Football is boring and lacks real superstars

[cafecillos]

The only thing in football that is "worse" now compared to just a couple of years ago is "flair" (well and maybe violent defending, for those into that sort of thing). Yes, there's less of it. It's not completely gone though, and players like Yamal, Pedri when fit, Vinicius when into it, etc are an absolute joy to watch. The overall technical level is higher as it has to, as press is brutal at almost all times, in almost all areas of the pitch and at almost all levels. Not to mention everything else (tactics, physicality, professionalism...). I'm not particularly young, and most of my favourite players ever are "flair" players like Michael Laudrup, Bergkamp, Iniesta, but I don't think any of the above is even particularly debatable. It is what it is.

A different matter is the overmercantilisation, so to speak, of the game, which is certainly unbearable and makes everything around the sport itself utter shit.

 

[arthurka]

Hagi, Stoitchkov, Baggio, good times.

Absolutely.. brilliant times

 

[MikeUpNorth]

The only thing in football that is "worse" now compared to just a couple of years ago is "flair" (well and maybe violent defending, for those into that sort of thing). Yes, there's less of it. It's not completely gone though, and players like Yamal, Pedri when fit, Vinicius when into it, etc are an absolute joy to watch. The overall technical level is higher as it has to, as press is brutal at almost all times, in almost all areas of the pitch and at almost all levels. Not to mention everything else (tactics, physicality, professionalism...). I'm not particularly young, and most of my favourite players ever are "flair" players like Michael Laudrup, Bergkamp, Iniesta, but I don't think any of the above is even particularly debatable. It is what it is.

A different matter is the overmercantilisation, so to speak, of the game, which is certainly unbearable and makes everything around the sport itself utter shit.

I've sometimes wondered if reducing the number of players to 10 per side might help.

Fewer players on the pitch could compensate for the modern increase in athleticism, buying more space for attackers and bringing back some flair.

 

[giorno]

fecking hell. The aura of the players that game. What a time.

Most of the guys playing for Milan in this match were really kinda just old and sad though

It's a bit like watching a modern team with say, Casemiro, Varane, Eriksen, Garnacho and Neymar...

 

[Vidyoyo]

We won this game because we had a world class striker in his best scoring form. But looking at the highlights they were so much better than us, I didnt even remember Ronaldinho being that good in that game.

Also we scored from 3 crosses, our current team has no player who can cross in it!

Ironic when you think how cross our players make us

 

[KirkDuyt]

Nope, not boring at all.

Plenty of superstars too... Theo Hernandez for one.

 

[Krakenzero]

I think these are separate issues.

Overcommercialization, oversupply and overreliance on stats and KPIs such as xG have contributed to a more robotic, duller game. Today most teams play pretty much the same brand of football with no significant variety between each other. That hopefully changes soon tough as tactically we are going through a transition phase with tikitaka fading and gegenpressing needing its counterbalance.

Regarding superstars, I still see a lot of them. Like Madrid with Mbappe, Vinicius and Bellingham. Barcelona with Lewandowski, Dani Olmo and the spanish youngsters. Bayern with Kane. City with De Bruyne, Rodri, Haaland. Liverpool with Van Dijk and Salah. We're just older.

 

[Hammondo]

We won this game because we had a world class striker in his best scoring form. But looking at the highlights they were so much better than us, I didnt even remember Ronaldinho being that good in that game.

Also we scored from 3 crosses, our current team has no player who can cross in it!

The last game alone Dorgu provided multiple good crosses.

 

[Hammondo]

If Ryan Giggs was breaking through today, would he be given the freedom he was at the time?

No. Not with us, not with any premier league team.

He would never develop as he did, and that is the problem with the current version of football.

He might become a better footballer today, using that high level of technique better.

 

[C'Thun]

I am not sure the reason why I don't watch as much football anymore is because I am older or because I don't find it as entertaining any longer. I used to watch games from La Liga, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga all weekend. These days I only watch United and occasionally big games like Real - Barca or the big ones in Champions League. I think football these days is more robotic and too focused on tactical approach and work rate, and footballers aren't allowed to "express" themselves as much anymore. My favorite players to watch right now are Pedri and Wirtz. They just offer that little extra spark in games that I enjoy, and their ability on the ball is just phenomenal. Hopefully this era of robotic football will come to an end sooner rather than later. It is taking out a lot of the entertainment of the sport.

