Luton released BAGGIO?? At 17 years old? Gonna take me a while to get over that. I do have one thought. Italian football 20-25 years ago was slow and boring. The majority of the matches were 1-0, and there was a lot of lateral passing, a lot up up and back passing, and a lot of falling down. It affected me to the point that I still haven't watched more than 30 seconds of any Serie A match since I got FSC. I rather like the combination of pace and skill that is the English game. Also, I have noticed that neither Ronaldo, Tevez, nor Rooney is a strapping 6-footer. But, dude, Luton released Baggio! I did not know that.
I think this is pretty much what happens to any sport when tons of money gets involved. It comes down to winning and the fact is that "bigger, stonger, faster" allows you to win. You have to get to the ball before the other guy. It's not the great athlete's fault that he can get to the ball first or knock the small talented player down with a hip-butt. Soccer is just very physical sport no matter how much emphasis you choose to put on technical ability so when winning is all that matters then athletic ability wins out. Propose the opposite question that the author does when referring to Henry and Ronaldo. You may have great technical skills, but can you do them fast, or quickly, with any speed at all? When I see Ronaldo play it's hard to complain about the technical ability. And does it count for nothing that he can move his feet quicker than seems humanly possible. The article also strikes me as a little whiny. Kind of like a really skilled girls basketball player complaining that she cant play on the boys team.
Re: RE: Has Skill Disappeared From Football? Except instead of it being someone like that, it's Roberto Baggio. :shock:
RE: Re: RE: Has Skill Disappeared From Football? But a Roberto Baggio who says this How is it different from asking how good would Randy Moss or Hershel Walker be if you took away their sppeed. Or how good would Kareem Abdul Jabbar be if he was only 6ft. What's the point? He could just write an article about how he prefers a less physical, more technically based style of soccer and why.
RE: Re: RE: Has Skill Disappeared From Football? This is an arguement that has been made about every sport on the planet, but particularly baseball, football and now soccer...The game adapts to the athletes much like a good coach will adapt his style to his players or select players that can adapt to his style... ...There is not as much skill today because if anybody tried what Maradona or the Brazilian teams of yesteryear did they would be disposessed by stud defenders from Africa in about four seconds who may also knock them out ...save one person, Christiano Ronaldo... ...But I like it better today, the smooth, fluid, quick passing is gorgeous to watch and damn exciting...but then again so is a Ronaldo run right at the defense... ...you be the judge, but when I watch soccer I like to see a team sport with flashes of individual brilliance, which is exactly what today's game provides us with.
This is one of my serious pet peeves! It’s the longer they've been gone the better they were mentality. Bagio’s reminiscing. I can’t blame him but it doesn’t mean he’s right. You ever watch those "classics" on FSC? Its s-l-o-w and stogy. This is true of every sport expecting perhaps boxing. The old games well quaint and interesting are themselves nothing compared to today. This is true of hockey, basketball, football, soccer, golf, ect. Yet in every sport I hear these arguments. "There's not as much skill, they don't have the fundamentals, whhhhaaaa whhhaaa whhhaaa!" I simply don't buy it. A typical NHL player of today would skate circles around a typical NHL player of 25 years ago, same in golf, and I'd argue same in basketball, same in soccer. Seriously go watch those "classics" they speak for themselves and they aint "more skilled" or better. There are some exceptions but generally speaking the only good thing about the good ole days is that they’re gone.
Skill has disappeared... you've got to be kidding me. The arguement posed seems to favor the intelligent player who can't keep up with the pace of the modern game. It was bound to happen... the evolution of athletes. Bigger, stronger and faster athletes are developing across the world. The argument posed by the author that all top sides will have a six foot or taller striker in their ranks strictly based off physical characteristics instead of quality is a laugh. As noted earlier by bearz... Rooney, Tevez, Messi, Dos Santos, Podolski, Ronaldinho, David Villa... so on and so forth. All of those players are top quality and under six feet tall at the striker position for the biggest clubs in Europe. As the popular discovery hosts Jamie and Adam say, "myth busted". I agree that the technical ability that is found in Italy and Spain is not found in England, but I don't believe that the Premier League players lack the ability to show boat. It is more a lack of time on the ball. The game is much faster and requires even more anticipation by defenders and attacking players on where the ball will be placed or where the run will be. I find it hard to believe with the globalization of soccer and its growing popularity that the sport is digressing, but that's just me.
A lot of good posts. As several of you have mentioned, size, power, and athleticism have changed Baseball, Basketball (look how muscled and tall the average player is now compared to 20 years ago when they were gangly), Football (average lineman in the 60-70's was 245-265, now it is over 300), Hockey for sure, Golf, even tennis players are a little thicker. Hell, look at Track and Field athletes, and you see the same thing. Power is the name of the game. As Spencer mentioned, watching those old classic matches really tells the story. It appears to me the current version of soccer is more of an adreneline game for players and spectators alike. Not sure if it is a better form of soccer or not cause I no perspective.
It is always hard to compare players of different generations. The rules of the game, equipment and techniques are different now to then. But, I firmly beleive that if you take a great player from the past and put them in the now they would adapt and be a great player. People like Stan Matthews and Nat Lofthouse would thrive in the modern game. As for "Has Skill Disappeared From Football?" In the English game, personnaly, NO. I think there are more skillful players, protected from thuggery now than ever before. Once upon a time a central defender had to defend, now we are looking at them passing and play making, more all round players (i.e. Rio Ferdinand). The game has sped up, and the skill required to compete in the modern game has increased as a result. Ball control is better now than it ever has been, a bad first touch is almost always punished in the top 2 divisions in England. An example of the increase in skill (and in some part due to the increase in ball manufacture and technology) are the number of goals scored from dead ball situations. Either as direct free kicks or well worked movements. When I was a kid there would be one goal a month where someone bangs in the ball into the top corner of the net from a free kick, now you get loads. There have always been individually brilliant players, but I think the general standards have increased over the last 10 years. The thing that have really made a difference are the changes in rules that have sped the game up: * The back pass rule, where a player used to be able to pass back to the keeper who could then pick it up - this slowed the game down. * The off side rule, it was changed to involve only those interfearing in play, often from clearences a forward, nowhere near the ball would be called offside and the game would stop. * Taking players off the pitch to receive treatment. Other things that have helped: * Protection for players, More players are booked and sent off for unfair challenges, protecting skillful players - the negative effect is an increase in diving. * Technology - boots and balls are much better. An old leather football used to swell when it got wet, it would feel like a concrete block. The boots were heavy and chunkey, nowadays the allow you to really wrap your foot around the ball. * Fitness and foot - Top players are fitter and more aware of their diets than ever before. * The forign invasion - The EPL has become a home for good forigners. They have bought skill into the English game and in return learned to play at a high tempo. We are seeing the successful marriage of this with Liverpool, Chelsea and Man U in the champions league. Not many English players in the 3 teams, but lots of English qualities about them. So, in my opinion, the modern game requres players to fulfill their skill potential more than at any other point in the history of the sport and as such there is a higher skill level on display week in week out for the EPL.
