comment by Broaquin (U16342)
posted 5 seconds ago
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?
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See "less" and not "none"

Do people forget that the Chelsea and Liverpool sides that reached semi finals 10 years ago were very defensive? They were hardly outplaying top European teams

The lack of objectivity with these arguments always annoys me

The analysis from armchair fans that former defenders had positional awareness whereas the current crop do not is amateur

First of all increased coverage has highlighted errors. The CBs of the past didn't have their mistakes analysed regularly

Secondly top teams often play far more expansively nowadays which requires them to defend more space. It's all good for defenders to only defend their penalty area in a low block but when you play a high line you need recovery pace and that way of playing in general will expose anybody

It depends what you have lived through.
If you were brought up watching Darius Vassell look helpless and then you get a blast of Sergio Aguero you are going to be seriously influenced by the present.

If you have had a steady flow of class acts like let's say Bergkamp, Henry, Fabregas, van Persie and Sanchez then you are going to be not so sure.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

I wouldn't necessarily say that the quality of player has regressed in the last 10-15 years, at least not in all positions anyway. For example I would say the likes of lewandowski, Suarez and Aguero were comparable to the likes of Shevchenko, Henry and Torres. Would only really say that defenders aren't as good as they were back then but that's likely due to the evolution of defending where nowadays a lot of teams insist on their defenders working on their use of the ball rather than just hoofing it.

I would say that the standard of football has dropped due to more and more managers unfortunately taking the dull, negative approach to tactics with all the bus parking bollox. Teams sitting back with 36% possession and looking for counter-attacks and set pieces are ruining the game as a spectacle. Absolutely appalling to see such tactics being used.

I do think English clubs will have their time in Europe again soon. Possibly even this season with the 3421

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 23 seconds ago
Do people forget that the Chelsea and Liverpool sides that reached semi finals 10 years ago were very defensive? They were hardly outplaying top European teams

The lack of objectivity with these arguments always annoys me

The analysis from armchair fans that former defenders had positional awareness whereas the current crop do not is amateur

First of all increased coverage has highlighted errors. The CBs of the past didn't have their mistakes analysed regularly

Secondly top teams often play far more expansively nowadays which requires them to defend more space. It's all good for defenders to only defend their penalty area in a low block but when you play a high line you need recovery pace and that way of playing in general will expose anybody

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What an absolute load of nonsense. How do top teams play more expansively now?
The game is all about possession now. Very rarely did teams of yrs gone by have well over 60% possession. Secondly people banging on about better attacking players etc etc. Well the top scorers in the league now score around the same they used to.
I am going by how our clubs do in Europe compared to back in the day and it's clear English teams of yrs gone by were much better than they are now. We reached 3 finals in 4 yrs, we played Arsenal in the semi final. Our teams struggle to even get past the group stages these days

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

I think the keepers at all 20 clubs generally are now of a much higher level then compared to 2008. Nowadays the smaller teams are playing a low block and hoping to get a goal from one of the few chances. West Brom, Burnley, Stoke City etc are example of clubs who get completely outplayed chances wise but get results.

De Boer now looks like an idiot while Dyche looks like a genius but the reality is De Boer has his side playing much better then Dyche but Dyche is on the end of good efficiency results and De Boer is on the end of bad results on efficiency.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

They play more expansively in the sense that the CBS split and the FBs play high up the pitch, the game is more open. Back in the 90s and 2000s this was less often the case. There were also less high lines to expose defenders

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 23 seconds ago
Do people forget that the Chelsea and Liverpool sides that reached semi finals 10 years ago were very defensive? They were hardly outplaying top European teams
__________

Lie.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

I'd like to hear how those teams managed by Mourinho and Benitez outplayed top European sides, do give examples

Fergie would play counter attack with midfield enforcers like Fletcher and Anderson but I don't remember watching Arsenal having to face any parked buses until we came up against Mourinho.

That's when the game changed. The bus!

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Mourinho's team after the first year, were extremely defensive. They blew us out of the water with Duff and Robben one year and the next years they were awful to watch and worse to play against.

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 1 minute ago
I'd like to hear how those teams managed by Mourinho and Benitez outplayed top European sides, do give examples
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liverpool 5-0 madrid - benitez
chelsea 4-2 barcelona - mourinho

you're right, they were very very defensive games

But people wouldn't criticise the CBs for those long range goals, where the space was

Makelele ruined the game.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

just go through the catalogue of champions league games during the 2000s, countless examples of english teams outhustling the european sides with pace and power- its what we were known for.

You're seriously denying that Benitez' Liverpool and Mourinho's Chelsea weren't defensive, especially in Europe? Those managers are renowned for it ffs

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

comment by Always NPE - 1,000,002 (U20804)
posted 13 seconds ago
Mr C to be fair Utd and Chelsea's succesful CL campaigns were counter attacking affairs.
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npe i agree

but analog said the english teams were very defensive which is a lie.