 

[Rozay]

We have superstars, but they are in Spain. I’ve been saying for a while that the PL is just descending into cyborg wars now. The ‘stars’ here are ruthlessly efficient, brilliantly athletic above all. The likes of Haaland and Salah are not what I’d call artists of the game, and they are probably the two leading lights. Even players like Saka are not what I’d call a magician as such, and Cole Palmer is in this vein, but simply not as good as the media here try to imply.

In Spain you have Mbappé and Vinicius at Real, while Bellingham has superstar aura if not superstar flair. At Barcelona you bave Lamine Yamal, who is an archetypal superstar forward. In England, the technical floor is good, and so much higher than yesteryear, but the aim is to outrun and overpower each other. Players like Morgan Rogers is the type of attacking by midfield profile dominating now.

 

[Bole Top]

I think La Liga is bigger loss for football than it's being perceived. Bundesliga gets mocked a lot on here, but for me, La Liga is the true turd these days.

whenever I'm writing something on my laptop, in background it's either ambient music or football. if it's La Liga match, it's comparable to listening some drone, funeral doom metal band. the matches are super boring as pretty much all the lesser teams adopted Simeone's brand of turgid shyte football. most are close to being bankrupted so can't even afford to play different.

Pellegrini himself, who actually manages there, said year or two ago that La Liga is disgrace for having the least amount of actual football compared to other leagues, and that is in general just slow and devoid of entertainment.

I also bet a lot, and bar Argentina, Iran and some African leagues, there are no bigger odds on goals than in La Liga and Spanish lower leagues in general. you can double your money quickly this way (or lose obviously), as they sometimes offer something like 1.80 for at least a goal to happen in first half. thet tells you eveything you need to know about their football, as no one, not even bookies are expecting anything to happen most of the time.

in general, I think football can't afford to have such major league be so unwatchable majority of time, while already reducing BL and French league to basically training camps for Bayern and PSG. that's already 3 of the 5 historical leagues being almost not worth investing any time, with so many big clubs from other leagues (Porto, Benfica, Psv, Ajax) already turned into pure feeder clubs. that's too much.

because if you can't stomach what EPL has become, it's not like you can enjoy other leagues more. it's either watching peasants from La Liga or literally dead competitions like French league or BL.

I used to fear every time we played Deportivo, but these days? the last time I saw Spanish club actually playing football was Bilbao under Bilesa when they outplayed us like we were Tenerife. everyone else - turgid, negative, impossible to watch shyte.

Atletico reclaimed that third, the best after Barca & Real place in La Liga, but even when we lost against them, it was the usual defending and enduring job from them.

 

[RedStarUnited]

The last game alone Dorgu provided multiple good crosses.

He just signed, I have to see it over a lot of games first.

 

[Squeaky_Bum_Time]

This is not true. There is a lack of imagination in football and everyone is going with what is tried and true, but that's not optimizing things.

Maybe reducing risks on and off the pitch is a better way to describe it.

 

[Zehner]

I think La Liga is bigger loss for football than it's being perceived. Bundesliga gets mocked a lot on here, but for me, La Liga is the true turd these days.

whenever I'm writing something on my laptop, in background it's either ambient music or football. if it's La Liga match, it's comparable to listening some drone, funeral doom metal band. the matches are super boring as pretty much all the lesser teams adopted Simeone's brand of turgid shyte football. most are close to being bankrupted so can't even afford to play different.

Pellegrini himself, who actually manages there, said year or two ago that La Liga is disgrace for having the least amount of actual football compared to other leagues, and that is in general just slow and devoid of entertainment.

I also bet a lot, and bar Argentina, Iran and some African leagues, there are no bigger odds on goals than in La Liga and Spanish lower leagues in general. you can double your money quickly this way (or lose obviously), as they sometimes offer something like 1.80 for at least a goal to happen in first half. thet tells you eveything you need to know about their football, as no one, not even bookies are expecting anything to happen most of the time.

in general, I think football can't afford to have such major league be so unwatchable majority of time, while already reducing BL and French league to basically training camps for Bayern and PSG. that's already 3 of the 5 historical leagues being almost not worth investing any time, with so many big clubs from other leagues (Porto, Benfica, Psv, Ajax) already turned into pure feeder clubs. that's too much.

because if you can't stomach what EPL has become, it's not like you can enjoy other leagues more. it's either watching peasants from La Liga or literally dead competitions like French league or BL.

