Has Player Quality Declined?

Maradona37

Maradona37

Well-known member
I'm still conflicted. Past players did seem much more talented. However, the game is more coordinated now and there's less space generally due to the high-press - you generally have to earn your right to find space in the game now. It sounds like sacrilege but was it a big advantage for players of the 90s and 2000s that teams generally sat off and gave you space?

At the same time though, just looking at the touches, ball mastery of the past - it looks so much better than now at times. Now players take bad touches, can't shoot etc. But again, it could be because there was more time back then. I am very conflicted as I say.

I do enjoy contemporary football as I have already written, but there's something special about football from the 80s-2000s. However, I grew up watching those players, they were old enough to be my dad or my older brothers. Now I am watching kids who I could have fathered. So maybe I am not the most objective in talking about this as nostalgia could cloud my judgement.

I still love football now, but football of the past did seem to have more magicians.
 
Windhook

Windhook

Well-known member
Gnidrologist said:
Yeah, because todays players have such high level of mastery.
Click to expand...
I can speak for my region. Clubs that have academies they don't recruit, they do castings of children. Those who stand out, of course are signed, but most of them are signed with the condition families of the kids pay few thousands to keep them enlisted. Football is commercialized. The reason football in Bulgaria is stuck at the bottom. Meanwhile fans live in nostalgia of the great 90's.
 
G

Gnidrologist

Senior Member
That's not my point. Can you name a single modern player, who if was playing in 90s/00s would be on the level of Zidane, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo or even Del Piero, Rui Cost and Hagi? We get guys like De Bruyne in talks for ballon'dor lmao, and he is already an outlier. What makes you think these older legends would fail in the current cesspool of mediocrity?
 
companyofcules

companyofcules

Well-known member
I am not a right wing lunatic, but I am baffled how centrists and leftists in the Aglo space refuse reality due to ideology. I highly doubt I am smarter than you so I don't perceive the things said as an insult. Also Africa is not overwhelming a tall continent, on the contrary due to many factors. But they tend to have a superior body for running, so their best are the best. You need good food also. Comparing Africa or Asia to US is a bit irelevant since the football market is not that big in US. You can at best compare it to India. But it's clear Chinese are worse than Africans at running. Or at least their best guys are inferior. My point is, is much easier to find atleticism than talent and Africans tend to be very good at it hence they took the football world by storm.
 
companyofcules

companyofcules

Well-known member
As a talented guy you need to have a strong mind, huge discipline to compete the strong guys or the fast ones, and even so you can totally fail. Take Endrick vs Uruguay. You have a disasterclass in an academy game and you are gone. Take Puig. The list goes on and on. The quality dropped because is not really needed to win. But for those who love quality like me it's very sad.
 
companyofcules

companyofcules

Well-known member
Maradona37 said:
I'm still conflicted. Past players did seem much more talented. However, the game is more coordinated now and there's less space generally due to the high-press - you generally have to earn your right to find space in the game now. It sounds like sacrilege but was it a big advantage for players of the 90s and 2000s that teams generally sat off and gave you space?

At the same time though, just looking at the touches, ball mastery of the past - it looks so much better than now at times. Now players take bad touches, can't shoot etc. But again, it could be because there was more time back then. I am very conflicted as I say.

I do enjoy contemporary football as I have already written, but there's something special about football from the 80s-2000s. However, I grew up watching those players, they were old enough to be my dad or my older brothers. Now I am watching kids who I could have fathered. So maybe I am not the most objective in talking about this as nostalgia could cloud my judgement.

I still love football now, but football of the past did seem to have more magicians.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say bad touches, but mediocre ones. You are flooded by players who play good enough and have great executions, but not by quality.
 
companyofcules

companyofcules

Well-known member
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I don't know many academies from UK, but I know from France and Central Europe who think in a similar way. Since atletic players look more mature and effective early on they tend to ignore flimsy players.
So we end up with waves of players looking good but with no possibility for growth.
 
JohnN

JohnN

Senior Member
Gnidrologist said:
What's the magic dust that creates the german physical attributes and mindset?
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Hahaha you seem confused.
Did anyone say certain populations aren't, as a collective, taller than others? Also, mindset is about the way a society thinks, could also be called tradition.
The debate was about sports and the assertion that black people being better at them (still an assertion) has something to do with football being less technical (also an assertion).

Back on point, Zidane, Rivaldo, Ronaldo etc. would struggle to complete a touch in a 2013 el classico. it boggles the mind where do people watch amazing controls from players back then, except from highlight reels.
 
G

Gnidrologist

Senior Member
"the way a society thinks"
"tradition"
Buzzwords and platitudes that don't exist within language of exact sciences, while biological and physiological (including genetics) reality is quite well researched. It's you, who seem confused, while name dropping loud words such as "scientific evidence" believing it supports your claims.

You also confuse the assertion company made. It's that choosing more athletic players from young age is easier than scouting for really talented ones hence the lack of quality talent in modern football and overabundance of studs with mediocre to little talent, making the game dull.

What makes you think those legends couldn't compete, given they would receive the up to date coaching? The notion is ridiculous. I watched all of them live. The problem is that now days such players are not scouted for. Even in those times Zidane was 'discovered' quite late, because he didn't fit profile most scouts were looking for. Think it's just laziness and incompetence that makes modern sport functionaries to forgo rigorous work, when they can just choose one of the many young african athletes, who are already strong enough to play pro sports in their teens. Enough to see 80% of all the Barcaforum prospects that are looked after.
 
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