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Nagel 8:40 Fri Oct 28
Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

By this generation I mean those currently aged 24-29, which is the age where most outfield players should be at their peak.

If I think of the best players they are all either 23 or under (Mbappe, Haaland, Rice, Bellingham, Foden, Pedri, etc.) or over 30 (Salah, Mane, Neymar, de Bruyne, Van Dijk, etc.)

I wonder if that's partly why all these older players in their mid 30s like Messi, Modric, Benzema, Lewandowski, etc. are still playing at the top level. There's simply not been players good enough to even threaten their place.

RBshorty 11:28 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

Nope. It’s just Messi and Ronaldo were a little bit special in their pomp.

Nagel 11:39 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

OK. So forgetting about Messi and Ronaldo, which players aged 24-29 would you put in a current world XI?

PwoperNaughtyButNot 12:22 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

Gen Z looked at how self centred millennials were and thought they weren’t having any of that and also that they could our compete them.

Perhaps

RBshorty 12:27 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

How can you forget Messi and Ronaldo.? They set the bar for the next generation to follow.

ted fenton 12:33 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

Would loved to have seen how George Best and others would have performed on todays pitches !

Nagel 1:31 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

RBshorty,

I don't know why you keep on about Messi and Ronaldo. Imagine they never existed. Now, would those currently in their mid-late 20s be suddenly better while the over 30s and under 23s stayed the same or worse? Of course not.

RBshorty 1:39 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

If you’re pick and mixing your plalyers to suit

RBshorty 1:43 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

The situation. Then it makes the original post pointless. That’s like saying. “Who’s the greatest player of all time. However you can’t have Pele.Maradona. Etc,etc…

zico 1:49 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

I think it's a lot to do with coaching and the winning at all costs attitude today where talent is coached out of a player at all levels. Unless you are a Messi or Ronaldo in their pomp your role is purely confined within the structure of the team and any natural talent to shine is hidden away due to role and duty within that team.

It happened years ago at international level where talents like Alan Hudson, Peter Osgood, Stan Bowles, Rodney Marsh were top players for club but never risked for country. In the last 20 years or so that safety first approach has seeped into club football.

Joe Cole is the prime example. He had a top career, but we never really saw the Joe Cole that the hype promised. The maverick coached out of him by ironically one of the most successful managers of the time in Mourinho.

You can see it now with Rice and England. Southgate has got him popping 5 yards safe passes all over the place and yet another safe manager in Moyes allow Rice the freedom. You wouldn't believe that there was a "safer" manager than Moyes out there!

Wonder how many modern-day managers would have a Di Canio on the field or would he just sit there as an impact sub, not that Paolo would put up with that of course.

So, I think the talent is there, but youngsters have been in a structured team environment from a young age in the last 20 years so many a skill has probably been coached out of them.

Nagel 1:52 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

RBshorty,

What are you on about? I'm just saying that if you divide the current crop of players into 3 age groups then the over 30s and under 23s are way better than the middle generation. This would still be true if Messi and Ronaldo had already retired.

Russ of the BML 1:54 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

This generation?

Fuck me. Have a look at the squads from most teams in the 90's.

A large majority couldn't even run. And they were pro footballers.

Northern Sold 2:09 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

Imagine a non coked up Diego M’ on todays pitches and todays games in which defenders are not allowed to touch you…. Unlike in his day in which they would look to literally snap his spine in half everytime he took to the field…

Nutsin 2:42 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

I agree with Shorty, retarded thread…. Lock this shit!

eusebiovic 2:59 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

RBShorty

As good as Messi and Ronaldo are they played in a seriously depleted Spanish League that was shorn of investment while Barca and Madrid creamed off all the TV money. The others teams from the 80's to early 00's gave them a good run for their money but ended up accumulating far too much debt which wasn't eased by an awful TV deal.

As Northern mentioned I'd like to have seen Messi or Ronaldo ride the tackles of a mean spirited Athletic Bilbao defence of the 80's like Maradona or Paulo Futrr and Bernd Schuster had to do. Even Mark Hughes couldn't hack it and he was tough as old boots.

Helmut Shown 3:32 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

It surprises me that with all the training these blokes do the percentage of shots that go over the bar by a country mile. I seem to remember in my playing days many years ago there was always an old boy walking his dog that would shout at anybody skying the ball over the bar "keep your toes down when you shoot"

BRANDED 3:40 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

All players are fit, athletic, well paid and almost certainly not pissheads. The game is dominated by stats in a way that would have been unimaginable. The best players tend to end up at the best clubs bit the next lot if players are not far behind the best. Take a few clubs out of the mix and the rest are highly competitive.
So, I would say most players are as good as ever. Some standards are much higher.

joey5000 3:53 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

Kimmich
Kane
Son
Cancelo
Marquinhos

Off the top of my head, all fit your age bracket and are world class, not Messi / Ronaldo level but are pretty much top echelon.

threesixty 4:19 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

The thing with modern football (at least in the PL) is they all need to be "athletes" rather than just footballers. Especially in our league.

I just think that the pace of the game actually means that great footballers (i.e. good on the ball, good passing range etc) cant make it in the modern game if they aren't tip top physically.

So we aren't going to see the Zico's, Socrates, Maradona's, Platini's anymore. Half of them smoked, were on drugs or ate badly. You just cant do that in modern football.

Footballers are also getting the same injuries like athletes do, muscle tears, hamstrings etc.. basically non impact injuries all over the place. We have the most protection for players we've ever had in terms of refereeing games, but I feel like we have far more injuries to players than we ever did. Its odd.

Nagel 4:20 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

Son is 30 actually. I did think of Cancelo and Kimmich previously as the only ones that came to my mind as being on that level.

One of the reasons I thought about this was looking at our summer signings. We bought a left back who won the Euros with Italy last year, Brazil's No 10 and a mainstay of the German back 4. Not trying to knock them (except for Emerson, who is a bit shit) but it just seems that you'd expect better.

RBshorty 4:38 Fri Oct 28
Re: Is this generation of footballers just mediocre?

So. In a round about way. It ain’t the players. It’s the system and the manager.?

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