I used to fear every time we played Deportivo, but these days? the last time I saw Spanish club actually playing football was Bilbao under Bilesa when they outplayed us like we were Tenerife. everyone else - turgid, negative, impossible to watch shyte.

Atletico reclaimed that third, the best after Barca & Real place in La Liga, but even when we lost against them, it was the usual defending and enduring job from them.

That I have to agree with. We're currently witnessing what is happening in the global economy as well: The gap between the different "wealth tiers" is growing and growing. That leads to a bigger and bigger imbalance when it comes to the distribution of talent and that shows in the competitiveness of many leagues. The emergence of the Saudi league has worsened the situation even further since it minimizes the risk of signing expensive top stars: There have been multiple examples of top clubs off-loading has-beens which would have been dead wood a few years ago to Saudi Arabia who pay for the attention big names generate. And it's not going to get better unless measurements are taken, for instance a global salary cap.

 

[Deco10Legend]

I agree with the posters above.
In the 90s you could have 3 foreign players, there were more good teams.

Now you it’s going to be Real Madrid, Barcelona, City, Liverpool, Bayern, Inter or something winning the champions league.

Last time a smaller club won it was Porto in 2004.

Most leagues have the same champions over and over.

 

[Newtonius]

Lack of personality and entertainment compared to the old days with a focus on numbers and percentages and efficiency. Its happened to poker as well that's boring as feck to watch now compared to the characters you had on the old WSOP or HSP, suspect its happened to most other sports im not interested in as well why wouldn't it.

 

[Powderfinger]

I think La Liga is bigger loss for football than it's being perceived. Bundesliga gets mocked a lot on here, but for me, La Liga is the true turd these days.

whenever I'm writing something on my laptop, in background it's either ambient music or football. if it's La Liga match, it's comparable to listening some drone, funeral doom metal band. the matches are super boring as pretty much all the lesser teams adopted Simeone's brand of turgid shyte football. most are close to being bankrupted so can't even afford to play different.

Pellegrini himself, who actually manages there, said year or two ago that La Liga is disgrace for having the least amount of actual football compared to other leagues, and that is in general just slow and devoid of entertainment.

I also bet a lot, and bar Argentina, Iran and some African leagues, there are no bigger odds on goals than in La Liga and Spanish lower leagues in general. you can double your money quickly this way (or lose obviously), as they sometimes offer something like 1.80 for at least a goal to happen in first half. thet tells you eveything you need to know about their football, as no one, not even bookies are expecting anything to happen most of the time.

in general, I think football can't afford to have such major league be so unwatchable majority of time, while already reducing BL and French league to basically training camps for Bayern and PSG. that's already 3 of the 5 historical leagues being almost not worth investing any time, with so many big clubs from other leagues (Porto, Benfica, Psv, Ajax) already turned into pure feeder clubs. that's too much.

because if you can't stomach what EPL has become, it's not like you can enjoy other leagues more. it's either watching peasants from La Liga or literally dead competitions like French league or BL.

I used to fear every time we played Deportivo, but these days? the last time I saw Spanish club actually playing football was Bilbao under Bilesa when they outplayed us like we were Tenerife. everyone else - turgid, negative, impossible to watch shyte.

Atletico reclaimed that third, the best after Barca & Real place in La Liga, but even when we lost against them, it was the usual defending and enduring job from them.

Good post. There are only six La Liga sides on 35 or more goals right now, compared to 13 in the PL, 10 in the Bundesliga, and 9 in famously defensive Serie A (PL and Serie A sides have played 25 matches, La Liga 24, Bundesliga only 22). Its pretty dire in Spain outside of the top sides.

 

[Powderfinger]

We have superstars, but they are in Spain. I’ve been saying for a while that the PL is just descending into cyborg wars now. The ‘stars’ here are ruthlessly efficient, brilliantly athletic above all. The likes of Haaland and Salah are not what I’d call artists of the game, and they are probably the two leading lights. Even players like Saka are not what I’d call a magician as such, and Cole Palmer is in this vein, but simply not as good as the media here try to imply.

