Modern Football

Grumpy Old Man said:
At the moment it's all about getting out of the group. and as only 8 teams drop out at this stage, that's achieved more by not losing than winning. So teams aren't taking risks unless they go behind. It should pick up once teams need to win to progress.
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aye, germany- portugal later will be reminscent of coventry v bristol city in 1977
 


Football needs to toughen up.

Soft free kicks are just encouraging play acting and scaring defences of challenging. End result is a slow game of passing sideways and backwards.

If players knew that making a tackle wouldn't result in a free kick, attackers wouldn't hang onto the ball as much and we'd see a faster paced more entertaining game, much as we saw in the FA Vase final.
 
I have only fully watched Croatia game and left tv after an hour last night to go to a pub not showing Scotland game.
Just about every penalty and free kick awarded in Prem comes about because the attacking player deliberately goes to ground. If there is contact from a defender it tends to be either minimal or accidental.
I thought VAR would make it obvious to referees that in the majority if cases players are going to ground deliberately. Refeeres are either blind, stupid or following a directive that is not framed in the rulebook . I suspect the latter.
Also, goalkeepers do not make saves anymore. Their oversized ridiculously webbed gloves encourage them to palm the ball away.
Possession in the modern game is now the holy grail. And to be honest foreign players and managers are so transitory that I am struggling to come even near to naming most team line ups.
But I am well into my sixties. I am a dinosaur.
I do not fit the modern England fan stereotype of donning large shades, perfect set of teeth, mid thirties age , giving it large in a fan zone and fake tan.
So perhaps it may be unfair to criticise the modern game. Times change.
My fathers generation idolised Shack and Wor Jackie.
Hudson, Currie and Bowles were dismissed as overpaid poseurs. On £300 as well.
And now ?
 
wigwams said:
Been full of posers with shit hair cuts for about 50 years. The cheating, which is all diving and pretending to be hurt when you’re not is, does my head in. I find it more cringeworthy than annoying. I think other sportsman must watch them and think they’re total wankers tbh
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Lo Ursem said:
I have only fully watched Croatia game and left tv after an hour last night to go to a pub not showing Scotland game.
Just about every penalty and free kick awarded in Prem comes about because the attacking player deliberately goes to ground. If there is contact from a defender it tends to be either minimal or accidental.
I thought VAR would make it obvious to referees that in the majority if cases players are going to ground deliberately. Refeeres are either blind, stupid or following a directive that is not framed in the rulebook . I suspect the latter.
Also, goalkeepers do not make saves anymore. Their oversized ridiculously webbed gloves encourage them to palm the ball away.
Possession in the modern game is now the holy grail. And to be honest foreign players and managers are so transitory that I am struggling to come even near to naming most team line ups.
But I am well into my sixties. I am a dinosaur.
I do not fit the modern England fan stereotype of donning large shades, perfect set of teeth, mid thirties age , giving it large in a fan zone and fake tan.
So perhaps it may be unfair to criticise the modern game. Times change.
My fathers generation idolised Shack and Wor Jackie.
Hudson, Currie and Bowles were dismissed as overpaid poseurs. On £300 as well.
And now ?
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Just like some of modern day fans. More interested in taking photos on their phones or chucking fosters over themselves in concourses at half time
 
A constant of the last 12 months has been , look forward to a game, then after about 30 mins, find myself getting the laptop out , then look up at tv, to see I have missed a couple of goals. More often than not games are like watching paint dry. Its not so much that the football isn't good, its just boring , what with the rule changes, perfect pitches, VAR and tika taka football its almost faultless to the point were it is becoming unwatchable
 
PTID said:
A constant of the last 12 months has been , look forward to a game, then after about 30 mins, find myself getting the laptop out , then look up at tv, to see I have missed a couple of goals. More often than not games are like watching paint dry. Its not so much that the football isn't good, its just boring , what with the rule changes, perfect pitches, VAR and tika taka football its almost faultless to the point were it is becoming unwatchable
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Are you me? :)
 
PTID said:
A constant of the last 12 months has been , look forward to a game, then after about 30 mins, find myself getting the laptop out , then look up at tv, to see I have missed a couple of goals. More often than not games are like watching paint dry. Its not so much that the football isn't good, its just boring , what with the rule changes, perfect pitches, VAR and tika taka football its almost faultless to the point were it is becoming unwatchable
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Snap
 
I think football has improved technically and the players are certainly both fitter and faster than when I started watching in the late '60s. Some things have been sanitized, a good tackle gets almost as good a buzz for the crowd as a goal and that has definitely been a step backwards but it used to be dispiriting to see good players get lumps kicked out of them by thugs and bullies and this has now gone. Yes players now go down too easily and time wasting needs to be tackled but that is not solely down to the players.

Improvements through technology , like with the ball being lighter have led to more goals being scored. The pitches are now much improved, who remembers the quagmire that was the Baseball Ground and yes, VAR can be a problem, but if we look at it's use in this tournament it is much better managed than it is in the PL and therefore not the technology, just the implementation.

I do think players generally get the opportunity to show their skills more than in the past. Obviously some will disagree with some, or all, of this but if you don't enjoy it stop watching.
 
No it isn’t. Not at all.

My Grandad used to say sumit similar 25 years ago, was bollocks then and is now.

People like twisting on as they get older. I’ve said a few times tonight ‘the games gone’.

Whats shit is you’re getting older and the things you love are changing and evolving while you long for how it was when you were 10.
 
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Football is probably the same it's always been in terms of how shit it is. We're just aware of how shit many matches end up being with more full games on tv and more and more cameras and games for highlights and the like.
 
SydneyFan said:
This is going to sound weird but I watch a bit of J League and the refs there let absolutely loads of tackles go without blowing for a free kick. There's a stack of B grade Brazillians getting kicked to fuck. It's refreshing to watch.
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I used to watch some j league football when I used to bet on the games on Saturday mornings. The fans over there are what the mags think they are.
 
Comments of if you dont like it stop watching are a bit harsh. If you have really loved the game but its spoilt through various reasons stated then people have a right to be disgruntled .

Nothings going to change I'm sure of that but Its worth discussing.

I dont watch any prem football and have only watched two full games in this comp ( not England). Thankfully it's my love for us that gets me watching games at all.
 
Identical sporting arenas instead of proper football grounds.

All the nets are the same. Back in the day you had the big stanchions at Chelsea, red nets at Anfield, Blues nets at Goodison, the half hanging nets at Highbury, the very tight box nets at the Dell etc.

You could tackle once upon a time.

Cups were important.
 

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