Quote:
Originally Posted by sherer
the players back there were as fast as they needed to be. I've seen Puskas do a drag back like Ronaldo in 1953, wonder if the top players could do that with old ball and old styles shoes.
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Which is not as fast. The players were as good as they needed to be for everything but the need was lesser in a time when the overall skill set was lower. That was a time when players can have a drink the night before a game, many drinks, and have a big breakfast as well. The level of fitness was a lot lower because the fitness of the other players was equally poor. They were coached a lot later in life than current players are and the coaching had less history and experience in draw upon. The competition wasn't as strong for places as it is now when global scouting networks mean you don't have to simply be the best in your area to get regular playing time in a professional team, you have to be amongst the best in the world.
---------- Post added at 08:24 ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDaddy
And hatchet men kicking the crap out of them, players like messi and Ronaldo don't know they're born playing in this era
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Yes but they play for the era they are in. They may not be able to take as many assaults as former players did but they're footballers, not American football players. Would former footballers be able to complete with the speed of today's game? It's a lot easier to do something imaginative when you have more time on the ball than Messi who has a spilt second to react.
Wenger said something a while back about how, in his time at Arsenal, he has watched as footballers have less and less time to make decisions. He compared it to being on the motorway, all the cars are moving as the same speed and they don't seem to be going fast until you stop and see everyone zip past you.
It's not fair that these former players didn't have all the opportunities the current ones do. The extra coaching, the better pitches, the protection to actually play football free to violent fouls, and the higher calibre opponents. Maybe if they played today they would be at Messi's level. They were not however.