In Spain you have Mbappé and Vinicius at Real, while Bellingham has superstar aura if not superstar flair. At Barcelona you bave Lamine Yamal, who is an archetypal superstar forward. In England, the technical floor is good, and so much higher than yesteryear, but the aim is to outrun and overpower each other. Players like Morgan Rogers is the type of attacking by midfield profile dominating now.

Agree with this.

One of the reasons Arsenal fans are buzzing about Ethan Nwaneri is that he is completely the opposite of this Morgan Rogers-like mold while obviously still playing in a highly organized tactical system. Every match he has three or four touches or dribbles that make you jump out of your seat and every time he gets the ball in the final third you think something special could happen. Far far too early to say if he'll become a superstar but he has an unpredictable excitement factor I haven't seen in a young player breaking through in England for a long time, much more than Saka or a player like Foden.

 

[Oranges038]

I agree with the posters above.
In the 90s you could have 3 foreign players, there were more good teams.

Now you it’s going to be Real Madrid, Barcelona, City, Liverpool, Bayern, Inter or something winning the champions league.

Last time a smaller club won it was Porto in 2004.

Most leagues have the same champions over and over.

It's pretty much always been that way?

Bayern have won the BL 32 out of 61 titles, the next club has 5 titles.
Serie A is mostly Juve, Inter or AC.
Spain is usually either Barca or Real.
England probably has had the most different winners, but the last 30/40 years has been mostly Liverpool, Utd or Arsenal, until City and Chelsea won the lottery.
France was reasonably competitive until PSG took over.
Scotland is either Rangers or Celtic.
Portugal is usually Porto, Benfica or Sporting..
Holland is generally Ajax or PSV.

 

[Lay]

I think La Liga is bigger loss for football than it's being perceived. Bundesliga gets mocked a lot on here, but for me, La Liga is the true turd these days.

whenever I'm writing something on my laptop, in background it's either ambient music or football. if it's La Liga match, it's comparable to listening some drone, funeral doom metal band. the matches are super boring as pretty much all the lesser teams adopted Simeone's brand of turgid shyte football. most are close to being bankrupted so can't even afford to play different.

Pellegrini himself, who actually manages there, said year or two ago that La Liga is disgrace for having the least amount of actual football compared to other leagues, and that is in general just slow and devoid of entertainment.

I also bet a lot, and bar Argentina, Iran and some African leagues, there are no bigger odds on goals than in La Liga and Spanish lower leagues in general. you can double your money quickly this way (or lose obviously), as they sometimes offer something like 1.80 for at least a goal to happen in first half. thet tells you eveything you need to know about their football, as no one, not even bookies are expecting anything to happen most of the time.

in general, I think football can't afford to have such major league be so unwatchable majority of time, while already reducing BL and French league to basically training camps for Bayern and PSG. that's already 3 of the 5 historical leagues being almost not worth investing any time, with so many big clubs from other leagues (Porto, Benfica, Psv, Ajax) already turned into pure feeder clubs. that's too much.

because if you can't stomach what EPL has become, it's not like you can enjoy other leagues more. it's either watching peasants from La Liga or literally dead competitions like French league or BL.

I used to fear every time we played Deportivo, but these days? the last time I saw Spanish club actually playing football was Bilbao under Bilesa when they outplayed us like we were Tenerife. everyone else - turgid, negative, impossible to watch shyte.

Atletico reclaimed that third, the best after Barca & Real place in La Liga, but even when we lost against them, it was the usual defending and enduring job from them.

Good post. The decline of La Liga has had a huge impact. I do think Serie A is a good league to watch and has become my go to league because it doesn't feel robotic.

The gap between the leagues are widening and it will be terrible in a couple of years time. Squads being bigger means good players who would shine for lesser teams are now just squad players at elite teams.

I'll say it quietly but I think national leagues are a chore now and would have preferred a super league that was a lot fairer than what was proposed.

 

[adexkola]

Maybe reducing risks on and off the pitch is a better way to describe it.

True. There is a lot of risk minimization in football today but that is a choice of clubs and managers.

A club, from the owner's down through the DoF to the manager and players can decide, "you know what? We are going for it in every game. We increase our chances of getting pumped on the wrong day, but if we have more right days than wrong days this can take us further than if we just play the percentages and minimize risks". And they commit resources and talent and brain power towards creating tactics that maximize success given this strategic choice made.

