VillaJ100 Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 1 hour ago, PaulC said: Maybe the kids there don't play as much football as they used. It's the hyper professional nature of the game now too. Working class kids generally have a lot of say distractions. Birds booze fags etc. I know a lad, best player I've ever seen not playing professionally, have no doubt he would have been a professional player, maybe not prem but championship/league one at least, was on the books at Crewe... They caught wind he was on the fags and **** him off immediately. Can't be having that attitude in this day and age, you'd have to be like an Mbappe like talent for that to be overlooked. Rooney had similar problems and he was nearly booted out and nearly left footy for boxing. If my mate was in the 80's? Probably would have had a word and that's it. If you 'make it' then you have a bit more licence to **** up. My mate, now he a mechanic, drinks about 40 pints a week and plays semi pro and is often the best player on the pitch strolling about in 1st gear. I'm sure there's stories like this up and down the UK. Apparently a lot of academies now, if your kid is a keeper, there is some bone in the wrist that is fully developed at about age 12 and is a very accurate indicator of future height. If that test says they will be under 6'3", they will let them go, no matter how good they are. This is what you have to deal with these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 On 19/05/2020 at 20:37, Xela said: Indeed. Liverpool in the 80's had Souness, Dalglish, Nicol, Hanson and Gillespie. Proper conveyor belt of talent up north as you say. I'd like to add Ken McNaught, Allan Evans and Des Bremner to that conveyor belt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted May 21, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted May 21, 2020 On 19/05/2020 at 15:45, VillaJ100 said: It's the hyper professional nature of the game now too. Working class kids generally have a lot of say distractions. Birds booze fags etc. I know a lad, best player I've ever seen not playing professionally, have no doubt he would have been a professional player, maybe not prem but championship/league one at least, was on the books at Crewe... They caught wind he was on the fags and **** him off immediately. Can't be having that attitude in this day and age, you'd have to be like an Mbappe like talent for that to be overlooked. Rooney had similar problems and he was nearly booted out and nearly left footy for boxing. If my mate was in the 80's? Probably would have had a word and that's it. If you 'make it' then you have a bit more licence to **** up. My mate, now he a mechanic, drinks about 40 pints a week and plays semi pro and is often the best player on the pitch strolling about in 1st gear. I'm sure there's stories like this up and down the UK. Apparently a lot of academies now, if your kid is a keeper, there is some bone in the wrist that is fully developed at about age 12 and is a very accurate indicator of future height. If that test says they will be under 6'3", they will let them go, no matter how good they are. This is what you have to deal with these days. A lad who was in my local team was an exceptional talent and Albion picked him up when he was about 12. 2 or 3 years later they did a scan on his knees and saw something they didn't like. He wasn't injured mind, they just foresaw something that could be a problem. He was binned off immediately. That was around 1988 so I can't imagine what it's like now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 12 hours ago, Wainy316 said: I'd like to add Ken McNaught, Allan Evans and Des Bremner to that conveyor belt. Still did nothing in international tournaments bar that Archie Gemmill wonder goal v Holland in 78. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 3 hours ago, TheAuthority said: A lad who was in my local team was an exceptional talent and Albion picked him up when he was about 12. 2 or 3 years later they did a scan on his knees and saw something they didn't like. He wasn't injured mind, they just foresaw something that could be a problem. He was binned off immediately. That was around 1988 so I can't imagine what it's like now. Ah so it's been a lot stricter for longer than I thought. When I heard the wrist bone thing I couldn't believe the kid it had happened to, I had to look it up. It's also mad considering some really great keepers haven't been even 6ft (eg Casillas) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 England-Spain has been a really good watch for a 0-0, thought it would be boring but pretty much end to end with last ditch tackles and poor finishing. Spain were better but England still created some good chances (second half). Very dodgy ref though, Spain should've had one penalty at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted May 23, 2020 Share Posted May 23, 2020 2 hours ago, VillaChris said: England-Spain has been a really good watch for a 0-0, thought it would be boring but pretty much end to end with last ditch tackles and poor finishing. Spain were better but England still created some good chances (second half). Very dodgy ref though, Spain should've had one penalty at least. didnt Spain have a couple of goals disallowed, I cant remember but one should have been given Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Summer before euro 96 was Umbro