarily think football is lower in quality. I do think that good players are spread around more though. I also think that what you're seeing is in the last few years, Spain has become fashionable and a lot of good players have left England for Spain. Add to that the fact that the English national team is awful at the moment and you get the illusion that football is in decline.

Ronaldo and Messi are exceptional players, normally one per generation. Once they go, others will arrive. Just look at the attacking talent in the premier league - De Bruyne, Mata, Mane, Mkhitaryan, Willian, Coutinho, Hazard, Pedro, Erikson etc. I think there is still quality in the premier league.

comment by DubbedTheNewWenger90 (U19529)
posted 44 seconds ago
But what would Henry, van Nistelrooy, Romario, Ronaldo, Shevchenko etc do in this era though?
C'mon mate. None of those guys are a patch.
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I think there are arguably two main differences for the numbers improving for strikers in this current era.

A) weaker defensive organisation - there has been a definite transition from defenders being robust and organised, towards making defensive gambles and being good on the ball.

B) The improvement in creative attacking midfielders and wingers. From the move from the 442, towards the 4231, attacking midfielders have really brought the best out of the current strikers. Although, it is hard to play upfront, having three midfielders specifically aimed to feeding a lone striker is guaranteed to improve their numbers.

comment by DubbedTheNewWenger90 (U19529)
posted 13 minutes ago
But what would Henry, van Nistelrooy, Romario, Ronaldo, Shevchenko etc do in this era though?
C'mon mate. None of those guys are a patch.
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Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, the Ribery and Robben from 2-3 years would have had just as much success in the era of these guys lmao

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Actually you know what, add Lewandowski to that. Some good points but think hyperbolising things makes your argument less credible, 'back in my day everything was better' stance.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

comment by Always NPE - 1,000,002 (U20804)
posted 1 second ago
comment by Manc Python (U17527)
posted 1 minute ago
however defenders today are more athletic, fitter than players as recently as 10 years ago, and much better on the ball so less likely to give it away.
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There isn't a current defender in the Premier league that is on a par with Rio, Vidic, Terry, Carvalho, Stam, Campbell etc. Not only did them players have athleticism, they had the strength and positional awareness. Defenders nowadays seem to rely on their pace to get themselves out of trouble
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Using pace to get out trouble can be just as effective as your footwork.

I also, and I say this as chelsea fan, would not consider carvalho and terry (excellent defenders) to be athletes on par with modern defenders.


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Nonsense.
Pace can only get you so far as a defender. If you don't have the positional awareness you can get found out. Look at Bailly yesterday for example, smalling for us in another. Very quick and strong but lacks quality in his positional sense which stops him being a top defender.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

It may be unpopular, but I would say personally that Lewandowski is better than Van Nistelrooy was in his prime.

comment by Broaquin (U16342)
posted 1 minute ago


It may be unpopular, but I would say personally that Lewandowski is better than Van Nistelrooy was in his prime.
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Nothing wrong with that, Lewandowski is a world class Cf and arguably the gold standard of a no.9 for the last 5 years. Dubbed makes it seem like if he's around just 10 years ago he'd be playing for Stoke

There is a preference for CBs to be more athletic as the game has changed. Terry even in his prime would struggle a lot with how the modern day is being played.

However, you could just as well say the same about Luiz and Ramos, who would be seen as positionally poor and reckless as CBs more than a decade ago.

comment by Always NPE - 1,000,002 (U20804)
posted 2 minutes ago
I could easily point to examples of Terry being done for pace against a striker.

And where defenders like Luiz or Ramos would not.
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Yes Terry wasn't as quick as the players you mentioned however like I said before what Terry and vidic lacked in pace they made up for in positional sense and concentration. Very very rarely they got beat one on one, in the air etc etc. Both were leaders and IMO would be up there as the best defenders in world football

Has no one yet Sussed why all these quality players playing in the prem nowadays are all attacking players?

It's because defenders aren't allowed to defend, how many more times do I have to say this?

You can't tackle from behind anymore, you can't touch (or go near) an attacker in the box, slide tackles are virtually outlawed, any sort of 50/50 challenge now ends up in a FK, more often than not in the favour of the man who does the most somersaults
They're scared to defend because they'll get penalised, welcome to the world of non contact sport

Yep definitely regressed. The recent drought of success in the champions league adds to my argument.

Every single generation of fans thinks the players they grew up watching were the best. They idolised them

As you grow older you don't view players with the same tinted specs

Objectively the quality of all sports including football has increased with time

Personally, I think we should feel lucky to watch the likes of Silva, De Bruyne, Coutinho, Ozil, Hazard, Mata etc, there really is a wealth of talent in these positions today.

I think question should not be whether football has regressed in quality, as it's relative to the style being played during the era. For me it's the soul of football and culture which in areas has regressed.

English football had a CL finalist for around 9 out of 10 years in a between 2005-2013 I believe
Recently we haven't even come close

The bottom 2/3 of PL sides are atrocious. 8th down.

On the whole, I think the players are good but the coaching has not caught up yet. Too much emphasis on spending out of trouble.

It's significantly worse

Worse Strikers
Worse Midfielders
Worse Defenders
Worse Keepers

The grass is better maintained

The pies are about the same

Less technically great players, less technically woeful players

comment by Christopher (U20930)
posted 36 seconds ago
Less technically great players, less technically woeful players
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Hazard, Silva, Ozil, Coutinho, De Bruyne, Eriksen?

Terry was an absolute beast of a defender. Fabulous!