Are We Playing Too Much Football ??

[TottenhamMattSpur]

No this is daft.


I look at old footballers even "greats" like Pele and George Best, and think when is someone going to tackle him? not just let him jog through like a pit pony?

In top clubs now everyone is an athlete they have to be at their physical peak, and the coaches' job is to try and keep them there for as long as they can, and that includes knowing when to rest them whether in training or for matches knowing full well that if they go beyond it that's where injuries come in.

I look at football pre 90's and find it funny how unfit they look, more like the pub players of today.

That video.

Funniest.
Thing
Ever.

 

[theShiznit]

Well there's no denying that players are fitter now, but better ?, I'm not sure really, it's impossible to compare eras due to the changes in the game but in season 81/82 that Tottenham team played over 60 games, winning the FA cup, runners up in the league cup, semi finalist in the cup winners cup and finished fourth, (today's holy grail) in the league. I'm not sure how many players were used in that season but squads were definitely smaller and I reckon those players would give our current team a fair old game if such a thing were possible.

Much easier to play when you've got time on the ball and know you're up against some slow plodder, who you could tease the ball with like a kitten with a ball of wool.

Our teams look great in pre season friendlies when little pressure is applied, that to me is like the football of yester year

I have watched footage of Sir Stanley Matthews and his wing wizardry and it's frankly laughable, Aaron Lennon would have been the best player in the world at that time...

 

[yiddopaul]

Don't get me wrong, they'd play 90 minutes every match. They'd just get beaten a lot.

Can't disagree with that. That's more about quality though. That said, i do think the fitness levels are better today, but somewhere along the way, someone's told them they can only play x amount of games, and it's seeped into football culture to only play once a week (ideally)
I definitely think football is more enjoyable now, in terms of skill and the amount of top players there are!

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Much easier to play when you've got time on the ball and know you're up against some slow plodder, who you could tease the ball with like a kitten with a ball of wool.

Our teams look great in pre season friendlies when little pressure is applied, that to me is like the football of yester year

I have watched footage of Sir Stanley Matthews and his wing wizardry and it's frankly laughable, Aaron Lennon would have been the best player in the world at that time...

Stanley Matthews better than Messi, proof!:

 

[THFC_67]

Much easier to play when you've got time on the ball and know you're up against some slow plodder, who you could tease the ball with like a kitten with a ball of wool.

Our teams look great in pre season friendlies when little pressure is applied, that to me is like the football of yester year

I have watched footage of Sir Stanley Matthews and his wing wizardry and it's frankly laughable, Aaron Lennon would have been the best player in the world at that time...

Only thing is that slow plodder could and probably would go right through you with the ref waving play on.

Surely all things are relative though and with the improvements in fitness, diets, pitches, training facilities and rule changes the point still stands that is the need for rotation and rest being over exaggerated ? personally I think it's more to do with managers wanting to keep players fresh for a particular game than it being actually necessary.

 

[TottenhamMattSpur]

Can't disagree with that. That's more about quality though. That said, i do think the fitness levels are better today, but somewhere along the way, someone's told them they can only play x amount of games, and it's seeped into football culture to only play once a week (ideally)
I definitely think football is more enjoyable now, in terms of skill and the amount of top players there are!

I was sitting down earlier, you know, the kind of sitting down where you have time to reflect and/or put the world to rights....
Anyway, I concluded that with every decade that's passed football players have become fitter, faster more efficient, stronger, have better eyesight, faster metabolisms, controlled diets and what have they got to show for it?

I dunno about you, but I think most football has generally been utterly dire for years now.
It might be that I'm "all grown up now" but as a kid in the 90's, nothing will top three 94/95 season with Klinsman and Sherringham ripping up the league. I'm sure older folks will pick older seasons. But I've not felt that kind of magic, despite more on field success since, I don't even know when.

 

[THFC_67]

I was comparing the 60's players.
Could you imagine our defence from the double winning team playing week in week out against premier league strikers?
We'd either concede a lot of goals and/or or finish games with 8 players every week.

How about going the other way and putting some of the more sensitive souls that we have in today's game being tackled by those players under the old rules. As I said before comparing eras is impossible it's almost a different game.

 

[theShiznit]

Only thing is that slow plodder could and probably would go right through you with the ref waving play on.

Surely all things are relative though and with the improvements in fitness, diets, pitches, training facilities and rule changes the point still stands that is the need for rotation and rest being over exaggerated ? personally I think it's more to do with managers wanting to keep players fresh for a particular game than it being actually necessary.