 

[Hammondo]

We have superstars, but they are in Spain. I’ve been saying for a while that the PL is just descending into cyborg wars now. The ‘stars’ here are ruthlessly efficient, brilliantly athletic above all. The likes of Haaland and Salah are not what I’d call artists of the game, and they are probably the two leading lights. Even players like Saka are not what I’d call a magician as such, and Cole Palmer is in this vein, but simply not as good as the media here try to imply.

In Spain you have Mbappé and Vinicius at Real, while Bellingham has superstar aura if not superstar flair. At Barcelona you bave Lamine Yamal, who is an archetypal superstar forward. In England, the technical floor is good, and so much higher than yesteryear, but the aim is to outrun and overpower each other. Players like Morgan Rogers is the type of attacking by midfield profile dominating now.

I don't see how mbappe and Bellingham are not athletic above all, when they clearly are.

Salah isn't even that athletic, he's far more an artist of the game than the Real players you mentioned.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

We have superstars, but they are in Spain. I’ve been saying for a while that the PL is just descending into cyborg wars now. The ‘stars’ here are ruthlessly efficient, brilliantly athletic above all. The likes of Haaland and Salah are not what I’d call artists of the game, and they are probably the two leading lights. Even players like Saka are not what I’d call a magician as such, and Cole Palmer is in this vein, but simply not as good as the media here try to imply.

In Spain you have Mbappé and Vinicius at Real, while Bellingham has superstar aura if not superstar flair. At Barcelona you bave Lamine Yamal, who is an archetypal superstar forward. In England, the technical floor is good, and so much higher than yesteryear, but the aim is to outrun and overpower each other. Players like Morgan Rogers is the type of attacking by midfield profile dominating now.

The continued emphasis, especially in the PL, of being able to relentlessly duel/run/press has meant that a category of players have been excluded now who can't meet these criteria, even if they are objectively brilliant footballers.

Even throughout history, the amount of players who were both brilliantly gifted as a pure footballer along with being physically elite with excellent working rate is so minimal. If Ronaldinho was playing in the PL in 2025 you'd have a section of fans griping that he doesn't press well or track back, which sort of sums it all up.

 

[Lay]

The continued emphasis, especially in the PL, of being able to relentlessly duel/run/press has meant that a category of players have been excluded now who can't meet these criteria, even if they are objectively brilliant footballers.

Even throughout history, the amount of players who were both brilliantly gifted as a pure footballer along with being physically elite with excellent working rate is so minimal. If Ronaldinho was playing in the PL in 2025 you'd have a section of fans griping that he doesn't press well or track back, which sort of sums it all up.

English press (Sky) used to lambast Ronaldinho for this in his prime. Gullit argued that players that good should only focus on attack.

 

[Powderfinger]

I don't see how mbappe and Bellingham are not athletic above all, when they clearly are.

Salah isn't even that athletic, he's far more an artist of the game than the Real players you mentioned.

Salah feels like a different category, certainly not a player that dominates with athleticism but also not a flair player who creates a bunch of wow moments either. He's not even a particularly good finisher statistically. He's really just absolutely brilliant in terms of footballing instincts - knowing where to move and when - and final third decision making and execution once he gets on the ball in a dangerous position. I don't know whether that makes him an artist or not but he's incredible in his own way.

 

[Marwood]

The only thing in football that is "worse" now compared to just a couple of years ago is "flair" (well and maybe violent defending, for those into that sort of thing). Yes, there's less of it. It's not completely gone though, and players like Yamal, Pedri when fit, Vinicius when into it, etc are an absolute joy to watch. The overall technical level is higher as it has to, as press is brutal at almost all times, in almost all areas of the pitch and at almost all levels. Not to mention everything else (tactics, physicality, professionalism...). I'm not particularly young, and most of my favourite players ever are "flair" players like Michael Laudrup, Bergkamp, Iniesta, but I don't think any of the above is even particularly debatable. It is what it is.

A different matter is the overmercantilisation, so to speak, of the game, which is certainly unbearable and makes everything around the sport itself utter shit.

But I think the press is only successful because almost all players now, their first thought, is to go sideways and backwards. It allows the press. Same goes for youth level now.

Go back and watch earlier football, a players first though is forwards. Scholes' first touch got the ball out of his feet for a forward pass. A forward pass might not be on so he goes sideways or backwards, but the intention was there.