cup. Brazil-Sweden was played at VP, anyone go? Only a crowd of 20k. Brazil 11 had likes of Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos in it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Watched bit of England Spain as well. Wild. England were really poor early on. Formation was nonexistent. Only Neville and Shearer looked good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 When did these pre world cup warm up tournaments end? I remember le tournoi. Or did fifa just hijack it and call it the confederations Cup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 14 hours ago, VillaJ100 said: When did these pre world cup warm up tournaments end? I remember le tournoi. Or did fifa just hijack it and call it the confederations Cup? Yes Confederations cup in Mexico in 1999 was last one to be held after a world cup. There was actually one played in 1997 but in December, Brazil beat Australia 6-0 in the final. After that it became the testing ground for world cups, 2001 one was in the June of that year in Korea/Japan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 (edited) Watching England-Netherlands, some takeaways - I don't know if its the camera angles etc, but the game seems to be a fair click slower with regards to sprint speed and the speed of shots/passes crosses. Also players seem to have acres and acres of time and space! The football looks to be less athletic/physical but dare I say a little more skilful? Inces move for the penalty was quality and I forgot how good a player mcmanaman was. Edited June 11, 2020 by VillaJ100 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 10 hours ago, VillaJ100 said: Watching England-Netherlands, some takeaways - I don't know if its the camera angles etc, but the game seems to be a fair click slower with regards to sprint speed and the speed of shots/passes crosses. Also players seem to have acres and acres of time and space! The football looks to be less athletic/physical but dare I say a little more skilful? Inces move for the penalty was quality and I forgot how good a player mcmanaman was. i'd agree with that... far more technical and skilful players back then on the whole. Game is a lot faster now and players much fitter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted June 12, 2020 Moderator Share Posted June 12, 2020 35 minutes ago, Xela said: far more technical and skilful players back then on the whole. Game is a lot faster now and players much fitter. Agree on the second part, not so much the first. I think the level of technical ability and skill now is the highest it's ever been. I think more players are more adept, I think more players in International and top level football are gifted, or whatever the word is, than any time previously that I can remember, and it's probably more true for England than some other leagues, maybe. There seems to have been more emphasis on bringing through young players based on talent, rather than just being a big unit, or fast. The Spanish World Cup winning side, Barcelona and then Man City have all led to an adoption of a style of play that is all about having 11 technically excellent players pass and move and switch and...etc as a collective. So while there are perhaps, and only perhaps, fewer players that stand out as "different" (e.g. Jack) from the rest, it's because the rest are generally all much better players in skill and technique. The one area where things have got worse is probably defending. With all the emphasis on attacking play and creativity, the number of quality defenders who stop goals is far lower, IMO. They have to be decent now with the ball and there's much less concentration on what they do without it, defensively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 (edited) On 19/05/2020 at 20:37, Xela said: Indeed. Liverpool in the 80's had Souness, Dalglish, Nicol, Hanson and Gillespie. Proper conveyor belt of talent up north as you say. Wonder why it dried up? I expect you could write pages on that and not come up with one major answer. Its mad to think that Celtic won the 1967 European Cup with 14 out of the 15 players born with 15 miles of Parkhead, with the other born about 30 miles away ( johnny foreigner). In hindsight it is also crazy that basically going down south meant that you hardly played for Scotland afterwards, apart from a few exceptions to the rule (Law, Dalgish). Hansen was probably one of the best central defenders in Europe in his pomp and only had 26 caps for Scotland. I know its not really in the thread but does anyone have a Scottish team that they sort of follow? Mine is St Johnstone as I know Perthshire quite well. They have won a major trophy more recently than Villa! Edited June 12, 2020 by The Fun Factory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 On 12/06/2020 at 10:16, Xela said: i'd agree with that... far more technical and skilful players back then on the whole. Game is a lot faster now and players much fitter. I did notice just how many players were using the outside of the boot to pass. Especially when someone fired it into a front man and they first time switched it using the outside the boot to the wings. So common. Not something I see much nowadays. More skillful back then or just more common nowadays to teach people to use their weaker foot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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