That is the key point though.

The Scientists... say that for the body to completely recover from a game of football needs 72 hours.

And that is the crux of all the arguments, Champions League teams only occasionally have to play Wednesday/Saturday (less than 72 hours) but Teams in the Europa league playing teams not in it at the weekend are hampered every time. (unless they have a Monday night game) When premiership sides play over Christmas it's not so bad as usually everyone is in the same boat
And whilst that science is in existence I think we will always have managers calling for more rest or moving games.

Spain help their European sides in that they offer them the chance to move games before or After European games to give them the full recovery time. Not sure why the Premiership cannot do the same?

I cannot see these arguments going away tbh, as more money piles into football there will be more calls to space out all the games to allow full recovery time.

 

[Ironskullll]

Too much footbal? Maybe, but so what. It's like the New Year schedule - it's hard but it sorts out the men from the boys. Some players can take more games than others. Some are more consistent than others. I think the biggest challenge is for MP to balance everything out - not enough changes and yes some players become fatigued and their performances can dip. Too many changes and he loses continuity and hangs playersp out to dry. It's made harder for him in that while the penny seems to have dropped for some players, it clearly hasn't for others. He has a big squad but they're not all up to speed with his methods yet. Maybe they never will be, perhaps it's a pipe dream. Player by player that team should have been able to beat Leicester and you can see why he picked it, with Sheffield United coming up, but equally you can see why they struggled.

 

[Mustard]

No.

 

[crokey]

Tiredness my arse, the poor babies want to try doing a shitty 9-5 super stressful office job 5 days a week.

Are you having a laugh? What a shite example

 

[yiddopaul]

I was sitting down earlier, you know, the kind of sitting down where you have time to reflect and/or put the world to rights....
Anyway, I concluded that with every decade that's passed football players have become fitter, faster more efficient, stronger, have better eyesight, faster metabolisms, controlled diets and what have they got to show for it?

I dunno about you, but I think most football has generally been utterly dire for years now.
It might be that I'm "all grown up now" but as a kid in the 90's, nothing will top three 94/95 season with Klinsman and Sherringham ripping up the league. I'm sure older folks will pick older seasons. But I've not felt that kind of magic, despite more on field success since, I don't even know when.

Each generation thinks their generation was the best. Bit like music (don't make tunes like they used to anymore) or films (the original was so much better... etc.) The reality is - laying aside emotional connections - things generally do get better. Musicians on the whole are better, films are better acted, more realistic. Footballers, are technically better now, what they can't teach them is character and personality.
I remember the year you're talking about, and that was the first time i'd felt like, wow, these footballers are heroes to me, the first time i felt like that since the days of Ossie and Hoddle etc. and you're right, it was magical. I remember when Klinsman left, it ripped my heart out of my chest. But in large part, the 90's and the 00's we had maybe 1 star player, and very average squads.

 

[Syn_13]

No this is daft.

I see Arsenal used to play like Stoke back in the old days!

 

[HotspurFC1950]

168 hours in a week divided by 2 games = 84 - 1 and half hours = 82.5 hours between games.

Some players have great engines some don't. Coaches know which ones are which.

What else ?

Dave Mackay, Duncan Edwards could play 3 games a week full on but they of course were tough !

 

[Danners9]

*gulp*

 

[Jimbo78]

What amazes me these days is how it is supposed to be so hard for profesional super fit footballers to play twice in a week?

I appreciate recovery times and occasinally some players may need a rest and time to recover from injuries etc but come on. Is it really too much to ask? I just dont get it.

 

[StockSpur]

poch doesnt use our subs to kill off games, thats the problem. the likes of soldado,lennon and andross should all be subs used in the last 20 minutes for that extra speed and break away goal chance, instead of adding more defender/bodies into defence and all the play being in our penalty area. Its pathetic.

 

[SpainSpur85]

so hard for profesional super fit footballers to play twice in a week?

I've seen a lot of this over the last week or so and I don't mean to dig you out personally, but isn't playing Wed-Sat-Wed, 3 games in a week?

 

[Lufti]

*gulp*

Look at our Feb fixtures too

Sat 7 Feb 12:45 - Arsenal (H)

Tues 10 Feb 20:00 Liverpool (A)

then

Thurs 19 Feb 20:05 - Fiorentina (H)

Sun 22 Feb 12:00 West Ham (H)

At least we're not travelling much but couldn't they have made the West Ham game later than 12?

 

[Gassin's finest]

In simple response to the OP... no, we don't play enough football.