 

[Hammondo]

Salah feels like a different category, certainly not a player that dominates with athleticism but also not a flair player who creates a bunch of wow moments either. He's not even a particularly good finisher statistically. He's really just absolutely brilliant in terms of footballing instincts - knowing where to move and when - and final third decision making and execution once he gets on the ball in a dangerous position. I don't know whether that makes him an artist or not but he's incredible in his own way.

He's absolutely efficient, uses his full talent which I don't think you can say about many in history.

 

[Longshanks]

I agree with the posters above.
In the 90s you could have 3 foreign players, there were more good teams.

Now you it’s going to be Real Madrid, Barcelona, City, Liverpool, Bayern, Inter or something winning the champions league.

Last time a smaller club won it was Porto in 2004.

Most leagues have the same champions over and over.

For me bringing back in some sort of overseas limit would being back some of the excitement and Unpredictability which is what football is all about.

Maybe not just 3 though, but could be something like only 50% of your squad can be from another country or something.

All clubs should have a core of homegrown local talent mixed with some foreign stars, right now it feels like the other way round.

 

[Deco10Legend]

For me bringing back in some sort of overseas limit would being back some of the excitement and Unpredictability which is what football is all about.

Maybe not just 3 though, but could be something like only 50% of your squad can be from another country or something.

All clubs should have a core of homegrown local talent mixed with some foreign stars, right now it feels like the other way round.

Yeh the Arab league does something like that.

 

[fps]

If it was just one match a week you'd see a lot more from the players. A lot of them look like they're trying to make sure they stay fit and get through every game, rather than really expressing themselves.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

English press (Sky) used to lambast Ronaldinho for this in his prime. Gullit argued that players that good should only focus on attack.

Gullit is right. Imagine yelling at Messi or CR7 for not pressing enough

 

[Denis' cuff]

Successful teams routinely played 60+ games in a season. Yes, the game has changed but was always physically demanding. The level of athleticism and fitness has risen and pressing become more manic, stifling genuine talent. Players also had heavy pitches to contend with, combined with the number of games played was certainly as demanding as the modern game. Players are bigger, fitter and better prepared but although the demands are possibly greater, they are more able to play a faster game but no more exhausting as previously. Not sure one game per week is the answer. Maybe eliminate a cup competition and certainly reduce internationals and maybe reduce the league to 18 teams but it is really just enabling a more frantic outcome

 

[rimaldo]

I've sometimes wondered if reducing the number of players to 10 per side might help.

Fewer players on the pitch could compensate for the modern increase in athleticism, buying more space for attackers and bringing back some flair.

amorim’s tried that a couple of times when he’s played casemiro. we’re still just as boring to watch.

 

[Squeaky_Bum_Time]

I've sometimes wondered if reducing the number of players to 10 per side might help.

Fewer players on the pitch could compensate for the modern increase in athleticism, buying more space for attackers and bringing back some flair.

We've gone in the opposite direction, increasing the number of subs. It means some of the chaos and entertainment that comes from teams chasing a goal late on vs tired legs is also on the wane.

 

[Macern]

I've sometimes wondered if reducing the number of players to 10 per side might help.

Fewer players on the pitch could compensate for the modern increase in athleticism, buying more space for attackers and bringing back some flair.

I think it’d make it worse.

For me the problem with todays football is that footballers are required to be physical monsters these days. Players who don’t have natural physical abilities/talent fall through in todays game, whereas before you’d have a lot more players who weren’t particularily physically talented but more technical/mental. The xavi/iniesta/pirlo/scholes type of player has been replaced by players who can run and run.

Reducing to 10 would make this even worse, requiring even more physical talent.

 

[Rozay]

The continued emphasis, especially in the PL, of being able to relentlessly duel/run/press has meant that a category of players have been excluded now who can't meet these criteria, even if they are objectively brilliant footballers.

Even throughout history, the amount of players who were both brilliantly gifted as a pure footballer along with being physically elite with excellent working rate is so minimal. If Ronaldinho was playing in the PL in 2025 you'd have a section of fans griping that he doesn't press well or track back, which sort of sums it all up.

Indeed, I’ve made the same Ronaldinho point myself a few times. I think that ultimately, physicality is an equaliser, and everyone wants to compete yet everyone can’t have a team of world class, decisive players.

It’s getting harder and harder for talented flair players to shine in the PL. It’s very hard to beat a PL full-back for example. They are all great athletes. You see Antony and Sancho simply cannot get past (and stay past) the average PL full-back, despite being skillful and technical players. They just aren’t strong enough or fast enough. I’ve read more in recent years on here that players are too short, regardless of position. That used to be reserved for centre half, but now I see centre mids being called too short too, and likewise the speed that was a thing for wingers has now spread to centre mids too.

Again, it’s important to be balanced and I will reiterate, the technical floor is a lot higher in the league than it was in yesteryear. But the athletic floor has made it hard for individual mavericks to really shine. No matter how skilful you are, you have struggled against Kyle Walker for years, and he’s not even a particularly good footballer, just an incredible athlete. He’s nowhere near Cancelo was technically.

A number of players we have bought in recent years have been more ‘not suited to the PL’ than they have been poor players, in my opinion. The biggest issue has been whether they are fast, strong or can press enough above any doubts about their quality.

 

[Reyoji-Utd]

Because football and its related organization nowadays are revolving around one thing - Money. Countries, leagues, clubs, players, fans...etc are doing everything revolving around money. More and more games, competitions means players are trying to protect themselves from over exert thus injure and potentialy damage their short career leading to less financial. Clubs as we know needs money to survive in the leagues and will looks toward to more rigid and efficient football and those things require athleticism, stamina more than flairs... we can see that some of the players that are flair but with less strengths, stamina, athletics cant finds themselves being regulars in the best teams.

Sciencse also plays a part in it, we have more tecnologies to dig deeper into players conditions and that making players more robotic than ever. When talking about games and players,, what comes after are the stats and how efficient they are. Youngers fans are growing up with all these on their finget tips and they grow accustome to it with all the stats they can finds or push to them via internet or social media. Players just cant take a break from football unless they be like scholes (when hes a footballers) with no interrest in anything commercial or has any social medias accounts, otherwise, people will tell them how they play after every games (be it they care or not).

Football is a commercial products now, and everyones and everything is in it to make it more and more and more bigger. Players can play with flair but usually only one can do it with the pre-requisite of running more, pressing more, doing more for the team. We can say all we want when we dont see flairs or magics moments but when we see players doing it and dont make it, fans will start questioning said players and call them out. All in all, it is what it is now, cant do anything to help or change.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Indeed, I’ve made the same Ronaldinho point myself a few times. I think that ultimately, physicality is an equaliser, and everyone wants to compete yet everyone can’t have a team of world class, decisive players.

It’s getting harder and harder for talented flair players to shine in the PL. It’s very hard to beat a PL full-back for example. They are all great athletes. You see Antony and Sancho simply cannot get past (and stay past) the average PL full-back, despite being skillful and technical players. They just aren’t strong enough or fast enough. I’ve read more in recent years on here that players are too short, regardless of position. That used to be reserved for centre half, but now I see centre mids being called too short too, and likewise the speed that was a thing for wingers has now spread to centre mids too.

Again, it’s important to be balanced and I will reiterate, the technical floor is a lot higher in the league than it was in yesteryear. But the athletic floor has made it hard for individual mavericks to really shine. No matter how skilful you are, you have struggled against Kyle Walker for years, and he’s not even a particularly good footballer, just an incredible athlete. He’s nowhere near Cancelo was technically.

A number of players we have bought in recent years have been more ‘not suited to the PL’ than they have been poor players, in my opinion. The biggest issue has been whether they are fast, strong or can press enough above any doubts about their quality.

Yeah the technical floor has certainly risen, but at the same time the skillfulness has gone down (if that makes any sense). You see so many players now able to pass, control in tight spaces, and generally are far more technically secure in the PL. But then there's very few that are really excellent crossers from wide, or creative passers in the middle of the park. Finishing is at a hilariously poor standard for strikers these days etc.

Weird times. Football is the only sport where there's never any governing body looking to improve the product of the actual game, so the sport sort of evolves itself without restriction. I do wish we could go back to a game where space was a bit more open and strict cardio wasn't as much of an emphasis as it is now. Tactics are fun and all to talk about, but at a certain point it feels like managers are emphasized more than any of the players on the pitch and that's where I draw the line.

 

[giorno]

TIL Salah is apparently not an athletic marvel...

Presumably this was said by people who never saw him play in his 20s....